The RM 1270 is on the water. It is not a new boat but also a bit more than a MKII. The hull is the same, except on the forward sections where a slightly inversed bow substitutes the older one, adding some LWL, a swing ballasted keel is proposed know, joining the two other options, tween keel and torpedo keel and a new interior (only in what regards looks) substitutes the old one.
Basically it is the same boat but more beautiful and slightly improved. Very little, would say some, but the fact is that the RM1260 was already a very up to date cruiser and a very good fast voyage boat and this one is slightly better. All the good stuff is maintained and the boat on configuration with the swing keel has become 100kg lighter. A very interesting yacht for the ones that want a fast boat more adapted to long range cruising.
The test of the previous version, the 1260, by Yachting world. You should take into consideration that is not a boat the Brits are used to and the test reflects that, as if the boat and the concept was something new, instead of this type of boat being successfully used by the French for more than a two decade, having RM built around 300 yachts.
This is the third post about a boat that on the first post I said that i did not like very much LOL. At the time I had only seen the drawings and I presumed this was just a cheaper main market version of the Grand Soleil 47. Well I was wrong. I saw the boat in Dusseldorf and was impressed with the quality, interior space, design and rigging of the boat. The galley and saloon are particularly impressive.
I guess I was letting my personal preferences get in the way of objectivity: this is a very different boat from the 47, that is a performance cruiser with a great living interior. The 46LC points not to the same market but to the ones that like to cruise in an easy way, with the minimum fuss about the sails and sail trimming, with a maximized quality living interior on a boat that nevertheless is a fast boat for this type of yacht.
I would say that it was very indicated for living aboard if I didn't saw a problem with storage. I don't know if they will make a two cabin version. The only one I saw advertised is the three cabin that have beautiful huge aft cabins, at the cost of the two "normal" cockpit storage lockers. The boat has on the cockpit, besides the one for gas, a deep narrow one (for fenders) and a big central one, that unfortunately has a somewhat narrow hatch.
Not very practical. A big hatch or two smaller ones would make a lot more sense. On the interior of the boat you have also some spaces under the floor, on the bilges, that are deeper than on most modern boats, but what you can store there is limited in shape and type of things. That lack of useful storage in this type of boat is unfortunate.The boat has a very good tankage, with 600L of water and 300l of diesel...with a very small black water tank (30L). The engine is powerful for a 12T boat (75hp) and the boat has a very good stability not only due to a big hull form stability but also due to a considerable draft (2.3m), a modern keel, and considering all that, a high B/D (35%). Taking in account the quality, the price is attractive and starts at 369 000 euros, VAT excluded and includes some equipment. Now, to be a perfect living aboard boat and join in that sector the Sense 46, all it would be needed is a two cabin version with a big locker with access from the interior and the outside, one with space for a wash machine, since the generator can perfectly be on the cockpit one. Maybe they come up with one ;-)
The tests from the British Yachtingw World magazine and the New Zealand boating magazine:
And for comparison purposes here is the faster and more "complicated" to trim Grand Soleil 47, a performance cruiser with a good cruising interior, but not as good and spacious as the one from the GS 46LC:
Now that the boat has been extensively tested by many sailing magazines including Yachtingworld, and Voiles, it is time to say that I was right and that it is indeed a great cruising boat that offers great quality everywhere at a fantastic price, a very nice interior and sails very well. One of the testers, a racer, said that the boat made very good speed at 6K and that means for the ones that like to sail, that they will be using less the engine.
To give a precise example of how good is that light wind performance on Giornale de la Vella test sail they have measured it: close hauled with 3,5k wind the boat sailed at 3.1k(SOG), at an apparent wind angle of 26° (45° real). With 4,5k they sailed at 4,2k ponting at 28°(apparent wind).
The boat has some particularities that I would dispense: The nonexistence of a traveler, that is "substituted" by a very efficient central electric two way winch and a very short distance between the winch and the boom. The system is used on many performance luxury big cruisers not directly raced oriented, like some of the last Swans and it works reasonably well. That is about the only thing I don't like on the boat that has a rigging setup pointed to the solo sailor, a boat that can be commanded by the push of a button, but that it is also very rewarding at the wheel.
If you are on the market for a 40ft boat, can pay just a little bit more than what is asked by Beneteau, Jeanneau and the other mass production builders, can live with a slightly less spacious interior (but a better quality one) and like to sail, have a test sail on this boat. I believe you will never look back: this is a sailor's boat.
But the race direction will not change the race start just because some boats have foils that are still not really tried enough on bad weather...and I agree that the race should go on. Postponing would be to give an advantage to the new designs over the older ones. Anyway it will be interesting, I mean even more interesting ;-) Well, the new boats on foils (at least some) have already some miles in rough weather even if what is ahead of them is far worse:
And now the really good news, the start will be broadcasted by a French TV, France 3 and Dailymotion will be re-broadcasting it on the Transat Jacques Vabre channel (on the race site). As an option you can also watch it on the official France 3 website in French.
After that you can follow the race almost live on the tracker (Cartographie) that will be available on the site since departure (13.30 French hour): http://www.transat-jacques-vabre.com/en
With news in French, Portuguese and English, what do you want more...maybe you don't like sailing? :-)
This is a post that I have wanted to make here for a long time about a very interesting boat that will probably (unfortunately) be a commercial failure. I had already posted about it when it was on the project stage and it seemed already a very nice one. http://interestingsailboats.blogspot.pt/2014/06/sunbeam-401.html
Now that it is on the water and I have seen it at Dusselforf a follow up makes all the sense.
