Wednesday, April 9, 2014

GUNFLEET 58


Probably you have heard a lot of talk in forums about the perfect size for a buewater cruiser for a couple and about the advantages of small boats versus big boats....don't believe in all that jazz. :-) If you have the money and fun while sailing is not the priority for you, but having a fast comfortable boat to cross the Atlantic or circumnavigating is, well, this is the type of boat you should be looking for.

It does not come cheap but it has all the controls at the wheel, the right set up of sails and is easily sailed, even solo. Probably you will not feel at ease with a huge geenaker, even on a furler, I wouldn't, but as you can see on the images, with trade winds it will go as a bullet with a remarkably soft motion and it does not need a big downwind sail to go fast.

 I have noticed the incredibly good results this boat has made on the last ARC and given its medium weigh and type I was a bit surprised. Well, not anymore after having seen this movie by Yacht.de:


The Gunfleet 58 is a Tony Castro design with a modern but conventional hull, twin rudders, a keel with a low draft (1.85m) but that manages a good upwind performance due to a big narrow centerboard that gives it a draft of 3.60m when down.
Not the type of boat I would have chosen but I have to agree that it is a boat that makes all the sense to most sailors, kind of a modern big Mercedes or BMW and that can do on the seas what those can do on the road, specially in what regards long voyages.

If you think that I am exaggerating saying the boat is easy to single hand and to be sailed by a couple listen to what Toby Hodges says regarding that, when he sailed the boat:


http://www.gunfleetmarine.com/our-yachts/Gunfleet-58

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