Elan E4 Review, Specs and Used Buying Guide

The Elan E4 began life as the Elan 350

Anyone shopping for an Elan E4 should know that the boat is the third chapter of one Rob Humphreys hull rather than a clean-sheet design. The lines first appeared on the Elan 350, launched in 2010 and tested by Yachting World that August, a chined, twin-rudder 35-footer that showed production sailors what Volvo Ocean Race hull thinking could do in a family boat. Elan then sold a lightly revised Elan 360, and around 2014 the model was folded into the new E line as the E4, alongside the E5 that grew from the Elan 400.

The changes from 350 to E4 are real but incremental. Elan fitted a retractable carbon bowsprit as standard, swapped the single backstay for an adjustable split one, moved from a German mainsheet to a T-sheeting arrangement that clears the coamings, added optional fold-down transom platforms and helm-seat boxes, and lifted the interior finish. The E4 reached North America in February 2016 at the New England Boat Show, and SAIL magazine named it the best monohull cruising boat between 30 and 40 feet for 2017.

Chines, a T-keel and two rudders doing real work

Humphreys describes his Elan performance boats with a '60/60' rule: a racer should feel the boat is 60 percent race boat, a cruiser should feel it is 60 percent cruiser. On the E4 that translates into a plumb bow for maximum waterline (33 ft 1 in on a 34 ft 9 in hull), a broad, flat stern, hard chines aft and a deep cast iron T-keel. At rest the boat looks almost square in plan view. Heeled, the chine bites and the narrow waterline lengthens, which is why the boat stands up to big asymmetric spinnakers.

The trade-off is a low ballast ratio. Yachting Monthly measured roughly 25 to 27 percent across the keel options, against 35 to 40 percent on many cruisers, so the E4 heels quickly to about 20 degrees and then sits firmly on its chine near 30 degrees. Sailboatdata's numbers tell the same story: sail area to displacement around 22, displacement to length near 139 and a comfort ratio of about 20, all firmly in sport-cruiser territory.

From drifting on Long Island Sound to 14 knots off Portsmouth

American testers mostly met the E4 in light air. SAIL's Adam Cort, sailing a shoal-keel boat in 6 to 8 knots, held 5-plus knots at 45 degrees true and gybed home under gennaker at just under wind speed. Cruising World's Herb McCormick saw about 4 knots upwind in 5 to 7 knots on Chesapeake Bay, then 6 knots on a tight reach once the asymmetric was drawing, with a helm that never loaded up.

Yachting Monthly's 2023 test in a Force 5 gusting 6 in the eastern Solent is the one to read before buying. With three people aboard and a 128 m2 A2 kite set, the boat broached once, recovered as soon as sheets were eased, and then held 9 to 11 knots on a flat wake with a peak of 14 knots. Upwind with 23 knots over the deck, one reef and full headsail, it pointed 27 to 30 degrees apparent at just under 6 knots, a little below its polars on standard Dacron sails and a fouled bottom. Even at 45 degrees of heel the helm stayed light.

The deck details that won SAIL's 30 to 40 foot award

The SAIL judges singled out small things: chafe guards outboard of the mooring cleats, a belowdeck tack line, a removable aft bench that doubles as a gangplank for Med mooring, and a folding cockpit table that drops into a shallow sole locker in seconds. Wheel pedestals carry rotating plotter pods and lifting foot chocks, the mainsheet traveller runs across the cockpit sole within reach of the helm, and the headsail furler sits below deck to keep the luff long.

Stowage is the weak spot for cruisers. There is one large hull-depth cockpit locker to starboard (it becomes shallow if you choose the third cabin), no lazarette, a single-bottle gas locker and an anchor locker deep enough for chain but too small for fenders. The optional transom boxes, which can hold a fridge or grill, are worth having on a used boat because they double as liferaft space.

• Retractable carbon bowsprit housed outside the deck moulding, so it cannot leak into the cabin
• Harken winches: primaries plus a pair on the coachroof for halyards and reefing
• Double lifelines noticeably higher than typical production boats (SAIL)

Two cabins or three inside 11 ft 6 in of beam

Below, the E4 follows a sailor's plan. The standard two-cabin boat has a forward V-berth (205 cm or 6 ft 9 in long), a double aft cabin to port and a big storage space to starboard, with a proper forward-facing chart table, an L-shaped galley to port and a head with a separate shower and wet locker to starboard. The three-cabin version adds a second aft double and moves the chart table to an aft-facing seat. A U-shaped settee to port and a straight settee to starboard both work as sea berths.

Headroom is 196 cm (6 ft 5 in) at the companionway, tapering to about 180 cm (5 ft 11 in) at the forward end of the saloon. Joinery is light oak veneer with solid wood corners, and the Simarine touch switch panel, which also controls battery isolators and allows remote monitoring by phone, is a feature most rivals of this age lack.

Owning an E4 after Elan closed the old ranges

In November 2025 Elan told Yachting Monthly it had paused boat building, would not continue the Impression, E and GT ranges, and was moving to large carbon yachts from 65 to 80 feet designed by J&J Design and Guillaume Verdier. The tooling is being kept, but the long Humphreys partnership has ended. For an E4 owner that means no new boats depressing used values, but also a dealer network that will thin out, so parts sourcing shifts to the original suppliers: Selden for spars, Harken for deck gear, Jefa for steering, Yanmar or Volvo Penta for the saildrive.

Running costs are those of a 35 ft racer-cruiser: a 75 liter (20 gallon) fuel tank that rarely needs filling, a saildrive diaphragm and bellows service schedule, sails that dominate the budget if you race, and haul-outs with a deep 7 ft 1 in keel that some US yards and Chesapeake marinas will dislike. Budget roughly $9,000 to $19,000 a year in a typical US harbor before any racing program.

What used Elan E4 boats sell for

Most E4s for sale are in Europe, especially Croatia, where recent asking prices for 2016 to 2018 boats sit around 138,500 to 170,000 euros and a 2025 boat was listed at 195,000 euros. In the US the model is rare enough that each boat is priced on its inventory, so a well-sorted example with recent sails will usually ask $170,000 to $230,000 once imported and commissioned. Boats coming out of Mediterranean charter tend to be three-cabin, shoal-keel and Dacron-sailed; private and race boats are more often two-cabin with deeper keels, better sails and electronics.

Value retention has been strong because the hull was never cheapened, and the end of the E line removes the threat of a new model.