JPK 38FC

Normally I post here about new boats, this one has already 5 years and that means that a new re-make, if not a new boat, should be on the way to substitute it, except I don't think it is going to happen, or even that it is needed  and since this boat is not on this blog (the blog started in 2014) it is time to post about it because I find it one of the most interesting around.

JPK stands for Jean-Pierre Kelbert, the initials of the builder. JPK is a great guy, I knew him personally some years ago while I was looking for my next boat and made a tour of the shipyards that had boats that interested me.

 I meat at that time some very interesting guys but none as interesting as JPK. He was a racer that started building boats and still races occasionally, crewing on his client's boats and he certainly has some top racers as clients. They buy mostly two of his cruiser racers, the JPK 10.10 and the JPK 10.80.

Both boats have already won the Fastnet  and the Transaquadra. The 10.80 won the last Transquadra and its division on the Sydney-Hobart. On both, on the Transquadra (duo Transat) and on the Sydney-Hobart, JPK was part of the crew. So I can tell you that, with a vast experience of crew racing and solo racing, building winning boats, he knows exactly what he is talking about when you discuss with you your particular requirements. He can offer very positive and meaningful suggestions regarding the sailing and cruising needs of any sailor and make them happen on the boats.

That was what I felt when I talked with him regarding having a JPK 110 more adapted to cruising and solo sailing. But in the end I felt that the 110 was just a bit smaller than what I needed, specially regarding storage space and even if impressed with the boat and boat building quality I moved on. If he had already the 38FC probably I would have that boat.

FC stands for fast cruising and the boat seems to respond to all I want on a sailboat. It was not designed with racing on mind but for the ones whose principal enjoyment is cruising on a rewarding and fast boat, including offshore cruising. Compared with the 110 the 38 is bigger, more stable, easier to sail (due to a a bigger transom and more beam), has an option for a swing keel (with all the ballast on the keel), has a much bigger galley and much more storage space.

Its  small weight (5000kg), allow for the use of relatively small sails, easily manageable, the big form stability and big B/D ratio (38%) on a big draft (1.35/2.70m) gives it a huge stability and a very good reserve or final stability. A powerful easy and very seaworthy boat built with infusion vacuum techniques on a cored (20mm) hull using vinylester resins and as core Balsa light and Airex. In fact the  hull is built like the one of a racing 40 class boat (that they built too).

Many times what the builders or designers says about their boats is exaggerated but I don't think it is the case with JPK that "explains" the 38FC better than me.

"The  JPK 38 reunites the cumulative experience of offshore racing, the cruising experience and a desire to voyage combining the pleasure of sailing, the quality of life aboard and safety. Many boats are on the market but none of them really combines all these qualities:

There are boats with a good cruising interior but with a hull limited by weight resulting in a diminished sailing pleasure and an offshore seaworthiness not entirely convincing. And also boats very light, with a minimalist interior and a open type of hull but not tolerant about the overload inherent to offshore cruising. They have very flat hull sections that will be very uncomfortable going close to the wind in a seaway.

The JPK 38 FC measure 11.38 meters to 4 meters wide. It is an ideal size in our opinion in what regards simple management of navigation and boat maintenance. The sail areas will generate little effort and are easily to handle. They are complemented with a gennaker or a code 0 on a retractable carbon bowsprit, allowing an uncluttered front deck. Bow thruster and electric winch remain unnecessary comfort options.

We considered having this boat made on the hull mold of JPK Class 40 , it would be easier and less expensive but Jacques Valer (the NA) immediately felt that it was impossible to achieve a true "good cruise sailingboat" by exploiting the mold of a boat designed to weigh 4500 kg 
 when in Version cruise we would need 5500 kg.

The JPK 38 FC is a synthesis between an "open" planing boat and a "displacement" boat. A beamy and powerful hull but with the frontal sections deep enough for a good wave passage and a deeper central hull, accepting the overload needed for voyaging. The result is a stable boat capable of sailing at a very high average speed in all sea conditions. The super careful construction in infused sandwich allows a large hull volume for a light displacement of 5 T, despite a substantial ballast of 1900 kg in the deep keel version.

The low weight is the key factor on all the architecture of the boat is based. The objective is to obtain a sufficiently rigid and fast hull to quickly exceed hull speed without dragging water even under load. A boat that will be fast upwind, downwind and in light winds.

For the ones that want the best in what regards sheltered anchorage and dream to voyage to the "end of the world" we have developed our swinging keel that allows to vary the draft from 2.70 m to 1.35 m. The keel foil is made of an infused composite web and the bulbed part is lead. It provides a RM similar to the one of the fixed keel with an estimate overall weight slightly lower. The necessary interior arrangements regarding the lifting mechanism don't interfere with the habitability.

