Ovni 430 & 490Review & Buyer’s Guide: The New-Generation Aluminum Centreboarders Explained
What you’d actually do with her
You’re leaving on the big trip — not for a season, for years. The Atlantic, Panama, the Pacific; or the other way, Svalbard and Patagonia. A one-metre draught with the board up means you anchor in lagoons keelboats can’t enter, dry out on a falling tide on a flat bottom and two rudders, and push up river mouths. An aluminum hull means contact with rock or ice leaves a dent, not a hole. The new generation’s panoramic saloon means you watch the horizon through 360 degrees of glass from the chart table, without going on deck.
The price of all this: north of half a million euros for a new 430, and a two-to-two-and-a-half-year queue. Used boats of the new generation barely exist — exactly one worldwide as this dossier went to press. This dossier is for the buyer weighing three doors: order new, stalk a vanishingly rare secondhand hull, or buy a classic Ovni 435 for half the money.
Verdict
The yard that nearly drowned
Alubat has built aluminum centreboarders in Les Sables-d’Olonne since 1973 — more than 1,600 hulls, and the word OVNI itself (“UFO” in French) has become the yachting world’s shorthand for “aluminum lifting-keeler.” But the yard’s biography is not a straight line. In 2012 Alubat filed for bankruptcy. In 2014 it was bought for €150,000 by fourteen Vendée businessmen-shareholders, saving 25 jobs — down from a peak of 120 employees. And in October 2023 something happened that is rare in French boatbuilding: managing director Luc Jurien and six employees bought 100% of the capital.
“Today we have an order book of two and a half years — 32 boats to build.” Forty-seven employees, around 15 boats a year, revenue above €8 million.
Jurien is no financier: he ran expedition charters on his own Ovni 56 Bulle for eight years before taking charge of the yard in October 2021. Under him the workforce has grown from thirty to about fifty.
The new generation — Ovni 400 (2019), 370, 430 (2023), 490 (2025) — is drawn not by Philippe Briand, author of the classic 435/445/43, but by Mortain & Mavrikios of La Rochelle, heirs to Philippe Harlé’s office, working with CBA (Jean-Pierre Brouns). That is a change of philosophy, not just of pencil — more on it below.
A naming trap that catches even professionals. Jimmy Cornell’s Ovni 43 Aventura III (1998, Briand, 70,000 miles) is not an Ovni 430. The German rigger Peter Foehrtmann’s Windpilot blog calls Cornell’s boat an “OVNI 430” outright — that is an error. No Ovni 430 existed before 2023. Read listings carefully: “430” in a headline can mean either boat.
What kind of boat is this — if you’re seeing her for the first time
The Ovni 430 is a 13.4-metre aluminum centreboarder with a pivoting board; the 490 is her 15.95-metre big sister, unveiled at Grand Pavois 2025. Three things separate the new generation both from a charter catalogue and from the classic Ovnis.
A “semi-thick” hull with three chines. Bottom plate 10 mm, topsides 8 mm, deck 6 mm — against a uniform 8 mm on the Ovni 400 and the classics. Yachting Monthly’s reading: a lower centre of gravity and greater stability, with the hardest-working bottom plating thicker. A third, low chine reduces wetted surface; the two angled aluminum rudders mount outboard on it — and on those blades plus the flat bottom the boat dries out.
The centreboard is no longer cast iron. This is the generation’s key technical shift, and the confusion around it is one this dossier closes. The 430’s board is aluminum, NACA profile, 700 kg — per Alubat’s own September 2023 specification (“Rotating centreboard profil NACA 700Kg”), confirmed by Yachting Monthly and YACHT. Alubat America’s “cast iron centerboard” wording is a marketing leftover from the Ovni 400, whose board really was cast iron. All the ballast now lives as lead blocks set in epoxy at the lowest point of the hull: roughly 3.3 tonnes on the 430, just under six tonnes on the 490. The board is raised by tackle to a winch, with no hydraulics — a deliberate retreat from the classics’ complex hydraulic systems.
