Ovnis

[RFortin]

We currently have a Hallberg Rassy 36 and are thinking of changing to an Ovni 365 or 395. We keep our boat in the Channel Islands and will be cruising in N and S Brittany for the next few years. We have been to the factory and had a test sail; we were impressed but the sailing was only in light winds. What are these boats like in strong winds? How well do they go to windward? What are the strengths and weaknesses?

I would be very grateful if anyone could please find the time to reply. Thank you.

 

[aran01]

Hi Richard,
Some info here http://www.noonsite.com/aventura/FAQ2.html
Cheers!

 

[rwoofer]

I would be interested to know what they are like in light winds. Having seen one ashore with the daggerboard dropped, it really didn't look like it had a lot of area to prevent leeway.

 

[PhilipH]

Richard, we have a 395 on order for delivery in March. I'm happy to give you our thinking - PM me with your questions.

 

[billmacfarlane]

One of this month's magazines, Sailing Today, tested the Ovni 345. Looks like a seriously nice boat.

 

[gfbalduc]

Obviously, close-hauled sailing is not what lifting-keelers are made for. /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif

Leeway is reasonable as long as speed remains high, and becomes quickly significant as soon as wind speed drops expecially if there is still some sea to slam against.

My 385 tacks across some 85-90 degrees against apparent wind, but about 120 degrees over ground (GPS track), doing about 5.5-6 knots with 15 kts wind and sea to match.
If you steer closer to the wind, each wave stops you.

With stronger wind, things get better and I can compare reasonably with similar sized production boats.

This was with a 4-year old genoa; just waiting for the sailmaker to deliver a new wardrobe! /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[Andy_H]

Sorry, I can't help with the Ovni, but I'm thinking about an HR 36. I'd be interested to know how you find the performance of your 36. Presumably they are pretty good in a blow, but how do you find the light weather perfomance? HR seem to be making quite a lot on the improved performace of the 37 over the 36. Have you been able to compare your 36 against a 37?
Any comments gratefully recieved.

 

[ovniowners]

We have used our 385 in winds up to around Force 6, I certainly never felt nervous in these sort of conditions. Of course a centre-boarder will never go to windward as well as a full keeled boat, on our 385 if you go closer than about 45 degrees, the speed starts dropping off. However, I don't spend hours playing with and trimming the sails to perfection, to you may well find it can go closer. We also have an in-boom main, whilst this is battenned and keeps good shape, it will probably never be as good as a 'proper' sail!

I just love the immensely solid feel of the boat, it gives me great confidence. For us, the lifting keel + rudder are great, as around the South Coast we can lift the gear and go in closer than anyone else! This is a definite bonus in the busy summer months in some of the popular anchorages. I think the boats are nicely designed and well thought out, made to actually be sailed in rather than just posed in, unlike some modern production cruisers.


Hope this helps,

Paul

 

[Inselaffe]

Just out of interest,

where does the 'Ovni' name come from?

I know OVNI as Portuguese for UFO (Objectivos Voadores Nao Identificados)
I think it's similar in Spanish, is it also from the French?
Is there any silver-disc-type connection?

 

[Roberto]

yep

Objet Volant Non Identifié


there is also OFNI
Objet Flottant Non Identifié, applicable to floating containers, wooden logs, etc

 

[TigaWave]

One thing I would want to look closely at if buying one would be the attachment of the deck cleats. We were in a marina with a bit of swell coming through the entrance in a blow and a cleat was removed from a friends 365 Ovni. It was a new boat, and had just been sailed to Madiera. It was pretty rough, but the jeaneau next door and my Bav were fine despite snapping several morring ropes. There was some other cleat damage to one other fairly heavily built yacht near by.

From seeing this I might look closely at the size of backing plates, and material used. It could be a one off in extreme circumstances, but as mine were Ok it put some questions in my mind as to the construction of the Ovni fittings.

The boat was called Stenfis if you want to talk to the factory about this incident.

 

[Sailfree]

Heard of one person who ordered a 37 but was so disappointed went back to his 36 and let the 37 go. Had the impression the 37 is modern and going along the AWB lines compared to the 36.

I am not knocking the AWB as I have only owned AWB's!

 

[Birdseye]

We looked seriously at both the HR and the Ovni, and sailed both. Neither had the sort of performance to windward that you would get with (say) a First. In fact we found (in the usual sort of non race that you get into when sailing) that we had no difficulty in making to windward faster in our Prout cat that a French sailor was doing in one of the smaller Ovnis. off la Rochelle and in a chop. I was most surprised.

But both the HR and the Ovni are cruising boats, not cruiser racers. So its really a matter of what you want a boat for.

Personally, I liked the Ovni a lot - it gave the impression of being built by a real sailor, not a factory designer. It had the same "shipbuilder" quality feel that I came across on one of the British Steel challenge boats built by Devonshire dockyards. The aluminium was both a source of interest and a worry - ally is very difficult to keep paint on. And how do you disguise a "ding" - grp is infinitely repairable and you can easily get an invisible repair. In ally?

