HABER 34C4 Cutter

[BoatNoob]

Hi

any alternatives to the HABER 34C4 Cutter ?

OK its a hybrid. Do motor sailors match the best or worst from both worlds?

 

[Laminar Flow]

Not sure you're in the right forum here, but, depending how far you want to be in the motoring end of things, perhaps not.

A boat with a displacement/sail area ratio of 8 or less is a motorboat with steadying sail. Over 13 it is more of a sailing boat.

IMHO, a motorsailer is defined by being able to make progress to weather and under power in adverse conditions. It does not mean that that they have to be poor sailers. Generally they will have a prismatic coefficient of over 0.6 (fancy way of describing how buoyant or blunt the ends are). This describes a boat optimized for higher displacement speeds with an emphasis on reaching and downhill performance (So is a Pogo, by the way).
A lot of them have gotten a bad rep in regards to performance, mostly because some are hopelessly under rigged and little care was given to sailing performance at the design stage.

As an optional bonus some, not all, have inside or covered steering. Due to, generally higher displacements, they tend to be more comfortable at sea than either regular sailing boats or many motorboats for that matter.

It really all depends on what your priorities are: a motorsailer is not a one thing only, it is a large spectrum of abilities and possibilities.

I haven't actually seen or been on board a Haber. It is an interesting concept with shallow draft and "supposedly" self steering ability. But, I have seen the videos posted on You-tube and my first impression was that she doesn't have enough buoyancy in her bow which gives her a tendency to undercut and a continuously wet foredeck.

 

[BoatNoob]

Yes LF not the ideal forum, but its good to get views from dyed in the wool MB users. Thanks for your comments interesting points to consider. I did note the videos showing her bow digging in, but I'm not that experienced so I wasn't sure if that was more to do with the sea conditions she was heading through.

 

[Laminar Flow]

Yes LF not the ideal forum, but its good to get views from dyed in the wool MB users. Thanks for your comments interesting points to consider. I did note the videos showing her bow digging in, but I'm not that experienced so I wasn't sure if that was more to do with the sea conditions she was heading through.

Rigged as a gaff cutter and with multiple sails the Haber is not exactly "optimized" for windward performance. The promo video shows her in what is probably a F5 in the typical short, though not very high (in this instance), Baltic chop. The boat demonstrates a strong propensity towards pitching and putting her nose through the fairly modest waves.

The Haber is equipped with a 39 hp engine. This should get her 9t up to hull speed in flat water, barely. With her evident inclination to nose dive I'm not sure I would like to press her to weather in a F8 in spite of her class A certification. She does have a nice interior though, at least online.

We sail a heavily modified Colvic Watson 32. We weighed in at 8.5t and, nominally, our much increased Displ/SA is pretty much the same as the Haber's. In contrast she is the driest boat I've ever sailed on. Romping along at 7.5 kts and on a reach/close reach in the open Channel (F5) my wife and I could sit in the deep foredeck well and enjoy a cup of tea while the AP did his thing; not a drop of water ever came aboard. With a 58 hp engine, we can motor to weather in breaking & confused seas in a F8/9 to reach a safe port ( been there, done that). Just to compare to the Haber's 39hp: for us to reach hull speed 7.12 kts we require 39hp at the shaft. Normally, we motor at 1500 RPM, which gives us a speed of 5.5kts in flat water and a fuel consumption of just under 2 litres an hour. As far as sailing performance goes, with our much larger than standard rig, I'm pretty sure we could give the Haber a run for her money, boat for boat, and at a fraction of the cost.