The Sundbeam 40.1 is a lovely medium to light weight boat and even if they prefer to evidence its “sportiveness” it is not a performance sailboat but one that one can put on the same category as the Halberg-Rassy 412, a more sportive one but not a cruiser-racer. The boat is not as expensive as the Halberg Rassy 412, it is a bit smaller and considerably less heavy being a much slimmer and elegant boat.
While the Halberg Rassy makes more concessions regarding interior volume the Sunbeam makes a lot less as it makes less in what regards effective sailing and beauty. Sunbeam is an Austrian brand, not very well known but that has been making quality boats for more than 50 years. On the past the boats were very well built but in many cases the looks were very similar to Bavarias. That was in the past since now they have a line of beautiful, elegant well built boats that sail very well, designed by J&J curiously the one that designed the pre-Farr Bavarias.
I have in the past visited several Sunbeam and even sailed side by side (at least for some seconds ;-) with some. I was always impressed with the built quality and finish but this time in Dusseldorf, I was not only impressed with that but with the quality of the design at a very good price.
Comparing the HR 412 with the Sunbeam 40.1 will give some clues about the differences. The HR has a bigger LOA ( 12.61m to 11.99) the HR has more beam (4.11m to 3.99) both featuring modern transoms with the beam pulled back. The Sunbeam has a more effective keel with about the same standard depth (1.99m to 2.00).
Regarding stability the Sunbeam balances the HR bigger form stability with a similar ballast ratio (0.36 to 0.35) but a much more effective keel (for the same draft), that means that the HR will sail with slightly less heel but that the Sunbeam will have a better final stability.
The HR weights 11.1T while the Sunbeam only 8.5T and the superior slightly bigger sail area of the HR (90m2 to 87.5m2) will not prevent the much lighter Sunbeam (and less beamier boat) to be a faster boat, specially upwind (and the HR is already a fast boat for a medium weight boat).
The interior is a very nice one, slightly on the conservative side but cosy and the quality is evident. The storage is adequate specially on the two cabin version having the boat a very useful fender locker aft the anchor locker.
Several magazines have tested the boat and all the reviews were very positive, especially in what regards sailing. A great boat that I would say will miss a market since the ones that are after that type of boat want more interior space and will compromise a lot for that and in what regards performance cruisers, well it is not one, not comparable with true ones like the Arcona 410 just to speak of one with similar quality. At about 250 000 euros (without VAT) it is an interesting boat at an interesting price.
Maybe it is
just your type of boat, not too sporty, not too fat, not too slow (meaning
faster than most new cruisers) and a beautiful one with a great cruising
interior.
Now that the start of the Transat Jacque Vabre is getting closer (only 10 days) more and more Open'60's are being shown using their new foils. Now we can have a look at Jean-Pierre Dick / Fabien Delahaye boat, a serious candidate to victory with two great sailors aboard. Everybody knows Jean-Pierre Dick but Fabien Delahaye is not so well known, a kid from the new generation with already a big list of accomplishments. Looking only at victories: 1st Transat Jacques Vabre (Class40 - 2013), 1st Tour de France (2012), 2012 French champion crewed offshore racing, 2011 Champion of France Solo Offshore, Winner of the Transat AG2R La Mondiale (with Armel Le Cléac’h - 2010). Their boat looks good and even with moderate wind the first 1/3 of the boat sails out of the water for considerable periods:
Also a look at some great images from"Le souffle du Nord", Thomas Ruyant / Adrien Hardy Open60, one without the new foils and even if with two great sailors from the new generation (with many victories on smaller ocean classes) I don't believe the 2007 sailboat will allow them any chance to win. That's right, on many offshore races a top 2007 boat is still a boat to be considered for victory, here is just a 2 generations older boat, considerably slower then the new ones or even than the ones from the last generation. That is a measure of the speed of boat development and improvements on design on this class. Compare that with the Volvo racers where the boats from the previous generation where faster then the new ones.
Yes it is not only the Open60's that are changing fast in the way they sail, ocean racing trimarans are changing fast too. We have the idea that they already fly but not really since they kept on of the hulls on the water. Look at these images:
Spectacular but dangerous and not that efficient. Now this team, Oman racing, has been experimenting on their MOD 70, having as reference a small GC 32. Look at the difference in efficiency, taking into consideration the size of the boats:
The first MOD70 that comes first as a full foiling boat is the Edmond de Rothschild. First the boat in May, winning a race without foiling:
and two months later we can see the boat foiling and sometimes completely out of the water:
So another point of interest is to know if they become easier to tame. The MOD70 are very fast but very tricky to sail and several had capsized, the last one just some days ago:
and of course, not forgetting other spectacular MOD70's capsizes:
The RM 1270 is on the water. It is not a new boat but also a bit more than a MKII. The hull is the same, except on the forward sections where a slightly inversed bow substitutes the older one, adding some LWL, a swing ballasted keel is proposed know, joining the two other options, tween keel and torpedo keel and a new interior (only in what regards looks) substitutes the old one.
