Hallberg- Rassy, without a chart table, Imagine the outcry if it was a Bavaria.

BigJoe

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Hallberg- Rassy, without a chart table, Imagine the outcry if it was a Bavaria.

Oh come on, have you ever been on a 30ft yacht and NOT used the chart table / nav station.



If it was a Bavaria, all the traditionalists would be up in arms................wouldn't they ?
 
Hallberg- Rassy, without a chart table, Imagine the outcry if it was a Bavaria.

Oh come on, have you ever been on a 30ft yacht and NOT used the chart table / nav station.
Only for food preparation, being adjacent to the galley it was ideal to place the dishes on.

For navigation I always used the saloon table where I could really spread out the charts.
 
I think HR sales will suffer because of it. The decision was made so that HR could provide as big a saloon as possible (HR boasts that the 310 saloon is a big as that of the 342. Not quite, it's less beamy). This has been done by in part by sacrificing floor space in the forecabin, moving the heads forward to the forecabin/saloon division, deleting the chart table and putting a very nice galley for Doris at the aft starboard end of the saloon where lately the heads has been located. My view, the saloon is bigger than it need be for the experienced Ma and Pa crew that is likely to buy a boat this size. Maybe HR is hoping to open a new market niche?

My suspicion is that many potential customers for the 310 will be 'traditionalists' and will be upset by the lack of the chart table. There is a token table (described as a vanity table!) aft on the port side, just about big enough for a pilot book, but nothing more. Not only is there no chart table, if you want to navigate on the saloon table you'll find there's no dedicated chart stowage, and precious little bulkhead space to mount electronic instruments.

I wonder when the Mk2 will come along, with a revised layout below?

Layout drawing here
 
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Although I don't use the chart table much when underway (seasickness!) personally I don't like boats without dedicated chart tables and seats. The chart table area is a nice work area for all sorts of paper & electronic work and I do try and use it when underway too.
That said - many folk who don't cruise so much as daysail, a chart table is pretty much wasted space as they primarily navigate on chart plotters (as I do too) so I can see the benefit of doing away with the chart table in favour of more usuable space - it won't suit everyone, but then not every boat does.
 
I thought that these days a Bav is as good as a HR. They both look the same and have a blue stripe and mahoganyish interior..

I guess you could easily add a fold down charttable based above what used to be called a TrotterBox ( nothing to do with Delboy Trotter).

In fact don't be surprised if the Mark2 HR offers this, else where are we to display all those electronic extras?
 
HR has been cost cutting for years - just compare an HR built 10-15 years ago and one currently in production.

IMHO, they're now just trading on the 'badge'.
 
I wonder when the Mk2 will come along, with a revised layout below?

What, one with pink curtains a large drinks cabinet and no galley? Everyone knows that people have boats to get smashed in after they have eaten ashore in their matching Helly Hansen tee shirts and red trousers so why do we need all that boaty stuff???
 
Chart tables are pretty useless in the Baltic anyway. The cruising grounds are full of rocks that are awash and tiny islands that get in the way of a straight course just about to anywhere.

Mate of mine always insisted that if he went below to navigate for a few minutes while under way he would be sure to climb up on a rock.

The thinking is that if you can afford a Hallberg Rassy you can afford a few chart plotters mounted at the wheel.

HR are not the only marque to remove the chart table. I was aboard a Fergus 34 last year which also didn't have one.
 
My boat has a good chart table, but the full size charts still have to be folded to use it. As a result I tend to spread out those charts on the saloon table anyway, and only use the small size charts from the local chart packs on the actual chart table. I think on a boat as small as 30 feet, where any dedicated chart table would be a small one, using the saloon table is perfectly acceptable.
 
I doubt if many of you have tried to reason with HR, as I and some of my friends have. If you ask them something like "why don't you fit thingumijigs?" the answer will be "you don't need them", said with a straight face and no sense of irony at all. If you say "will you fit one for me?" they will either say "no", or as in the case one one acquaintance, charge an exorbitant fee, before offering it as a no-cost option to buyers. Having said that, they are extremely businesslike and you know where you stand with them, and I suspect that the new 31 will sell well.
 
I love to sit in the corner at my little desk, I can sit there with all my displays, charts books, switches and laptop to hand, I can control the music selection and volume and be very very busy while the sail cover is going on or my dinner is being prepared. I sit there at sea too especially when it is p***** down.
We have been rumbled, that HR may have been designed by a woman?
 
HR 310

Nobody buys the HR31/310 anyway, its only for poor people who cant afford a proper one. I asked HR once why they made it, they said 'because we expect people to trade up the range...'

In any case, it does have a chart table, only its outside, under the sprayhood. Thats why all the Swedish chandlers do nice plastic chart covers.
 
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Chart tables are pretty useless in the Baltic anyway.

I suspect this is part of the thinking. Navigation along the Swedish coast is pretty much full-time pilotage. From what I've seen it's normal to use the charts in the cockpit and their chart packs come in waterproof folders to suit.
 
My chart table sees use as office, work bench, galley worktop, bar, and sometimes for a bit of navigation and passage planning. So what would I do with the "usable space"?
Stack Beer and Wine in it ... what else do you want? ;)
 
HR - Welcome to the 21st Century! Electronics that's the way to go!

Yes but where are you going to put them all, seriously? How much is a new 310 anyway?

Completely agree with DJE & Quandary's comments, and would add even more so if you live on your boat, it's brilliant use of space...

As an aside, I'm amazed their web site is so basic and clunky...
 
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