A panoramic saloon. The raised “deck saloon” with wraparound glazing is the variant the market chose for the yard: per Bateaux.com, 100% of the first Ovni 370s sold in the raised-saloon version. This is not Boréal’s watchkeeping doghouse with a watertight door — it is a living saloon with a view. A different philosophy of the same advantage.
The hull count: 430 number 10 handed over by April 2025 (Jurien, Figaro Nautisme), with 22 orders on the books in 2024 (YACHT). The 490: first hull plus five orders — and notably, the first hull is its owner’s fourth Ovni, and it is electric: BellMarine drive, 2×20 kW, a galley with no gas aboard. Alubat is the only yard in the segment whose new flagships launch hybrid from hull one.
Living with her: two owners and one ocean
The new generation’s body of owner evidence is young and thin — that is a fact of the market, not a gap in the dossier. But two independent crews have already logged ocean miles, and their testimony converges on the details.
SV Nikola — hull #2, Oceanvolt hybrid, a German family with children. The Atlantic, Panama, the Galápagos; by August 2026, the Tuamotus and the Marquesas. Real passage data from their log:
Porto→Madeira: “a 4 day passage with great sailing pretty much from start to finish. The wind was steady around 13 knots on a broad reach around 130 degrees TWA… The average boat speed was 6.5 knots.” Cape Verde→Barbados: “winds from behind between 10 to 30 knots… Most of the time it was great sailing, with exciting surfing down big waves and decent average boat speeds (6.2 knots).”
Halifax→Ramea: 343 miles in two and a half days at 14–22 knots on a broad reach — around 137 miles a day. Honest cruising numbers for a heavy centreboarder: not an Allures, but not the “slug” of the old forum arguments about the classics either.
Their verdict on the hybrid is a rare piece of candour about a boat the yard sells with electric drive:
“We’ve tried a lot to make regeneration work on our boat, but ultimately have to conclude that it doesn’t work as well as we had hoped… we now consider the regeneration capabilities of our motor/propeller/boat combination to be a gimmick.” Over 14 days of the transatlantic, regeneration produced 2.2 kWh — against 37 kWh from solar. And in the same breath: “our opinion on the propulsion side of our hybrid electric system, and the comfort of cruising/living with a big battery, electric cooking, etc. is still extremely positive.”
After swapping the folding Flexofold propeller for a feathering Max-Prop, regeneration rose to 7.1 kWh a day — at the price of noise: “The Flexofold was virtually silent at any speed.”
Micado — Karsten Becker’s 430 DS, ARC 2025. The second independent voice, and it speaks to something else: the cost of a new hull’s first ocean.
“We had issues with the generator, a rope in the propeller, a leaking shaft seal, a broken spinnaker halyard and problems with the alternator… I thought that with a new boat nothing would happen.” His advice: “Looking back, it would be better to spend a year sailing before the Atlantic. You need a long trip to see problems, but not be too far from home.”
The convergence between the two crews is telling: propeller/shaft (a leaking seal on Micado, a shaft-bearing replacement on Nikola’s first haul-out) and the generator on both. These are not structural defects; they are teething problems in the fit-out. But a new-hull buyer should budget a shakedown season.
What the testimony does not contain — and that is a finding. No new-generation owner has publicly written about tropical heat, condensation, or true heavy-weather behaviour. Nikola’s blog is silent on insulation and storms. On the classics the community knows the terrain: “85% of Ovnis have no hull insulation — an option above €10,000” (Hisse-et-Oh, translated from French), while the fully insulated 435 Pèlerin is reported “cosy and condensation free in winter and cool in the summer” (Attainable Adventure Cruising). For the new generation the question stands open — and in the options list it should default to yes.
The great debate: where did the ballast go
The new generation’s defining argument is not about the saloon and not about the price. It is about what happened to the stability concept when the cast-iron board became aluminum.
