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

[richardbrennan]

When someone asked about buying a second hand HR31 some months ago, it was pointed out that the bunks were a bit short if you were much above average height. It seems to me that HR have solved that problem with the removal of the chart table. All boats of this size are a compromise; I am not sure that this one I would personally favour!

 

[fireball]

<snip> big aft lockers have been sacrificed for a dopey walk through transom.

Hmm - walk through transom was one of the key things we were looking out for when we bought our current boat. Yes - you loose a little bit of 'locker space' .... but it really isn't a huge issue with spaces either side of a small walk through. It is convenient for those who are less agile but a huge benefit when bringing bags/shopping on board - just reverse into the pontoon berth....

The only negative I can find for it is that if I drop anything that rolls in the cockpit - it may end up overboard through the big gap under the seat - but I could resolve that with a cheap bit of netting if I thought it were a major problem.

 

[Stork_III]

When someone asked about buying a second hand HR31 some months ago, it was pointed out that the bunks were a bit short if you were much above average height. It seems to me that HR have solved that problem with the removal of the chart table. All boats of this size are a compromise; I am not sure that this one I would personally favour!

HR31 has saloon berths 2m long, 6' 6.75". Long enough for normal people. Forepeak is 2.12m, aft cabin 2.25m, how long do you need them?

 

[richardbrennan]

I will have to re-measure myself before repying!

 

[Twister_Ken]

I will have to re-measure myself before repying!

Just take your top hat off before going to bed!

 

[snooks]

If I were to own a HR 310, which I don't, I think I would find myself navigating at the galley, there's a nice bit of work surface, just the size of a folded admiralty chart

All it would need would be a board, the size and shape of the forward part of the galley (and slightly overlapping the stove) and some drawing board clips and I'd ask Mr Rassy nicely for a slot behind the stb saloon cushion to keep it all in. Charts can be kept under the seat. It's right at the bottom of the companionway and standing at a chart table is just as easy to sit....

You just have to cook a meal around plotting your position

 

[Twister_Ken]

Right, we'll head for the dollop of Marmite, reach to the squashed baked bean, tack at the smear of strawberry jam, and anchor at peanut butter for the night.

 

[Rivers & creeks]

and anchor at peanut butter for the night.

So you've been to the East Coast then?

 

[lw395]

Right, we'll head for the dollop of Marmite, reach to the squashed baked bean, tack at the smear of strawberry jam, and anchor at peanut butter for the night.

That sounds like the RYA sonata fleet of yore?

'We should be further offshore'
'We're already off the map and halfway across the breadboard'

They had no chart tables. Or electronics.


Can you still get Yeoman plotters, that would do the job on an HR31?

 

[Alfie168]

Can you still get Yeoman plotters, that would do the job on an HR31?

IIRC Yeoman used to be a brand of instant mashed potato. You could give your charts real meal appeal then

Tim

 

[Stork_III]

That sounds like the RYA sonata fleet of yore?

'We should be further offshore'
'We're already off the map and halfway across the breadboard'

They had no chart tables. Or electronics.


Can you still get Yeoman plotters, that would do the job on an HR31?

For the avoidance of any doubt or confusion, the HR31 mk1 & mk2 have "proper" charttable, seat, lockers and plenty of space to fit instruments.

The HR 310 does not.

 

[Elessar]

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.

plenty of space for the instruments where they should be - at the helm.

When paper charts were the only way of navigating, a chart table made sense.

Now you just need to plan your route on the charts, pop it into your pc, upload it to your nav system and monitor it all from the helm. So the chart table becomes a luxury, and it a small boat it makes total sense to have more living space.

I'm lucky to have a perspex covered chart table at the helm too to keep an hourly note of things in case the nav goes down. But if you don't, write down lat long in the log - no need to plot it on the chart - you'll put it on the chart quickly enough if you have to which is rare.

If you are in the reducing number of people who use charts as the primary source of nav then buy a boat with a chart table. But I'd bet the HR is just the first of many without one.

 

[Twister_Ken]

'and it a small boat it makes total sense to have more living space."

If you're filling it with bodies, sure, but for the older couple who are likely to have the money and the desire for a boat like the 310, and cruise it two-up, I'm not so sure.

