Aluminium Centreboard Boats?

Tim Good

Tim Good

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Other than Ovni and Boreal can anyone name other aluminium centreboard boards on the market? Is there any? If you know of any custom ones then feel free to share also ;)
 
We had an Atlantic 36 rafted to us a few years ago in the Netherlands - a stunning boat - Al and lifting keel. It was made in the NL, but I don't know if they still are, but there is a second hand one for sale in Lemmer, which I found when I googled the name.

Have a further look at Dutch boats - they favour lifting keels for their shallow seas, and there are still some small volume boatyards about.
 
northcave said:
Other than Ovni and Boreal can anyone name other aluminium centreboard boards on the market? Is there any? If you know of any custom ones then feel free to share also ;)
Click to expand...
Are you aware of the delivery times on a Boreal? They are my first new boat of choice after I win the lottery at the weekend, but sadly I am not sure I could wait for delivery. So far I've not heard of a second hand hull on the market.
 
Whilst on Dutch & Aly anyone know anything about Puffin centreboarders ? interesting lines, look very solid & a decent rig or just slow ?
 
northcave said:
Other than Ovni and Boreal can anyone name other aluminium centreboard boards on the market? Is there any? If you know of any custom ones then feel free to share also ;)
Click to expand...

Google "Meta", "Strongall". They are specialists in heavy duty zinc coated (protection from electrolysis) aluminium boats.

Architects Michel Joubert and J-P Brouns both have had their own boats built there; in their case, bilge keels.
 
AliM said:
We had an Atlantic 36 rafted to us a few years ago in the Netherlands - a stunning boat - Al and lifting keel. It was made in the NL, but I don't know if they still are, but there is a second hand one for sale in Lemmer, which I found when I googled the name.

Have a further look at Dutch boats - they favour lifting keels for their shallow seas, and there are still some small volume boatyards about.
Click to expand...

Atlantic Yachts, built in Harlingen
http://www.atlanticyachts.nl/home/
 
Those Puffins certainly are pretty and characterful-looking.

As a dinghy sailor I'm always attracted to big centreboard designs because at their best, they really seem to 'upsize' the versatility I'm familiar with. But it always seems a pity that the slick performance of racing dinghies is so compromised in bigger designs, I guess because a ruddy great centreboard case wouldn't allow optimum use of accommodation space.

I get the feeling this causes centreboarders to be rather 'middle-of-the-road', without any sporty associations...while race-boats with deep fins, just accept their inconvenience.

It might be that no-one really wants a seriously fast, fine-handling yacht which can also float in a couple of feet of water - or perhaps the combination is technically difficult...

...but in the absence of a really slick-looking, pure-performance centreboarder, is it surprising that fast, equally shallow-drafted multihulls are so popular? Their accommodation is scarcely without compromise, but they combine high performance with shallow-water practicality and can dry-out on cheap moorings too.

I can't recall seeing even an open 'sportboat' with a centreboard. That may be for performance reasons, but I'd have thought the option to trail such a boat would increase sales.

Are there any aluminium lifting-keel designs dedicated to exceptional performance and the impressively slick styling which often follows efficiency of hull/deck/coachroof form?
 
There are several types of aluminum center-boarders but if voyage in high latitudes or in cold climates is the purpose probably the best regarding price and quality is probably the Garcia explorer 45 designed for and under the supervision of Jimmy Cornell. Several are already commanded. If it is not properly for cold climates and high latitudes an Allures 45 would be a better choice in what regards to be a more overall adapted boat, more agreeable on less cold climates and faster. The Boreal sits in between the two. I like particularly the Allures 45 that has a very good price.

http://youtu.be/YkwBY-CGHcA

Some more aluminum boats and discussion about them here:

http://interestingsailboats.blogspot.pt/2014/03/tk-march-7-2014-at-958-pm-last-year-has.html
 
I thought those boats had retractable fins - bulbed daggerboards - like the old Tempest keelboat? I had the impression that their owners could raise the keel for transport, but that in practice, they never use the option whilst afloat...so in my mind they weren't, or aren't centreboarders. I'll be glad if I'm wrong. :)
 
(Leaving material aside) Pretty well describing a trailable trimaran here - which similarly is where my interest in centreboarders started
 
After many years of racing, then cruising, went for an X-Yacht, dumped it.
Came across an number of builder/architects not been mentioned here.
The dutch builder http://www.kmy.nl/ building various Alloy centerboards , Stadship and Bestevaer.

The after some research found a French builder who cooped, competed , with Skip Novak and Cornell new expedition boats.
I am now in the process of building with the http://www.explorer54.com/ but a 60' version for myself and my friend is building a 54' version.

The places one would go with these boats would make them less desirable for the eye, but I think this architect did a good job in finding, speed, eye, and purpose build in one.

http://xcinquemila.weebly.com/explorer-60.html

image005.jpgint05.jpg

Some of the picture are from the yard where the expedition version was under construction enjoy the uploads on weebly.

Before some people asked me how about the power on board, rather say inboard, we opted for a Volvo Penta D3 150.
 
dancrane said:
Those Puffins certainly are pretty and characterful-looking.

As a dinghy sailor I'm always attracted to big centreboard designs because at their best, they really seem to 'upsize' the versatility I'm familiar with. But it always seems a pity that the slick performance of racing dinghies is so compromised in bigger designs, I guess because a ruddy great centreboard case wouldn't allow optimum use of accommodation space.

I get the feeling this causes centreboarders to be rather 'middle-of-the-road', without any sporty associations...while race-boats with deep fins, just accept their inconvenience.

It might be that no-one really wants a seriously fast, fine-handling yacht which can also float in a couple of feet of water - or perhaps the combination is technically difficult...

...but in the absence of a really slick-looking, pure-performance centreboarder, is it surprising that fast, equally shallow-drafted multihulls are so popular? Their accommodation is scarcely without compromise, but they combine high performance with shallow-water practicality and can dry-out on cheap moorings too.

I can't recall seeing even an open 'sportboat' with a centreboard. That may be for performance reasons, but I'd have thought the option to trail such a boat would increase sales.

Are there any aluminium lifting-keel designs dedicated to exceptional performance and the impressively slick styling which often follows efficiency of hull/deck/coachroof form?
Click to expand...

Parker 31 - even if not aluminium
 
True, I don't know why Parker yachts have gone unnoticed by me all these years. Absence of a doghouse, I expect. :rolleyes:
 
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