Barracuda 45, any one know this boat?

Barracuda of Dart

when the bulb fell off the keel did she sink or what she must have gone turkle. Also any other information on the above?

Carlos
 
Very quick boats, unfortunately put together very badly. Not many around. Sailed one from Littlehampton to Fecamp in 6.5 hours in a gale. Boat leaked like a sieve, but hugely exhilarating sail. Boat handled beautifully and never missed a beat.
 
Still would not sell mine

However unlike BillMcF in a gale I bottled going to Fecamp this weekend in Ronhilda, must be getting old or mindful of the newest of my two metal hips.

Instead we had a great poodle along the coast to Brighton in the Sun under spinny on Sat and a bit of blast coming back today when a bit of wind finally arrived.

As an aside - never seen so many Pizza places in one place as all those overlooking the Marina, nor so many Hen Parties, is it just me or are the miniskirts getting higher?


Brian
 
I'm looking at Barracuda of Dart and am wondering about the lifting keel mechanism - it seems to be just a big metal screwjack (manually operated from deck level) to raise and lower the keel. Is that standard and enough to take the weight of the keel when sailing?
 
Hello All.
Just helped someone deliver his Barracuda to the continent, first time I have even been in one and was very pleasantly surprised. She sailed beautifully, I was at the helm for an hour in a force 3 with full main and full genoa and never had to touch the wheel once, she just flew along with out any weather helm at all.

We did spend the entire trip finding the source of the many leaks though, none were bad, but the windows seemed the worst culprits on this one. The flex on a quarter sea was noticed as well as the slamming in short steep seas. All the GRP was incredibly thin as we found wherever we tried to fit upgrade equipment.

Being new to the boat we had some fun going astern under engine power, but soon had it cracked.

I noticed that Barracuda of Tarrant was for sale in Brighton, anyone know the condition of this boat, if its stiffer and more water tight than the grp boats I might be tempted to buy it?

I don't remember having the misfortune to watch Howards way so don't remember the boat from there!
 
The post you replied to was from 2010.

That one has been advertised for a few years, but no, it's not Barracuda of Tarrant.

Barracuda of Tarrant was also for sale for a while (at £69k IIRC) she was epoxy sheathed cedar rather than GRP. Hopefully she's been restored to her former glory.

Could there be a market for a down to weight robust one (carbon fibre?). What happened to the moulds?
 
I read a review which said the engine had to be run to power the electric keel winch, understandable I suppose; in the same review Bob Fisher mentioned the wake ' kicking up a rooster tail at 20+ knots '.

I heard his Mayday call when Barracuda Of Tarrant went onto Bembridge Ledge, " Cracks are appearing in the hull now, we're taking to the liferaft so if you could expedite the lifeboat that would be much appreciated " !

10 out of 10 for cool Mr Fisher.
 
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I know, I like to breathe life into an old thread. :)

I thought, as the ad claimed that it was the one off Howard's Way, that it must have been "B of T", but reading back on the thread it seems to be the same photo that was mentioned in a previous post (http://www.ybw.com/forums/showthrea...-any-one-know-this-boat&p=2398872#post2398872) that names it as Navico. Either it hasn't sold in years or the For Sale notice was never taken down.

As for the moulds, they are mentioned in this post: http://www.ybw.com/forums/showthrea...-any-one-know-this-boat&p=2394743#post2394743
 
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sighmoon said:
The post you replied to was from 2010.

That one has been advertised for a few years, but no, it's not Barracuda of Tarrant.

Barracuda of Tarrant was also for sale for a while (at £69k IIRC) she was epoxy sheathed cedar rather than GRP. Hopefully she's been restored to her former glory.

Could there be a market for a down to weight robust one (carbon fibre?). What happened to the moulds?
Click to expand...

In the mid nineties the moulds for the Barracuda were obtained by a guy called Paul Roper who was associated with a company called White Silk Yachts based if memory serves correctly at Martham in Norfok. The plan was to put the boat back into production and he quoted me various prices for various stages of work etc. He said he had been in discussion with Tony Castro to discuss updating the design with the latest technology.

He also stated that they had produced a hull from the mould to identify any problems but had not encontered any. He also said that the mould had been used to produce a new skeg for 'Moonboots' I do not know if Roy Hart can confirm this.

Anyway at some stage the plan changed and the idea was to ship the moulds to Malta to take advantage of lower labour costs. They were hauled to Tilbury docks but some problem prevented them being loaded. Everything then went belly up. As I understand, the moulds were impounded at Tilbury because of unpaid storage fees. The haulage contractor was not paid, Paul Roper seemed to disappear and from then on the trail goes cold.

The arklow boat had been written off due to damage hence price?
 
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Seajet said:
I read a review which said the engine had to be run to power the electric keel winch, understandable I suppose; in the same review Bob Fisher mentioned the wake ' kicking up a rooster tail at 20+ knots '.

I heard his Mayday call when Barracuda Of Tarrant went onto Bembridge Ledge, " Cracks are appearing in the hull now, we're taking to the liferaft so if you could expedite the lifeboat that would be much appreciated " !

10 out of 10 for cool Mr Fisher.
Click to expand...

I've skippered Barracuda of Tarrant, (1) when manual winch needed to lift the keel (daggerboard), very tedious & knackering (2) after electrics added, when the engine was usually running anyway, prior to berthing.
Main problem with berthing, was the complete lack of any cleats.
However, the helm was a dream even with everything up & decent breeze.

IIRC, Harold Cudmore, hit the wreck off the Needles Light, ripping the bottom, during a Round the Island Race (Admirals Cup stuff). Was seen on TV, with boat going from fast to dead stop, when it hit.
 
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Lifting the keel electrically does not need the engine running. You do need to pay close attention to even rig tension as the hull and keel box twist. Get it wrong and the keel jams.
I always start and stop the engine on the domestic battery and lift/lower the keel on the engine battery which then gets topped up when the engine is running. The domestic battery is scrapped after about 7 years and a new one bought for the engine, with the old engine swopped into the domestic position. Bog standard Van engine batteries have always been used and interestingly the price for these today is still around the price I paid for the first ones I bought some 16 years ago c £70.
The Barracuda still sails well, we romped from Beachy Head to Chichester with main and small solent jib at 8/9 knots over water and 10 over ground for hours in yesterdays 4/5.
As one poster has said you can helm with one finger in in strong winds and she balances like no other yacht I have sailed. Guess that's one of the reasons I still have her after 16 years. Pity the Sadler construction was so **** and must have put original/prospective owners off.

B
 
It is great that this thread is still up.
As you know I have Quick Hook Barracuda N°10 have come to the decision to put it on the market.
11 years enjoying the boat but need to get on with other projects.
 
Dear all,
I am a proud owner of a Barracuda 45 (Full Away). I discovered this thread at the same time as the water in the bottoms problems.
Is Brian Humber still active here? Does anyone know how he dried the bottoms?
Have a nice day,
Samk
 
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