Elan Impression 45 Buyer's Guide, Specs and Prices

Which Elan Impression 45 is this?

Three different boats have been sold under the Elan Impression 45 name or something close to it, and listings mix them freely. This page covers the original Impression 45, built from late 2014 to 2019, a 45 ft 5 in deck-saloon cruiser with a raked transom and a single rudder. Its 2019 replacement, the Impression 45.1, kept the hull but added a vertical transom and a new cockpit, so check the stern before anything else.

The third boat is newer. Elan's current website lists an 'Impression 45' at 13.60 m (44 ft 7 in) whose specifications are identical to the Impression 43 launched in 2023 measured with its bowsprit: twin rudders, a 4.25 m beam, self-tacking jib and a 287 liter fuel tank. European brokers list 2023 to 2025 boats of that design as 'Impression 45' at 250,000 to 350,000 euros. If a listing shows twin rudders, a bowsprit or a build year after 2022, it is not the boat described here.

The boat that brought Elan back to America

Elan had largely left the US market in the late 2000s. When private investors took the company over and began rebuilding a North American dealer network, the Impression 45 and the sporty E4 were the two boats chosen to lead, debuting at the New England Boat Show in Boston in February 2016 on the stand of Springline Yacht Sales of Mystic, Connecticut. Cruising World's editor sailed one from Mystic that August and described it as a through-and-through cruiser, while noting that every Elan since 1995 had been drawn by Rob Humphreys, perhaps best known in America for his Oyster designs.

The Impression 45 itself was the latest step in a long-running platform. Elan's dedicated Impression Yachts website listed it as new in late 2014, with a 13.85 m length, 13.00 m hull, 11.44 m waterline, 4.18 m beam and 10,900 kg displacement, figures that match the Impression 434 of 2004 and the Impression 444 that followed. It is best seen as the mature version of Elan's most successful cruising hull rather than a new design.

A layout menu from couple's boat to four cabins

Elan offered the Impression 45 with two to four cabins, and every layout kept two heads, one of them with a separate shower, plus a fixed chart table with its own seat and an L-shaped galley with a front-opening fridge. The saloon has a large U-shaped settee to port and a second settee to starboard, so a crowd fits around the table.

• Two cabins, two heads: a couple's layout with an owner's cabin and one guest cabin
• Three cabins: owner's cabin forward with twin aft doubles (the boat Cruising World sailed)
• Four cabins: the forward separate head and shower stalls give way to a bunk cabin, the usual charter choice
• Optional saloon table that drops to a double for extra guests

Small details that make cruising easier

Cruising World's tester kept finding thoughtful touches: teak cup holders at the ends of the cockpit benches, a stainless handrail that doubles as a fiddle around the teak drop-leaf cockpit table, lounging cushions on the coachroof forward of the mast, a fold-down swim platform and a beefy anchor roller and windlass. Below, the galley is to port at the foot of the companionway and the nav station a step forward to starboard, and handholds on the galley counter, chart table and folded dining table fall naturally to hand. Hull ports and overhead hatches flood the saloon with light, and an opening port above the stove helps ventilation.

Standard joinery was light oak, with teak as an option. Typical options on owner boats include LED lighting, an anchor package with 50 m of chain, reverse-cycle air conditioning, an 8 kW generator, electric Harken primaries and a bow thruster.

How the hull and deck are built

All Elan hulls of this period were vacuum infused. On the Impression line the hull sides are foam cored from the waterline up and solid glass below the waterline and in load-bearing areas, with a vinylester layer added to the laminate to resist blistering. Decks are hand-laid with a balsa core for thermal and sound insulation, a sensible choice for a boat that spends summers in Mediterranean heat but one that makes fitting and hatch bedding worth checking with a moisture meter.

Under sail on Long Island Sound

The Cruising World test boat carried the options most owners chose: Selden in-mast furling, a shoal keel and an upgraded 75 hp Volvo with saildrive in place of the standard 55 hp. In a typical light Long Island Sound breeze of 5 to perhaps 10 knots it tacked upwind at about 5 knots and made 6.5 knots over the ground on a reach. Sightlines from both wheels were clean, and singlehanded tacking was easy with room to move behind the twin wheels. Under power it left a tight slip and backed in without drama even with its bow thruster out of action.

The published ratios explain its character. Cruising World calculated a displacement to length of 218 and sail area to displacement of 19.1 with a 993 sq ft sail plan; sailboatdata, using the larger full-batten main and genoa area of about 1,068 sq ft, gives nearer 21. Either way this is a stable, moderate cruiser that rewards a full-batten main if you want it to sail rather than motor in light air.

Buying an Impression 45 today

Most Impression 45s were built for Mediterranean charter fleets, and the majority for sale are in Croatia, Greece and Italy, with a few in Hungary on Lake Balaton. Recent asking prices run from about 99,900 to 180,000 euros, typically 112,000 to 145,000 euros for a 2015 to 2017 boat. For a US buyer that suggests roughly $120,000 to $195,000 before import and commissioning, and a well-kept example already in North America can command the top of the range because there are so few.

Expect engine hours, sail wear and interior scuffs consistent with charter, but the infused hull and vinylester barrier mean structural problems are uncommon if the boat has not been grounded hard. The 45.1 commands roughly 50,000 to 80,000 euros more for a newer interior and better cockpit; if you can live with the older layout, the original 45 is the value pick on this hull.