On the classic Ovnis and on the Ovni 400, the pivoting cast-iron board was part of the ballast. On the 430 and 490 the board is a light aluminum foil (700 and ~480 kg) which, in YACHT’s words from the test of the sister-model 370, “offers hardly any righting moment.” All the stability now lives in lead set into the bilge. The yard answers with depth: blocks at the hull’s lowest point, epoxy encapsulation, and on the 430 a ballast ratio of 34% (Yachting Monthly).
The buyer’s problem is that none of this can be checked in numbers. No AVS, no STIX, no stability curve has been published for either the 430 or the 490 — a targeted trawl of YACHT test boxes, Voiles et Voiliers, Alubat documentation and the forums came back empty. Both boats carry CE Category A, and that is all. The historical context is not reassuring: in 2011, asked directly by an owner, the yard could name an AVS for only two older models — 106° for the 385 and 112.6° for the 39 — with the caveat that the angle was “CALCULATED, not measured” (Hisse-et-Oh, translated from French).
The second layer of the same debate is board-up sailing, the standard heavy-weather technique of every integral centreboarder. The classic-boat community split and never reconciled:
An owner: “Delighted with the concept in heavy weather. Board up, the behaviour is very reassuring in real big waves.” Pushback in the same thread: “With the board up the boat skids uncontrollably.” A third voice: an integral centreboarder “precisely with the board up stops answering the helm” beyond roughly 45 knots.
And the third layer: two exposed rudders on the low chine. For manoeuvrability and drying out, a gain; for the high latitudes, John Harries of Attainable Adventure Cruising put it bluntly: “Twin rudders have no place in the high latitudes” — two blades outboard are vulnerable to ice and rock. Boréal, with its single protected rudder, stands on the other side of this argument; new-generation Alubat has consciously chosen the side of manoeuvrability and drying.
The honest takeaway for a buyer: the new ballast concept is sound engineering, and 34% is a respectable ratio — but the only way to close the question with numbers is to demand the ISO 12217-2 stability booklet from the yard for the specific hull and loadout, before contract. For plans south of the forties, that is not a formality.
Buying one: what to check
From here on, this dossier switches to survey mode. The specifics: used new-generation hulls barely exist, so the checklist is two-part — commissioning a new boat, and inspecting the rare secondhand one. The aluminum fundamentals are inherited from the classics, on which the community holds fifty years of evidence.
Galvanic corrosion: enemy number one, on a new hull too
Any stainless fastener in contact with aluminum in seawater eats the hull. Documented on the classics: anodes fitted wrongly “did nothing for years, and the hull developed small craters” (Ovni-Club, a 445 owner, translated from French). Test the isolation with an ohmmeter: “no leak whatsoever between battery and hull” (Hisse-et-Oh, translated from French) — the fully isolated two-pole electrical system is non-negotiable. On a secondhand boat, hunt for any non-factory fastener left by previous owners.
Centreboard and trunk
The new generation lifts the board with tackle instead of hydraulics: check the purchase, the stopper, wear in the line; listen for board knock in a seaway. From the classics, two known enemies: electrolysis of the board and rudder pivots (“board and rudder problems, half eaten by electrolysis” — Hisse-et-Oh on a tropical berth, translated from French) and seized guide pads — a 385 owner after 70,000 miles “had the greatest difficulty removing the pads… it is strongly recommended to move them regularly… it’s more an oyster farm than a centreboard trunk” (Ovni-Club, translated from French).
Paint: SV Nikola’s saga as a ready-made checklist item
Hull #2’s first haul-out, a year and a half in: the factory antifouling “was applied too thinly, so it wore off much faster than expected… We have been struggling for months to keep up with scraping off the growth.” The repaint then landed on “a faulty batch of the adhesive coat”: “the paint is soft enough to peel off with our fingers without applying pressure.” On any new-generation hull, bottom-coating condition is question one; at new-boat commissioning, record coating thicknesses and batch numbers in the acceptance papers.
Shaft and propeller
The Nikola–Micado convergence (shaft-bearing replacement on #2; a leaking shaft seal in Micado’s first ocean) makes the shaft line a mandatory item: play, seal, and the welds of the shaft bracket — the 430’s propeller is protected by a substantial bracket; inspect it.
