mikemacdonald
Well-Known Member
I know its a bit late, just a few thoughts to add in defence of these super little boats.We had Doneta for 12 years, kids were 5 & 7 when we bought her, and we sailed all over the S coast and N France and Brittany and she never let us down. The sailing performance was not too bad, not great to windward but careful trimming and not pinching too high and keeping up boat speed is the answer. Passage times were reckoned on 5 knot average. in a F4/5 we could do better than that. Downwind or broad to beam reach she could go, and rock steady. We converted the old bridle forestay to roller reefing and brought the forestay down to the crossbeam with a seagull striker to take the load, this tightened up the forestay considerably. New sails from Jeckells including fully battened main with lazyjacks, fitting a 4-1 kicker, and bringing lines from the mainsheet traveller into the cockpit improved the performance and tweakability considerably. We fitted a 4 stroke Yamaha 9.9 O/b in a well, and modified it so it could swing up out of the water when sailing, that saved 1/2 knot easily. Keep the weight down, the bottom clean and sail her free and she wll hold her own with any 26' cruiser of that age.
Accomodation, especially for a young family is excellent. The girls had the 2 after cabins, and that was their own. They had all the stuff in there that girls need without it cluttering up the rest of the boat. Chris and I slept in the main saloon in a 6 x 8 double, bigger than at home!! We fitted recessed ceiling lights, eberspacher heating and it was as cosy as you could want. Large galley, large "bathroom", a proper nav station and chart table, and plenty of storage for the wine runs in the after lockers, (you lose this if you fit twin diesels). The centre cockpit is still the best I have seen, not too large but safe, we only took 1 wave over the stern when we strayed too far into the Shingles, but that drained straight out through the well and drains.
Got caught out in a F8 in the channel on a lads trip and got hit by 55kn winds on the beam, heard the big sea coming ( it was a pitch black night) and it hit us broadside. The boat rode up the wave, the breaking crest pushed us sideways like mad and she just slipped over the top and carried on, hardly any water on board, I am sure a monohull would have had a knockdown, we did St Vaast to Portsmouth in 14 hrs that night!!
Why did we sell her?? Our girls still sail with us occasionally , we had always hankered after a Prout Snowgoose and the opportunity came to get a nice one, old but just what we wanted. Without a doubt she sails better and has all the comforts, but we do miss some of the things like the roomy aftercabins, the easy maintenance on an outboard, the ability to get into little corners. The new owners are really happy with her and are doing exactly what we did 16 years ago.
As a long distance cruiser Heavenly Twins have sailed all over the world, loads are in the Med, several have crossed the Atlantic, in fact a Heavenly Twin won its class in the first transarc rally, and at least 2 have circumnavigated, that to my mind shows her seaworthiness. I know of 1 that capsized, during a solo attempt around UK, John Passmore on Lottie Warren, he had fallen into a deep sleep through exhaustion, and the wind and weather deteriorated causing huge cross seas which the autopilot couldn't cope with, she stayed upside down afloat and he was rescued after several hours clinging on to the upturned hulls, if he hadn't been able to shelter on the bridgedeck I think he said he wouldn't have survived. I believe they had to scuttle her as she was a danger to shipping, the only other 1 I know of was hit by a whale that attacked the boat off the African coast, it crashed on to the after deck then smashed through the bridge deck and holed her, once again the crew were rescued by a ship,I think the owners suggested that the whale may have thought the boat was a female and got a bit excited, more likely it had been injured by whale catchers and was just getting its own back!So, 2 losses is not a bad record as everybody survived, both in extreme circumstances that could have happened on any boat. It certainly doesn't put me off!!
Multihull World at Emsworth is the place to see a good selection of Mutihulls and they have specialised in Heavenly Twins over the years, and they are nice people to deal with. ( I have no connection to them other than we have bought both our cats from them, and enjoyed the experience, apart from spending the money!!!)
Good luck to anyone who is thinking of getting a Heavenly Twin, there are some really nice one's about, and there are some not so good but TLC will transform them if the price is right, that's how we got ours!!
I am always ready to talk cats and sailing, feel free to 'e' me at : mikemacdonald57@hotmail .com
Multis, the only real boat!! /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif
Accomodation, especially for a young family is excellent. The girls had the 2 after cabins, and that was their own. They had all the stuff in there that girls need without it cluttering up the rest of the boat. Chris and I slept in the main saloon in a 6 x 8 double, bigger than at home!! We fitted recessed ceiling lights, eberspacher heating and it was as cosy as you could want. Large galley, large "bathroom", a proper nav station and chart table, and plenty of storage for the wine runs in the after lockers, (you lose this if you fit twin diesels). The centre cockpit is still the best I have seen, not too large but safe, we only took 1 wave over the stern when we strayed too far into the Shingles, but that drained straight out through the well and drains.
Got caught out in a F8 in the channel on a lads trip and got hit by 55kn winds on the beam, heard the big sea coming ( it was a pitch black night) and it hit us broadside. The boat rode up the wave, the breaking crest pushed us sideways like mad and she just slipped over the top and carried on, hardly any water on board, I am sure a monohull would have had a knockdown, we did St Vaast to Portsmouth in 14 hrs that night!!
Why did we sell her?? Our girls still sail with us occasionally , we had always hankered after a Prout Snowgoose and the opportunity came to get a nice one, old but just what we wanted. Without a doubt she sails better and has all the comforts, but we do miss some of the things like the roomy aftercabins, the easy maintenance on an outboard, the ability to get into little corners. The new owners are really happy with her and are doing exactly what we did 16 years ago.
As a long distance cruiser Heavenly Twins have sailed all over the world, loads are in the Med, several have crossed the Atlantic, in fact a Heavenly Twin won its class in the first transarc rally, and at least 2 have circumnavigated, that to my mind shows her seaworthiness. I know of 1 that capsized, during a solo attempt around UK, John Passmore on Lottie Warren, he had fallen into a deep sleep through exhaustion, and the wind and weather deteriorated causing huge cross seas which the autopilot couldn't cope with, she stayed upside down afloat and he was rescued after several hours clinging on to the upturned hulls, if he hadn't been able to shelter on the bridgedeck I think he said he wouldn't have survived. I believe they had to scuttle her as she was a danger to shipping, the only other 1 I know of was hit by a whale that attacked the boat off the African coast, it crashed on to the after deck then smashed through the bridge deck and holed her, once again the crew were rescued by a ship,I think the owners suggested that the whale may have thought the boat was a female and got a bit excited, more likely it had been injured by whale catchers and was just getting its own back!So, 2 losses is not a bad record as everybody survived, both in extreme circumstances that could have happened on any boat. It certainly doesn't put me off!!
Multihull World at Emsworth is the place to see a good selection of Mutihulls and they have specialised in Heavenly Twins over the years, and they are nice people to deal with. ( I have no connection to them other than we have bought both our cats from them, and enjoyed the experience, apart from spending the money!!!)
Good luck to anyone who is thinking of getting a Heavenly Twin, there are some really nice one's about, and there are some not so good but TLC will transform them if the price is right, that's how we got ours!!
I am always ready to talk cats and sailing, feel free to 'e' me at : mikemacdonald57@hotmail .com
Multis, the only real boat!! /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif
