Elan 350 Review, a Twin-Rudder Racer-Cruiser Explained

A family 35 filmed planing at 17 knots

Yachting World put the elan 350 on the cover of its September 2010 issue, shot from behind to show off its wide, chined stern and towering black asymmetric. Its tester Toby Hodges later supplied the line Elan quoted in its brochure, that he could not remember the last time he had had this much fun afloat. The magazine also called it boxy, angular, aggressive and mean-looking, a modern take on the 35-foot performance cruiser. Three years later SAIL described video of the boat on the plane at 17 knots with a whooping race crew aboard.

That reputation is the reason the elan 350 still gets searched for. It was one of the first production 35-footers to borrow the chined, broad-sterned, twin-rudder shape of Open-class ocean racers and put it under a boat with a proper galley, a nav station and two or three cabins.

Begunje, Rob Humphreys and the Open-class look

Elan built its yachts in Begunje in Slovenia, alongside a business better known in the US for skis. Its performance range of the period was drawn by Rob Humphreys, whose work runs from Oyster cruisers to Volvo 70 racers, together with Elan's in-house team. The 350 was the 35-foot member of that range, slotted between the Elan 310 and the Elan 400, and Elan sold it with the slogan Race it on Sunday, cruise it on Monday.

Elan's own website listed the 350 as a current model in 2012. By 2013 it had become the Elan 360, the same hull and specifications with integrated toerails, flush coachroof hatches and rotating plotter pods on the steering consoles, and the 350 moved to the previous models list. Around 2014 the design was renamed again as the Elan E4.

• Elan 350: 2010 launch, sold under this name to about 2012 or 2013
• Elan 360: same hull, updated deck details, about 2013
• Elan E4 and lighter S4: later evolution of the same lines

What the chines and two rudders actually do

Elan explained the hull in three features. Chines along the aft sections help the boat track at speed, release the water cleanly and improve high-speed control. The broad stern adds form stability and power, which in turn makes twin rudders necessary, because a single central rudder on a hull this wide lifts toward the surface when the boat heels. With twin blades, the leeward rudder stays deeply immersed and keeps its grip at big heel angles. A T-keel with its weight low in the bulb adds righting moment and lets the designer save displacement elsewhere.

The numbers support the approach. At 5,350 kg light with 65.6 square meters of main and genoa, the sail area to displacement ratio is close to 20 on sailboatdata's 100 percent foretriangle figure, and displacement to length is about 145. The hull is 10.6 meters long with 10.1 meters of waterline, so almost all of it is working.

Twin wheels, cross-over steering and a retracting sprit

On deck, the 350 pairs its twin rudders with twin wheels and what Elan called a cross-over steering system, so each wheel drives both blades with the precision racers want and the easy handling a couple needs. A retractable bowsprit brings the tack of the 110 square meter gennaker forward, moving the rig's center of effort ahead and helping control at speed downwind.

The working sails are a 35.9 square meter main and a 29.7 square meter genoa on a fractional rig with double spreaders. That is a manageable plan for two people cruising, and the gennaker on its sprit is what gives the boat its party piece. For racing, a laminate wardrobe and a good sprit snuffer or top-down furler matter more than any other upgrade.

Two cabins, a big aft berth and a gennaker bin

The same broad stern that drives the boat also makes its aft cabin unusually large for a 35-footer. The standard layout has two cabins: a forecabin with a storage space under the berth sized for a gennaker, and the big aft cabin. A three-cabin version adds a second aft cabin for two more crew. The saloon has a table that lowers to clear the passage or create space around the settee, the L-shaped galley is to port and the nav station to starboard has chart storage under the table.

The head compartment sits to starboard with a shower, a wet locker and a drain, a feature racers and cold-water sailors will appreciate. Elan also offered an option to remove the saloon, galley and cabin cabinets for racing, cutting weight for regatta season.

The trade-offs of a light boat

Performance comes at a cost in tankage. The 350 carries 75 liters of fuel and 175 liters of water, roughly 20 and 46 gallons, and a 30 hp diesel. That is enough for weekends and a week along the coast with marina stops, not for long passages under power. Both keels are deep: 2.15 meters standard and 2.35 meters for the deeper version, about 7 ft 1 in and 7 ft 9 in, so thin-water cruising grounds are off the menu.

Despite the racing pedigree, the 350 carries CE Category A, the offshore design category. Owners who plan open-water racing should still check the boat's stability documentation and the condition of the keel attachment and rudder bearings, which work hard on a boat that is regularly driven on the plane.

Finding one in North America

Elan's serious push into the US came in 2013, when Great Lakes Marine Group of Holland, Michigan became importer and brought in the 320, 360 and 400 performance models. That means most true Elan 350s are in Europe, and a US buyer may end up importing one or settling for a later 360 or E4 on the same hull. We estimate US asking prices of about $85,000 to $135,000; importing adds transport, duty and survey costs.

Ownership costs are modest for the size: roughly $9,000 to $18,000 a year for a slip, insurance, haul-out and routine work, plus sail costs if you race seriously. Parts for deck gear and rig are mostly from mainstream suppliers, but hull-specific items such as rudder bearings and steering components may be harder to source than they once were.

That matters more now. After a pause of several months in which it built no yachts, Elan announced in late 2025 that its whole existing lineup, the E line descended from the 350 included, will not return, and that it is starting over with carbon yachts of 65 to 80 feet, the first due in the water in early 2027. The company says it has kept the old molds. For a 350 owner the practical step is to identify independent suppliers for rudder bearings, steering parts and windows before something breaks.