In summary, the JPK 38 FC is a true synthesis of a modern voyage boat: Convivial, easy, seaworthy and very fast."

Regarding to be very fast, even if deigned as a cruising boat and with a rating that will not make competitive in IRC compensated racing, on the last Silverrudder, the most famous Nordic solo race, with 330 competitors, a race that experienced almost all wind conditions, a JPK 38 won with such an easiness that leaved all astonished.

That particular JPK 38FC is used normally for family cruising won not only its category, "keel boat large" but was also the fastest cruiser/racer monohull in all monohull categories including fastest than any of the much bigger "XL keel boat" category. And there were some very fast boats among the beaten ones, like for instance a racing J111 very well sailed (Blur), a Xp44 and a Grand Soleil 43.

In real time the boat was only beaten by a race monohull boat and some very race oriented trimarans, beating most of them, including all Corsair and all Farrier. So I guess we can say that JPK is not exaggerating when he states that the 38FC is "very fast" ;-)

If you want to try one these guys have one for charter:
http://www.eridan-naviroise.com/jfk-38-fc.html

COMFORTINA 46

Comfortina is a German brand that always have impressed and pissed me at the same time: Why a brand that makes such beautiful crafted boats, with some of the nicest and best finished interiors I have ever seen, a brand that produces very well built boats with a quality that is evident, was unable to present a contemporary designed boat?

And I am not talking about the cozy interiors with a traditional but very nice design, but about hull design, that was hopefully outdated. The best example is the 42, still in production, that looks good, has a very nice interior but has a hull that could have been designed 30 years ago. Look at the images (on the right) to understand what I mean.

What a waste, what a pity. They know how to built great boats why can't they get a top NA do design them a more efficient hull? Well it is done now. The new 46 is designed by Dieter Blank and even if the designs and the data about the boat is still incomplete we can see already that it has a contemporary hull and Dieter Blank is known to design fast and very seaworthy boats.

The Comfortina 46 will have  a kind of classic modern look, probably a classic interior but that is were the "old"outlook finishes. The hull has very fine entries, almost all the considerable beam (4.15m) pulled back and will be proposed with two types of keels, a fixed one (2.30m or 2.60m) and a lifting keel (2.40/1,35m). 

They don't give the weight but Comfortinas are a kind of very comfortable performance cruisers, not really a cruiser-racer, but fast cruisers, not among the lightest but far from an heavy boat and this one would not be an exception. 

The boat is built in epoxy using vacuum infusion. Previous boats had cored hulls above water line and solid laminate below. I am not sure about this one since they say that the chain plates and parts of the underbody are made of carbon fiber and critical design elements are reinforced with Kevlar inserts, so possibly this will be a full cored hull with reinforced parts. That will make it even a lighter and stronger boat.

The price it is not yet public but this boat is going to be made in Poland and not, as the others, in Germany, so probably the price would be attractive regarding the quality and Poland has already a big know how in what regards to built yachts.

I would say that someone interested on a very high quality boat of this dimension, a specially well built, seaworthy fast cruiser, should have a better look at this one, specially if the program is not pointed to cruiser/racing but just to a fine fast bluewater boat. Of course, the price is not going to be the same as the one of a  Bavaria 46, but that is to be expected.

WANT TO MAKE A TRANSAT ON AN INTERESTING FAST BOAT?

They are looking for some honorary Vikings to help crew this 115ft Draken on a transat. Seems fun to me ;-)

http://wavetrain.net/news-a-views/706-calling-all-vikings-volunteer-crew-needed-for-transatlantic-voyage-on-a-115-foot-longship

HANSE 315

There is another little Hanse, a new 315. I confess that I did not take a second look at the boat when I saw it the first time. Sure it is a nice little boat but nothing specially attractive or looking anything out of the ordinary. So, why am I posted about it?

Because I start reading several test sails from magazines from different countries and all test sailors are unanimous in referring that the boat really sails very well and it is fast for a non performance boat. Looking again we can see some details that are very interesting like the control of the boom near the steering wheel, a traveller there, the option for a rudder or two wheels, a self tacking jib, a good B/D ratio for the type of boat, type of keel and draft and a very attractive price starting at 60 000 euros.