"But I'd bet the HR is just the first of many without one."

Not the first by any means. There's also a somewhat jokey Island Packet with an extremely odd arrangement.

 

[snooks]

Not the first by any means. There's also a somewhat jokey Island Packet with an extremely odd arrangement.

That was what you had to do to get into the chart storage...thankfully you didn't have to navigate like that!

 

[BigJoe]

I might be just me………………………

But the chartable is the nerve centre of any boat………………………IMO

and.......................................................................

I still think all the people sticking up for H.R. for the name…………

 

[Dockhead]

I might be just me………………………

But the chartable is the nerve centre of any boat………………………IMO

Absolutely. It's a lot more than just charts. I spend more time at the chart table than anywhere else below, except maybe my bunk. Real cruising (as opposed to day sailing) involves a lot of work. Besides chart work (which every proper sailor does no matter how many electro widgets he has), there is passage planning, keeping a log, and any number of other things. "Chart work" doesn't necessarily mean primary navigation. It also means learning and orienting yourself before a passage. And how can you do any of this properly, whilst sitting in the lounge with your passengers, trying to keep their beer bottles off your Imray? It is exactly the "nerve centre" of the boat; well said BigJoe.

Charttable-less cruising boat? Ick!

 

[Elessar]

Absolutely. It's a lot more than just charts. I spend more time at the chart table than anywhere else below, except maybe my bunk. Real cruising (as opposed to day sailing) involves a lot of work. Besides chart work (which every proper sailor does no matter how many electro widgets he has), there is passage planning, keeping a log, and any number of other things. "Chart work" doesn't necessarily mean primary navigation. It also means learning and orienting yourself before a passage. And how can you do any of this properly, whilst sitting in the lounge with your passengers, trying to keep their beer bottles off your Imray? It is exactly the "nerve centre" of the boat; well said BigJoe.

Charttable-less cruising boat? Ick!

you don't have to buy it, but for the increasing number who use electronic a their primary nav, the chart table becomes less important than accommodation. All boats are a compromise and these people may well wish to buy it.

I like to involve my crew in the passage planning rather than let then drink whilst I do it. All the more reason to use the saloon table. I bet the majority do their planning on the saloon table which in all but large boats is better sized for charts.

I don't know how to do polls....

 

[Dockhead]

you don't have to buy it, but for the increasing number who use electronic a their primary nav, the chart table becomes less important than accommodation. All boats are a compromise and these people may well wish to buy it.

That's their choice, isn't it? I still say -- Ick!

 

[mcframe]

Well... its not just the chart table is it.. its the whole space... and in particular the storage under the table and alongside... were else to store the 2006 Almanac, the spare charts for south Brittany and the Baltic north of Estonia that came with the boat... the 3rd edition of Nigel Calders Boat electrics, the instruction manuals for the "back up" gps, those assorted little screws which may come in handy at some time, the Q flag, the tattered Cornish ensign, the bilge pump handle, that funny blowy thing that in theory doubles as a fog horn, that funny cast bit that fell off the mast that you dont want to throw away, those little stubs of pencils, the log book, the dividers, and the spare dividers, and the plotter, the spare knife and your leatherman, the spare fuses, the shear pins for the outboard, the funnel for the petrol can, that little hand held wind instrument, 5 years worth of reciepts from harbour masters, 5 years worth of glossy guides to various harbours obtained at great expense from the harbourmasters of various south coast refuges, that little butane stove lighter and the spare matches, assorted loose change, fuel receipts, two of those little PRB licence radios which you thought would be a good idea, but on relfection you havent used in 5 years, the dingy patch kit, several bottle openers filched from assorted hotels, the spare plotter, last years tide tables for the river Exe, bits of string, the charge cradle for the hh VHF, the bino caps, the sail repair kit, various tubes of epoxy glue, the book of walks between Torquay and Brixham, 13 spare partially used AA batteries, a carbiner clip, and your spare glasses.

You forgot the broken sail batten now used as a batten prodder - oh, and the stugeron ;-)

 

[BigJoe]

Going back to my original point……………………………

All the Bavaria bashers would be up in arms if it was a Bavaria.

H.R.......................................................thats OK.