The hybrid fit-out is its own survey
A ~50 kWh battery, generator, solar: charge-cycle history, BMS state, and a proper service history of the generator — the problem child of both known crews. Count regeneration as a bonus, not an energy source; Nikola’s verdict stands above.
Tanks and bilge
From the classics: corrosion of integral aluminum tanks, and one documented case of ~20 perforating holes in an 8 mm bottom plate over 10 years, caused by a build error — water trapped under tanks with no limber holes (STW). On a new hull, verify drainage under the tanks and access to the lowest bilge where the lead lies: the epoxy encapsulation must be continuous, without voids.
Insulation
If she doesn’t have it — negotiate, and budget for it. For tropics and north alike, the community treats it as de facto mandatory.
Price and market: the used market doesn’t exist
The new-generation market at press time fits in one line: one used 430 in the world, zero used 490s.
That one is a 2025 boat in Le Marin, Martinique (Western Yacht Sales): diesel, Volvo D2-50, around €799,000, one ARC behind her. The listing copy is itself a market document: “already proven on an Atlantic crossing… No 2-year build delay — ready to go today.” The seller isn’t selling a boat. He’s selling the queue.
New prices are climbing faster than inflation. The 430: €464,000 ex-VAT at the 2023 launch (plus “€100–150,000 of options for a boat ready for the big voyage” — Bateaux.com, translated from French) → €485,000 in 2024 catalogues → €565,000 for a 2027 stock hull at the UK dealer. The 490: €995,000 ex-VAT base; the configuration YACHT tested came to €1,303,000 with German VAT. The Ovni 400 has been discontinued in favour of the 430; its rare resales set the pace of the secondhand clock — hull #6, MOKEN, 2022, went through Grabau at €585,000: sold.
The queue economics work for the owner, as at Boréal: a 2.5-year order book at 15 boats a year props up every existing hull. The practical conclusion is the one from our Boréal 44 dossier: you don’t find a new-generation boat in the listings — you wait for one, or you buy the queue from someone who changed their mind.
Market snapshot: August 2026. This section is updated with each revision.
Ovni 430 vs Allures, Garcia, Boréal — and the classic 435
The classic Ovni 435/445 on the used market is the main internal rival. €200–300k against €565k-plus — and the community openly calls the marque overpriced: “the five-legged sheep… when you find it, it has a price” (Hisse-et-Oh, translated from French). For double the money, the new-generation buyer gets the panoramic saloon, the semi-thick hull, twin rudders, the hybrid option and a 10-year structural warranty. For half, the 435 owner gets a boat proven across decades, with the fattest knowledge base in the class. Nobody on the forums has stated the equation in one sentence — but every thread about Ovni prices breathes it. Our live dossier: Ovni 435.
Allures 40.9/45.9 — the same school, another character. Aluminum hull with a composite deck, two tonnes lighter, sharper under sail — the press is unanimous: the clear winner on sailing ability. Ovni answers with unity of material (“part of the Allures is plastic” — an owner’s argument from Hisse-et-Oh, translated from French) and drying out on the flat bottom. Warm water and miles: Allures. Lagoons, tidal berths, a unitary hull: Ovni.
Garcia Exploration 45 and Boréal 44.2 — a floor above. Both dearer, both more expedition-minded: Garcia is integrated comfort and Jimmy Cornell’s choice — a man who traded up from an Ovni 43, the archetypal “grew out of Ovni” story; Boréal is the pure high latitudes, protected rudder and watchkeeping doghouse. YACHT names exactly this trio as the 430/490’s reference group. The formula from our Boréal 44 dossier gains a line: the new-generation Ovni is maximum modern ergonomics and a hybrid drivetrain in an aluminum centreboarder, below Garcia money — but no longer budget money.
Inside the Alubat range: the classic 450 (Marc Lombard) is still in production. A visitor at the Düsseldorf stand: “I felt that the price was too high though for what it was, might as well stretch and buy the Garcia.”
