TK - ALUMINUM BOATS

The last year has teached me a lot about boats.

Both from having sailed singlehanded from Norway late July -13 in a 30ft 1980 model Finnsailer, now currently in Florida going up the East Coast of USA, from following the thread over at SN, and reading books on boat design."Principles of yacht design" is a great read, you can get it on Amazon.
Yup, I want more speed and stability, having done many slow rolling miles :)
Should I do ocean crossing again, I probably would like an aluminium boat with contemporary hull forms to make them fast and stable going downwind or an RM with Kevlar enforced hull. A few mm of plastic feels thin sometimes. A pilothouse/inside lookout position would also be great during squalls and on nightwatch. Here are a few aluminium boats that have caught my interest lately:

The Cape 41 by Berckemeyer.
Almost an RM1260 in aluminium.
Semicustom, buy the plans and you pick a yard to build it. You can also build it yourself in the speedstrip method (wood/epoxy).
Have met some larger Berckemeyer yachts, they were fast :)
http://www.berckemeyer-yacht.de/yachts/New%20Yachts/BM41_cape.html

The Territoire 11.80, designed by Eric Henseval and being built by Meta Yard, the yard that built Motessiers “Joshua”. They build in the Strongall method, no scantlings/stringers, but in thick plate (12mm).
Reasonably lightweight 7750 kg, and nice hull form.
First one being built and not on the water yet, will be interesting to see how it performs.
http://hensevalyd-english.jimdo.com/monohulls/territoire-11-80m/
http://www.meta-chantier-naval.fr/web/les-constructions/les-voiliers/territoire-11-80-nouveau/

The Cordova 40 by JF Andre
http://www.jfandre.com/cordova_40.htm

VK Yachts from Sweden
High performance alu yachts.
http://www.vk-yacht.com
And of course there is a ton of other interesting alu yachts out there.
Would be great to have some dicussion on performance alu yachts.

(Paulo, hope you can help out adding some pictures from the links)

Hi TK,

The discussion seems interesting to me but you have lots of boats there and different ones too, even If I like almost all (not much the Cordova). Some we have already talked about on the old thread others not. I will add more pictures when we speak  of a single boat otherwise it will be a too long post. I assume you are interested in boats with about 40ft? 

And why do you leave out boats as the Allures 39 or the OVNI 395?

That means you are interested in performance aluminium sailboats only? You mean voyage performance boats or just performance cruising boats? 

What about price? It is not a problem? Price is normally the problem in building an aluminium boat and you should know that regarding that material the price is not proportional to size. I mean a 45ft to a 40ft boat would not have the same difference in price if they are built in aluminum or fiberglass.

Regarding speed and price consider that a bigger boat will be faster and that it will be hard to built (unless you are going to do it yourself) a 40ft  custom or almost custom aluminium boat for the price it will cost an Allures 45 (with the same quality of finish). Even if that 40ft can be proportionally faster, overall the Allures 45 would be faster, not to mention with a bigger interior and a bigger storage/load ability.

Very hard to beat Allures 45 price/quality/performance or for that matter the one of the OVNI 445 that is even less expensive. You have also the new OVNI 43 evolution to consider.

Regarding a true pilot house, a 40ft sailboat is just too small to have one without looking ridiculous but other ways of providing an outside view can be arranged being one of them the type of cabin used on the RM. Another solution is a deck saloon layout even if I don't like them too much on a 40ft boat. Other option is an hard dodger. 

On Henseval design (Territoire 11.80) another solution is tried but I have to say that he is a much better NA than an Architect: that interior is not going to work. To go to the aft cabins you would have to go on your knees or at least go crouching. The only way that space works with a standing height access to the aft cabins is if it is an open space (and then it is not a pilot house anymore). I see settees on that "pilot house" and no way the height of the settees on a 40ft pilot house will be enough to pass under on the "deck" below while going to the aft cabins.

Regarding Berckemeyer designs one of them, the German 39 was produced in Europe or at least they tried (made at least one boat) but the price was too high. Higher than an Allures 45 if I am not mistaken.
http://www.sailnet.com/forums/739241-post1139.html

The VK yachts seem to be an exception in what regards price (they are made in Poland) but the truth is that I never managed to see a photo of the interior of one (cannot say anything about the quality) and they are not voyage boats like the rest.
http://www.sailnet.com/forums/1233954-post5486.html

So, what is really what you are interested in: A boat to built yourself or the best boat for the price? Or the best boat regardless the price?  And the best boat to do what exactly?