The Hanse 315 has also a very nice light and bright interior and it is no wonder to have been nominated for the European boat of the year contest. It would not surprise me if it won it on his category. Sometimes simplicity and effectiveness are underrated, sometimes not.

http://www.yachtingpartners.com.mt/yachts/hanse-315/

X4 (41ft) : FROM THE NEW SERIES OF X YACHTS

I have to say that never understood very well why X yachts have launched the XC series with the characteristic they have: Middle weight, very classical in design. Don't take me wrong, the XC series are great boats but I never understood why that type of boat would be the vision X yacht had of  a cruising boat. Maybe they just wanted to compete on the Halberg Rassy more traditional market and if it was all about that, no doubt that they accomplished the task.

But personally I would have took without any hesitation for cruising a boat from the XP line  over one of the XC. Sure, the XC has a better interior for cruising but all that weight does not make my style. I like rewarding boats to sail, even if I would like a Xp with a better cruising interior, not that the XP line has a bad one, but it is not a match for the cruising interior of the XC series.

Well it seems I am not the only one since X yacht launched a new series for me :-) and all that share my tastes, simply the X series. They describe the new line, referring to the first boat on the line, the X6 (the X4 is made according the same principles) like this:

"Utilizing the very latest state-of the art design concepts, yet unmistakably an X-Yacht, the X-Yachts designers started with a clean slate for the all-new X6. Developed to provide ultimate luxury, without sacrificing the renowned X-Yachts sailing performance, the X6 will take her owners and crew anywhere in sumptuous style and comfort...
Building upon the best features of the world beating Xcruising and Xperformance ranges, the X6 will utilize the same hi tech, low weight construction techniques as the latest generation of Xp racer-cruisers, including vacuum infused epoxy with localized carbon fiber reinforcements for strength, stiffness and stability.

The weight saved has been put to good use: allowing long-range fuel and water tanks, larger battery banks and optional equipment such as water makers and dive compressors to be fitted without sacrificing performance. The new ‘X’ range will be a luxurious and impressively fast collection of performance cruising yachts for state-of-the-art bluewater sailing".

Well, it makes sense to me ;-) The X4 will be a bit heavier than the XP series, but nothing like the XC. The new 41ft will weight 8850kg with a big B/D ratio (42.9%) for a boat with a standard draft of 2.20m and a torpedo keel. It will have a considerable beam of 3.95m (not beamy by modern standards) and that will give it a huge stability.

A L keel can also be provided, with a draft of 1.85m (and more ballast) or with the same ballast and 2.5m of draft (to compensate the less efficient keel design).

It will come with a 45hp engine, 97m2 of sail upwind, a tankage of 200L of diesel and 340L of water. First boats will be delivered next summer. I like it...maybe because it is very similar to my boat, that is just a bit less beamy and a bit lighter. My kind of cruisers ;-)

VISMARA V56: just beautiful.

Vismara and the NA Mark Mills have done it again, what a beauty!!! After the much more sportive V65 :
 http://interestingsailboats.blogspot.pt/2014/09/vismara-v47-vismara-mills-62.html
a smaller performance cruising one. It is a pleasure to see Mark Mills, after having designed some of the fastest IRC racers around, designing big cruising yachts :-)

The boat is relatively beamy (5m), has a dingy garage, integrated solar panels, a moderated draft (2.5m) and it can have the boom control on an arch , that is also a permanent "bimini" or having a traditional cockpit system. It is made of carbon/epoxy sandwich and it is light (14 000kg) and will be certainly very fast.

The design program, for a owner that is a very experienced sailor, was for a blue water cruiser able to sail in very light winds built with tested solutions and made with the best materials : My kind of program ;-)

The winches are near the wheels allowing for solo sailing and it comes with a cutter configuration for easier control. No drawings yet from the interior (Lucio Micheletti) but if a very sportive boat like the V65 has a very nice cruising interior I am really curious to see this one.

COMET CAT 37 IS ON THE WATER

I don't find small cats very pleasing to the eye, they tend to be quite high for the length and that gives them a boxy look but I recon the comet 37 is near of what you can do best regarding looks on that size. From some angles it is even beautiful. Looked laterally not so much, but then any small cat isn't.

http://interestingsailboats.blogspot.pt/2014/04/comet-37-cat.html

I have talked already about it when it was still a project, now is on the water and raising a lot of attention: It was nominated for the boat of the year awards and it is not a weak contender. It has proved to be fast, without being properly a true performance cat, at least on this version without daggerboards, it has a very good cruising interior, kind of the best part of two worlds for many and has a nice price: 225 000 euros without VAT.

12K speed with 20K wind is not bad for a 37ft cat ;-) I cannot wait for a true sail test to see how the boat will do upwind. This one has two keels of considerable depth (1.33m) but there will be a more sportive version with daggerboards. Well, sail tests will be many since the boat is going to be tested by sailors from the major European magazines for the European boat of the year, we have only to wait a little :-)