Allures 45.9
Read the dossierGarcia Exploration 45
Read the dossierOpen questions
This dossier doesn’t pretend to omniscience. The stability curve and AVS of both models are unpublished — only the yard’s ISO 12217-2 booklet closes that question. The exact 430 hull count after #10 (April 2025) and the total production run of the discontinued Ovni 400 are unconfirmed. Owner testimony on tropical heat, condensation and storms in the new generation does not yet exist — it will come with the fleet’s miles, and the next revision will be waiting for it. Independent voices on the 490 do not exist at all: the first hull was handed over in 2025.
Ovni 430 specifications
| Hull length | 13.40 m |
| Beam | 4.32 m |
| Draught (board up / down) | 1.06 / 2.86 m |
| Displacement (light / max load) | 11,900 / 15,150 kg |
| Ballast | 3,300 kg lead in hull + 700 kg board (B/D ~34%) |
| Centreboard | aluminum, NACA profile, tackle-and-winch lift |
| Rudders | 2 × aluminum, NACA, on the low chine |
| Construction | aluminum 5083 H111; bottom 10 / topsides 8 / deck 6 mm |
| Engine | Volvo D2-50 or Oceanvolt hybrid |
| CE category | A |
| Base price (2023 / 2026) | €464,000 / ~€565,000 ex-VAT |
FAQ
How much does an Ovni 430 cost?
New, from roughly €565,000 ex-VAT base; a realistic bluewater configuration runs €650–750k. Used boats barely exist: the only one on the market (2025, Martinique, post-ARC) is offered at around €799,000 — a premium for skipping the queue.
What’s the difference between the Ovni 430 and the classic Ovni 435/445?
Different architects (Mortain & Mavrikios instead of Briand), a panoramic saloon, three chines, a semi-thick hull (10 mm bottom), twin exposed rudders instead of one, an aluminum centreboard instead of cast iron with all ballast moved to lead inside the hull, and tackle lifting instead of hydraulics.
Is the Ovni 430 Jimmy Cornell’s boat?
No. Cornell’s Aventura III is an Ovni 43 from 1998, a Philippe Briand design — a different boat. The Ovni 430 has existed since 2023. The confusion appears even in professional publications; check the year and the architect in any listing.
What are the known problems of the Ovni 430?
No structural defects are documented. Both known ocean crews report fit-out teething issues: generator trouble, shaft seal/bearing, and on hull #2 a defective factory bottom-paint job. Hybrid regeneration on a folding propeller proved “a gimmick” in one owner’s long-term experience. Both crews’ advice: a shakedown season before the ocean.
Ovni 430 or Allures 45.9?
The Allures is lighter, faster, with a composite deck — for warm water and miles. The Ovni is all-aluminum, dries out on its flat bottom, and offers the panoramic saloon and a hybrid drivetrain — for lagoons, tidal berths and mixed routes. Both are Category A; the choice is philosophy.
Can the Ovni 430 go to the high latitudes?
She can, but it isn’t her specialty: the two exposed rudders are contested terrain (ice, rock), insulation is a paid option, and the stability curve is unpublished. For the pure high latitudes the community points to Boréal; the 430 is a tropics-plus-north all-rounder with the emphasis on the first word.
Method: this dossier was assembled from Alubat’s own documentation (September 2023 specification, alubat.com), sea trials and tests by YACHT, Yachting World and Yachting Monthly, reporting by Bateaux.com and Figaro Nautisme, corporate press (Le Journal des Entreprises), the owner’s log of SV Nikola (hull #2) and the testimony of Karsten Becker (Micado, ARC 2025), owner threads on Hisse-et-Oh, Ovni-Club and STW covering the shared engineering of the classic Ovnis, and brokerage listings 2023–2026. Quotes are translated from English, French and German with meaning preserved. The centreboard-material contradiction was resolved against the yard’s primary documentation; the stability and twin-rudder disputes are left honestly open. The new generation’s owner corpus is young — testimony on tropics and storms will join future revisions as the fleet logs its miles.