GUNBOAT G4 FOR 2015

When I saw the first designs of the G4 I thought that it looked great but that it was just one of those dream boats that are never built. I was wrong. The first one is already being built and will be delivered on the Caribbean next year. What a boat!!!!

I don't think this boat was possible if the America's cup was not raced on those extreme flying cats. Many thought that a performance cruising boat would never be built according with those principles. Well, they were wrong too :-).

The honors of producing the first flying cruising boat belongs to Gunboat, the American cat brand that this time is not using Morrelli& Melvin as designers but the Dutch DNA design team. The first boat is also being built in Holland by Holland composites, all in carbon.

The boat will weight only 2400kg, a max load of only 600kg, and 12.14m of length for 6.78m of beam. As auxiliary engine it will have a 20hp center line rectratable outboard engine and will only carry 75L of water. Not a great autonomy with that water. It surely will have a maker otherwise it will be strictly a daysailer....and to fly will have foils, on the daggerboards and on the rudder. They say about the boat:

A NEW MULTIPURPOSE COASTAL CRUISER-RACER 

1ST TO FINISH: Stomp on maxis, superyachts, and any grand prix race-boat in sight. The GUNBOAT G4 offers Formula 40 speeds in an easy to handle and forgiving weekender. Unless your fleet includes an AC72, an ORMA 60 or a MOD70, your competition will only see your transoms, which is why your G4 comes clearly marked.

LARGE COMFORTABLE COCKPIT & MAIN SALON: Upon return, you will have time to shower, nap, and plan the post-race gathering. Your friends will be drawn to the spacious and comfortable cockpit. The salon offers comfortable seating with ample headroom when seated. The galley island, complete with two burner stove top, 100 litre fridge drawer, and sink, is centrally located to entertain. The slide-out coffee tables atop the galley are provided to display your new trophies.

CRUISE HOME IN COMFORT & SPEED: The GUNBOAT G4 features two queen berths located outboard in the main salon. With panoramic top-deck views, abundant ventilation, and a generous sense of space, these may be the best berths shy of the GUNBOAT 90. With guests aboard, deploy the dual privacy curtains. Kids will love the single berths in their own private hulls. Everyone will appreciate the enclosed head with standing headroom. At GUNBOAT G4 speeds, covering longer distances in daylight is easy.

DAY-SAILING WITH FRIENDS: The GUNBOAT G4 is simple and easy to sail. At only 2.4 tons, the G4 has light loads. Sails can be hoisted by hand with no need for complex powered equipment. Friends will find their perfect space whether on the helm, on the spacious cockpit seats, or in the protected salon with unobstructed views. Ample storage space in the bows allows for easy access to all your toys. With room for kite boarding, surfing, snorkeling, and SUP gear, you'll be able to keep everyone onboard entertained.

Well, no doubt, a cruiser-racer and one that looks like a lot of fun...will not cone cheap though.

I cannot wait for the first test sails. Certainly one of the more interesting boats to touch the water next year.

Gunboat G4 design preview from Holland Composites BV on Vimeo.

OLD WAYS TO BUILD A BOAT

Yes, this one is about Nostalgia. I saw on the net an old movie about boat building in England 70 years ago, a movie that contrary to the usual had a good image. I found it interesting and it made me remember the times where that type of boat building was one of the main activities on the fishing town of Peniche (Portugal), the port near my house. Here on the 70's the traditional wood boat building was still a florescent business and almost all fishing boats were made locally.
On the 80's I bought my first sailboat, an old and traditional Canoa do Tejo and with the help of naval carpenters I modified it for coastal cruising, closing the boat with a full deck and increasing the size of the keel with a steel structure with 200kg of lead inside. It worked, the stability was increased and I sailed the west coast of Portugal with it. Great memories. I hope you enjoy the movie and if not, forgive this sentimental journey :-)

WOW!!! THE NEW POGO 36

One of the more waited sailboats, the substitute of the "old" Pogo 10.50: What a look ;-). Some posts back I was just saying that I loved the look of The JPK 1080 with those "windows" that allow a forward view and now the new Pogo has them!!!. This would mean by any chance that the boat is also a Jacques Valer design? The boat will be presented at the Paris boat show and they are keep secret about it. Very curious about it since it appears that the interior is also innovative.

SIRIUS 40DS

Finally and after 5 years of  development, the new Sirius 40DS on the water. Unfortunately it does not look as nice as on the above design. A bit fat for my taste...but to have that interior, one that makes you feel you are on a 44ft boat, some elegance has to be lost. The boat was tested by Yacht. de and you can see it sailing and the interior on their movie:

http://www.yacht.de/yacht_tv/test_technik/sirius-40-ds-exklusives-flaggschiff/a94385.html

So what is this boat worth as a sailing boat? I would say that it is a lot better than what it looks. The Sirius 40 has a weight similar to an Halberg Rassy 412 (11.6T to 11.1T) it has just about the same beam(4.0 8m to 4.10m) and is just a bit smaller (11.99m to 12.61) it has standard more draft (2.10m to 1.99m) a similar keel and a similar D/B ratio (0.37 to 0.36). 

