Halberg Rassey 31

[Blueboatman]

So spent a couple of hours crawling over a 31 yesterday. I like it. Safe cockpit obviously with plenty enough room for other crew, serious beam and acres of deck all round compared to the V27. I held the tiller and reached for the throttle lever, trying to imagine what it would be like to come alongside or spring off short-handed... one would quickly learn!

Odd that the design has an adjustable backstay for mains'l flattening but no traveller, just a single attachment point in the cockpit sole, but I'm sure it all works fine for cruising. (There was apparently an option for a short traveller on a bridge fixed low down between locker inside faces, but that'd hardly be worth it.)

Very nice and light interior with good headroom right down the saloon, proper chart table and seat to stbd, heads aft of that (a good position for it, if slightly cramped inside), decent galley to port, reasonable aft and forepeak cabins (latter with lots of sail stowage under). Did find the saloon berths a bit short (I'm 5'10") but one can un-velcro the end seat-backs for extra clearance. (I guess that was the compromise Frers had to make to fit it all in; the 310 overcomes this by swapping the galley to stbd, having no chart table at all, and moving the heads forward, etc.)

Engine well insulated and reasonably accessible from front and from aft cabin. Original gas cooker as has no grill... epic fail by the Swedes! S/S water tank under port berth (with heaps of room elsewhere to stow extra jerrycans of drinking water), fuel tank accessible via stbd cockpit locker (not huge but can always carry an emergency extra jerry if need be) holding tank also via that locker.

Lots to mull over, lots to allow extra costs for on the example I looked at (up-front replacements and changes, down-the-line big-ticket items, etc) but that'd always be the case on a used boat of its age.

Well good luck

For what it’s worth, a couple of observations from personal experience.
The last boat I bought was a heavy 36ft after a light fin and spade 28ft:
36 was I felt the upper limit to singlehanded around the English Channel and manoeuvring in and out of berths without a bow thruster.
And the space gained down below was so liveable and comfortable at sea because of the boats extra momentum

And secondly, windvane self steering has been successfully fitted to almost any stern configuration you may care to think of. So if you are used to this level of mechanical assistance and hands free sailing, Monitor gear has been mounted on ‘gates’ across open stern
And I have fitted a Hydrovane both offcentre AND inclined athwartships by a few degrees so that the blade was closer to the centreline whilst not interfering with a centreline long shaft outboard.

Wish you well with your pondering . Nice choice !

 

[John_Silver]

@Babylon:

The oven & grill version, of the ENO cooker, is a straight swap in. Think the unit is around £1k. I did, briefly, own a boat with no grill. Which was much more of a problem than I'd expected. Hence knowing they can be easily swapped! Many (most?) Brit bought boats would have ticked the grill option, at build. So a grill will available, one way or t’other.



If your electric auto pilot experience, to date, has been with an ST2000: You would be pleasantly surprised by the capability of something like the Raymarine EV 100: 9 axis 'brain' below, with deck mounted ram. Controlled off a display mounted where ever you want (mine is next to tiller, in the engine control cutout). Remote available. Around £1500. Don't know about the HR31's, but the HR310's went out with (in my case the SPX-5 predecessor to) this set up, as a factory option. To upgrade from SPX-5 to EV-100: Ram identical, controller fits old cutout, gyro slightly larger, black box smaller. No ‘surgery’ required.

Settee berth length: Can vouch for comfortable, full length, settee, forward & aft berths on the HR310 (I'm 6'1"). Achieved by exactly the layout means which you describe. Lee cloths a useful factory option, for the settees. Worth mentioning that, although the HR310 has marginally less max beam, v the HR31, it is carried further aft. I remember stopping and staring, in surprise, the first time I went below. Amazed at the space (after my Elan 31). Suspect that the comparison with an HR31 would be similar.

Happy hunting!

 

[Tranona]

He didn't mention a size limitation except to say if he got a V34 he would need a bigger berth.

Stop wriggling and read the whole sentence in the OP. V32 V34 .. big heavy boats and less aligned with my needs now. Dehler 36 is 6 tonnes - much the same as the Vancouvers and physically much bigger (HR31 is 4.6 tonnes, V27 4 tonnes). Dehler 35CWS could not be more different as it is a deep fin keel, spade rudder high performance light displacement cruiser/racer

Apologies to OP for the diversion

 

[John 32i]

I don’t know much about wind vanes, but Daydreambeliever used one on his Hanse 31, apparently successfully, so I see no reason why the HR should be any different, if anything probably steadier on the helm.

I had ours taken off. It was very good but we wouldn’t use it.

 

[Babylon]

I had ours taken off. It was very good but we wouldn’t use it.

Out of interest, what make was the windvane, and do you have any snaps of it originally attached?

 

[John 32i]

Out of interest, what make was the windvane, and do you have any snaps of it originally attached?

It was fitted by Rustler Yachts in Falmouth

 

[dunedin]

Out of interest, what make was the windvane, and do you have any snaps of it originally attached?

If you get a decent autopilot (as John Silver suggests in post #62) there should be absolutely no need for the cost and clutter of a wind vane.
Wind vanes were essential many decades ago, but recent huge improvements in autopilots makes a wind vane only really needed (IMHO) for very small boats going trans ocean that don’t have the battery capacity to run instruments nor the speed to use a water generator.

A decent autopilot will steer an HR31 more precisely and reliably than a wind vane. And of course also under motor, when the autopilot is essential.
(Probably 20k or our 23k miles on current boat have been helmed by the autopilot)

 

[John 32i]

If you get a decent autopilot (as JOHN silver suggests in post #62) there should be absolutely no need for the cost and clutter of a wind vane.
Wind vanes were essential many decades ago, but recent huge improvements in autopilots makes a wind vane only really needed (IMHO) for very small boats going trans ocean that don’t have the battery capacity to run instruments not the speed to use a water generator.

A decent autopilot will steer an HR31 more precisely and reliably than a wind vane. And of course also under motor, when the autopilot is essential.
(Probably 20k or our 23k miles on current boat have been helmed by the autopilot)

Totally agree. Used the autopilot all the way from Falmouth to Levington, hence had the vane removed at the earliest opportunity (sold it which covered the cost of making good..well nearly).

 

[Babylon]

Thanks both. As mentioned previously I don't see myself crossing oceans, so a robust autohelm will be more than sufficient - was just curious to see what windvane might be installed and how (offset above).

 

[Tranona]

Hydrovane would be easiest. Commonly offset, sometimes by quite a lot as on boats with drop down transoms

 

[Babylon]

Apologies to OP for the diversion

No need to apologise... it's often from these sometimes robust diversions that one learns more!

 

[ashtead]

You might be surprised at costs of windvanes and their installation and as a first step decent raymarine autopilot linked to a chart plotter is probably a more usable option. As said by others many travel miles on autopilot and issues only seem to arise when crossing Biscay and over straining so so coastal use an autopilot,chart plotter plus AIS would be advisable. The boat next to us fitted a wind vane but they were going on ARC crossing Atlantic. If we were ever to go to Med I might fit one but I suspect many Med yachts don’t fit and manage fine. The risk with autopilots is fuses blowing (ours shorted out on drive chain following replacement by a dubious electrical chap but otherwise once his bodged workmanship was fixed no future issues. Appreciate you might prefer Garmin of course