Hinckley boats: why isn't anything this lovely built in Europe?

Not the 1st time I've used this photo on the forum, but it may serve to remind me (and anyone else depressed by yachting modernity) that new boats needn't be dull...

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...alright, she was built twenty years ago, but she wasn't typical of early 90s yachtbuilding either. I suppose you can always have whatever you want, albeit at a price.

This is just an excuse to show the photo again. :rolleyes: She's an Alan Pape 45'. And I realise the irony of her non-traditional furling...
 
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dancrane said:
I was mainly just hoping that I'm not the only one who still likes overhangs.
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Long overhangs came about through a rating rule; the idea being that the waterline was as short as possible, and then as the boat healed over, the waterline length increased, and with it the hull speed. It was never thought to be a particularly efficient shape, just a rule cheat, like pinched IOR sterns.

Nevertheless, it still looks right to me.
 
Boats with overhangs were quite normal before the IR but the overhangs became extreme to benefit from this rule. I think moderate overhangs look perfect and they have some benefits - dry decks, a rudder that's less likely to stall and you can raise anchor without clunking the bow topsides.
 
Salty John said:
Boats with overhangs were quite normal before the IR but the overhangs became extreme to benefit from this rule. I think moderate overhangs look perfect and they have some benefits - dry decks, a rudder that's less likely to stall and you can raise anchor without clunking the bow topsides.
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There were rating rules before the IR, such as the NYYC rule, and the Seawanhaka Rule, under both of which some early Americas Cups were fought. Before that, (AFAIK) the workboat look with a plumb stem predominated, though still with long stern overhangs (though I've no idea why).
 
sighmoon said:
There were rating rules before the IR, . . .
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Yes, as soon as 'Length' in the 'Tonnage Rating Rules' was moved from length of the hold to length forward of the rudder post (in 1846 IIRC), the long overhangs began to appear.

The long overhangs becoming immersed and therefore increasing the wetted waterline length and hence the maximum displacement speed, is not as simple as it seems. In order to work the immersed sections have to be substantial enough to 'displace' water and influence the separation of the bow and stern waves. Too often the immersed sections weren't enough to achieve this and simply added to the wetted surface area and hence slowed the boats down. But journalists continue to trot out the simplistic version. Only really in the level rating meter rules could you get a real feel for what worked and what didn't.
 
Certainly Spirit Yachts are beautiful, but a shade too extreme for me. Hinckleys aren't exactly lardy - their 51' has 14 ft beam...but the Spirit 52 has only eleven ft beam!

That must feel pretty cramped...like a Contessa 32, for...what, 3/4 of a £million? :eek: I'd prefer not to feel I have to apologise to guests for how tight the cabin space is.
 
dancrane said:
Certainly Spirit Yachts are beautiful, but a shade too extreme for me. Hinckleys aren't exactly lardy - their 51' has 14 ft beam...but the Spirit 52 has only eleven ft beam!

That must feel pretty cramped...like a Contessa 32, for...what, 3/4 of a £million? :eek: I'd prefer not to feel I have to apologise to guests for how tight the cabin space is.
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They have built yachts with a wider beam and even deckhouse yachts with a higher freeboard. Google "Spirit Yachts Philistine range" to see them....
 
grumpy_o_g said:
They have built yachts with a wider beam and even deckhouse yachts with a higher freeboard. Google "Spirit Yachts Philistine range" to see them....
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Thanks, I noticed those when I went through the whole range's proportions. To be honest, I don't like what they do with the space, though I don't deny they look lovely.
 
dancrane said:
That must feel pretty cramped...like a Contessa 32, for...what, 3/4 of a £million? :eek: I'd prefer not to feel I have to apologise to guests for how tight the cabin space is.
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The 46 doesn't even look like it has standing headroom:

Interior-of-the-Spirit-46.jpg


But a second hand spirit 100 for a mere £2.5m looks pretty spacious:

http://www.spirityachts.com/spirityachts_brokerage.htm
 
2.5 million doesn't sound unreasonable or unbelieveable for a stylish 100-footer...

...but why are Spirit so proud of the yacht's displacement being under fifty tonnes? It must be due in part to the fact she's six times longer than she is wide.

So...spacious? I doubt it - the floorplan reminds me of uppermost boats in AWB ranges, of not much more than half the Spirit 100's LOA.

I don't mean to have a go at Spirit designs, they're certainly very fine to look at. And I suppose the extraordinary lack of economic sense they make, in respect of space per quid, guarantees they'll remain exotic rarities.

I love Dragons and Etchells and Daring keelboats too, but would I want to be aboard overnight, or longer? :(

Meanwhile very comfortable use of smaller LOA is routinely achieved, without dire consequences for performance. What a pity Hunters aren't often finished in wood. :rolleyes:
 
Spirit 46 came into Poole this afternoon. Regrettably under motor in what was perfect sailing conditions. Did look good, though with its black hull and varnished doghouse.
 
Bit of a side-issue...are Spirits really built to last? The hulls look high-tech - where traditional long lean yachts were (I imagine) sturdily arranged without weight as a vital consideration, Spirits seem to rely a good deal on staying very lightweight for their performance. Mightn't that come back to haunt owners in decades to come?
 
dancrane said:
Bit of a side-issue...are Spirits really built to last? The hulls look high-tech - where traditional long lean yachts were (I imagine) sturdily arranged without weight as a vital consideration, Spirits seem to rely a good deal on staying very lightweight for their performance. Mightn't that come back to haunt owners in decades to come?
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I suspect only the ones built to last are still around! Darwinism is alive and well and living in wooden boats... Some of the early rating rules produced some insanely unseaworthy boats.

Spirits are pretty robustly made with plenty of epoxy, so I'd imagine that sine the owners are prety well-heeled, they can afford to pay someone to keep their babies in Bristol fashion... Anthing else would be, frankly, too much to contemplate, daahhling....
 
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