The bigger draft will make the ratio more efficient on the Sirius. Two boats with a similar overall stability and that should be reflected on the sail areas that are not very different (88.5m2 to 90m2). The hull and rig were designed by Marc-Oliver v. Ahlen and that means it is a fast and well designed one.

The Sirius we see on the test comes with an interesting sail set up, not really a cutter  but with three different sails on furlers, a jib, a big Genoa and a removable light furler with a geenaker. The advantage of the system is that it will not need to have additional back stays since both stays go to the top of the mast and it can have a bigger jib. The disadvantage would be the need to furl the big Genoa for taking, but I would say that it would be a small inconvenience regarding the advantages. The boat can have a lot of different keels including a modern swing keel.

It seems to me a much better boat than the old 38 and certainly a much faster one, it will give a great live-aboard boat and also a boat that could be sailed pretty much anywhere. If I would live permanently on a boat I would be looking for something like that....well, less fatter and faster, but certainly a true deck saloon boat to be able to enjoy sailing on the cold weather and to be anchored in nice places, being inside, warm and with a great view. 

Unfortunately the Sirius 40 (made in Germany) is  a very expensive yacht and with all that money I don't know if I could not have a better solution...a faster and more elegant boat. I guess I would prefer the "old" Luffe 43DS that probably would not be very far away in price...and that one is not only way faster but much more elegant...but that is just me, I really find the interior of the Sirius 40 gorgeous and even nicer than the one on the Luffe 43 and probably with more space, almost a condo...and that is a good thing, not a bad one :- )

RM 1070, THE REAL THING

I am posting too much about this boat...that means that I am truly impressed and that's funny since this boat is only an improvement of the previous versions, but when you keep improving a very good boat, and that was made twice now, you reach almost perfection and that is what this boat looks to me: Perfect, more now that I could have a good look at the hull, on the movie and at the interior, on the photos. Can't wait to see the real thing at  Dusseldorf.

My wife, that loves the RM interiors, will want this one  and even if it is a slower boat than our Comet 41s, the boat is so cute that I will be tempted too (with a swing keel). Not very rational since the Comet is bigger, faster, has a bigger loading charge and has a bigger and better quality interior, but even so, the boat is so gorgeous that it is easy to fall in love and that means .... irrationality ;-)

RM 10.70 au salon nautique de Paris from Festival du Film Lycéen on Vimeo.

A VOR65 LOST ON THE REEFS (movie)

Really sad, a beautiful brand new boat abandoned on a reef on the middle of nowhere, 260nm out of Mauritius Islands. All are well and have already been picked up. The boat, Vestas, was one of the competitors on the Volvo Ocean Race, a circumnavigation race. Pretty incredibly the way they did not notice that they had a small Island ahead. They did not grounded the boat on some isolated reef outside the Island but almost at the middle of it, 6NM from the beginning. I guess they were too much concentrated on racing to make a decent navigation :-(

RM 1070, A GOOD SURPRISE

I had already posted about the new RM 1070. At the time little was known about the boat and looked to me a 1060 MKII with a new bow and a swing keel to join to the other keel options. After all the 1060 is only 4 years old:

http://interestingsailboats.blogspot.pt/2014/09/rm1070.html

And the good surprise is that incredibly this is a brand new boat. Not only the bow is different but all the hull, including a very different transom...and I like it a lot more than the 1060 :-) The interior is different too with a true cabin at the bow. I hope it will be in Dusseldorf. I want very much to see this one. It looks absolutely gorgeous and I bet it will sail better than the 1060 and the 1060 sailed  very well.

The difference at the bow is easy to spot, being inverted and all but the transom one, even if evident requires a look at the two. As you can see very different, being the new one very near the one of an Open 60 in design. This boat will have a huge form stability and will be very easy to sail fast downwind, being even more powerful than the 1060.

The new transom and the old one.

About the light wind performance and upwind sailing I have some doubts that it will be better. Time and the first tests will tell.

There is just one thing I don't like: Why have they maintained, on the two wheel version, the winches on a position that only makes sense on the rudder version? On the two wheel version at least one of those winches (on each side) should be moved near the wheel, at reach of the Welshman.

Regarding the previous boat the beam is practically the same (4.00m), the hull is slightly bigger (10.69/10.57m) and the LWL bigger( 10.50/10.30), the boat will be a bit heavier (4900/4600kg) probably on the swing keel configuration. The new Swing keel will have 1.15/2.92m. The boat will be more powerful and will carry more sail (72.50/71.6m2).