Finally there is the money issue. In depreciation terms, an HR will beat an Ovni hands down. You might well think its not justified and that HR are living a bit on past rep. nevertheless, just look at the price you will get for your 36!

 

[rwoofer]

Whilst we are talking Ovnis. One of the things that I could never figure out was how do you dry out without damaging the paintwork and therefore exposing bare aluminium? Or do they have a ground plate made out of another material?

 

[charles_reed]

Aluminum and UFOs

You don't paint it - you'll find most aluminum boats are self finish.

The Ovnis are not good in light winds, either off or going to windward, (in fact many would clain them undercanvassed) but they're as tough as old boots and allow you to go where most monohulls cannot.

Trying to sleep at anchor in a chop can be frustrating, there is a lot of noise from the aft quarters caused by wave-slap.

Stowage is a bit primitive and if you want all-wood panelled interior they're probably not for you.

Providing you take adequate precautions against that enemy of all aluminum boats, galvanic corrosion, their maintenance demands are light.

I know of one boat, spent a night bumping around on coral heads in F6 and only needed a re-antifoul when she was dragged off. A grp boat would have been a loss and most steel boats needing some major welding done to them.

as has already been said, the heavy-weather failure or success of any boat is down to the skipper, Ovnis have tended to cruise extreme condition areas.

 

[gfbalduc]

Re: Aluminum and UFOs

A few loose comments:

- mooring cleat ripped off: that's a rather disturbing thought, it would be interesting to know what happened exactly: were the cleat's bolts sheared (a bolt failure, then), or were the bolts ripped through the deck (insufficient backing plate)?
I had a chance to look at some backing plates over the cabin roof, and they are quite substantial pieces of 6 or 7mm aluminium welded on the inside of a 4mm deck.
The reference to lines snapped on other boats makes me wonder if there were too strong/too many lines led to this cleat, not helping with their elasticity to snub the loads and effectively making the cleat the weakest link?
There may be a lesson to learn here!

- small damages to the hull: indeed, there is less risk that such damages take place due to the hull strength, but they do happen and it is a problem! Unlike with GRP, either small or large repairs on a metal hull are a complicated affair, which may require dismantling the interior and possibly even replacing a portion of the hull.
In short, small damages are likely to be not repaired at all!

- taking the ground: in fact, it seems that owners of large lifting-keelers are not as keen on taking the ground as publicity would like us to believe!
If you have to do it (after having carefully chosen the spot!), the fact that the central portion of the hull is flat (and up to 10mm thick!) helps the boat to rest on a large surface.
The antifouling may get scratched, but due to the fact that you must use hard-matrix paints, these are relatively hard-wearing, and anyway the occasional scratch is not a disaster as long as the antifouling is 100% copper-free (...and not all aluminium-specific antifoulings meet this requirement).

- "rudimentary" stowage: I agree, as long as we talk of the basic layout, but this is where Alubat's flexibility in accomodating each owner's desires really comes handy.
Basically no two OVNIs are the same (and this must be taken into account if shopping for a second-hand boat: some owners may have requested very "personal" layouts!) and I would definitely recommend to ask modification to the standard arrangements, like deeper lockers in the saloon and closed lockers instead of shelves in the forecabin.

- Resale value: maybe not (yet?) in the UK where they are little-known, but used OVNI's are very much sought after (the hull durability certainly helps); it is not uncommon for a 4-5 years old OVNI to be offered at a price very near that of a new boat (you basically save some 30-50k of optionals/equipment). Even 20 years old boats are normally for sale at about 50% of the new price.

 

[Roberto]

waiting lists of 1-2-3 years for new boats certainly help to keep second hand market buoyant /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif

 

[ovniowners]

Re: Aluminum and UFOs

In the UK I would say the second hand price of Ovni's is very good, probably due to the lack of Ovni's for sale over here. I frequently receive emails from people asking about buying a second hand Ovni iin the UK, but they are a very rare beast. Because of this, they tend to keep their value well, and sell very quickly, before many people have had a chance to see the advert! If there are any second hand Ovni's on the market, or where owners are trading up, then the UK Ovni dealer, North Sea Maritime would probably know about it.


Regards,

Paul

 

[rwoofer]

Re: Aluminum and UFOs

[ QUOTE ]
anyway the occasional scratch is not a disaster as long as the antifouling is 100% copper-free

[/ QUOTE ]

Surely you would still get galvanic corrosion with the props, shaft etc. Is there a specific insight that I'm missing that suggests you can leave aluminium exposed underwater without corrosion happening?

 

[emnick]

Hi, have you checked out the Southerly range, I looked at the Ovnis at the Southampton BS, and was` moored next to one recently,more impressed with the Southerly,STIX and AVS figs and IMHO a better fit out.