rwoofer
Well-Known Member
My RM880, Hawana, has finally been handed over and so by popular demand here are some thoughts and pictures. For those that don’t know, Hawana was nearly 3 months late in handover, principally because it got damaged as it was removed from the Southampton Boat Show and ended up needing a full hull respray. Here is one part of the damage on the transom, which has already received some epoxy filler:
Here she is in the paint shop - not a sight you want to see after having seen the completed boat already:
So winding the clock forward to the day of handover, a freezing and overcast December 15th and here is my first sight of the finished boat:
Everything seems in order except the lazy bag has not been fitted. It later turns out that the dealer was unsure of the best position to attach it. A view from the aft quarter:
For a 28 foot, 3 tonne boat it’s a big 40 foot mast. Just look at the width of the spreaders - the boat next door is a Dufour 34 (a fairly racy boat) and the boat to the left is a Dufour 425. You can also see the extra long boarding ladder that I specified which allows you to easily board the boat when dried out. And a quick look at the cockpit:
I specified Raymarine tridata and wind system, which is on the left and installed a Standard Horizon CP300 chartplotter on the right myself. The CP300 is interfaced with a fishfinder, AIS, DSC VHF and the Raymarine instruments, so that I can literally see everything from the cockpit. A SH command mic will be fitted to the right of the chartplotter. At the sides you can see the running backstays (the red rope pulley systems), which contrary to the YM previews are only there if you order the staysail option. I literally ticked all the options on deck, so have the most complicated rig setup with hi-tech main/genoa, staysail and symmetric spinnaker and a furling asymmetric.
After my quick look around, we attended to some of the formalities in a nice warm office before going out for a quick test sail in 15knots of a biting easterly wind. I’ve helmed rather a lot of boats in my time, but this was the most nervous I have ever been in getting a boat out of the marina. I couldn’t even start to relax until we had got Hawana completely out of Northney Marina.
We basically did a quick zip down to Hayling Island SC and back. The day was so overcast that I didn’t get very many photographs, but here is Hawana reaching along:
And here is a picture of the rig.
Due to the wide spreaders, you don’t get much overlap on the genoa, so I specified some leech battens to maximise sail area. The main is short battened, with quite a large roach. Both are the Sobstad Platinum TD load bearing cloth, where the individual fibres are laid according to the stress maps. Here is a gratuitous picture of the chartplotter, showing the kind of speeds I’m getting used to seeing now (log hadn’t been calibrated):
We headed back to Northney, where I then discovered a diesel and coolant leak on the engine which had just been through PDC. A quick check with the engineer who couldn’t fix the problem there and then, but said it was safe enough for our trip back to Gosport. I had my father with me so at 3pm we set off from Northney to Gosport. I’m sure many would frown at us setting off for a first trip when darkness was approaching, but after such a long wait I was desparate to get Hawana “home” and my father (who accompanied me) and I have a combined 60 years of solent sailing experience. A quick close reach out of Chichester harbour and then we gybed for a broad reach all the way to Portsmouth harbour. By now the wind was blowing 20 knots, the full white sail rig was up and the waves were starting to grow – we were flying! In Hayling Bay we saw the GPS speed peak at 11 knots and we estimated that we had 1 knot of tide with us, which meant 10 knots through the water. However accurate our estimation, we were definitely planing in the peaks with the wake completely separated from the transom. My father was helming at the time and I simply couldn’t get him off – he was addicted to helming Hawana in this breeze. The helm was so responsive that I could feel every movement in the tiller being translated to the boat and as you looked forward, you could literally watch the nose dart around as the course changed. I was having to play the main in the gusts, so we were definitely overpowered, but neither of us wanted to put a reef in when we were having so much fun. The entrance to Portsmouth was incredibly rough as the tide was in full ebb and 20knots+ of South Easterly wind were creating savage wind over tide conditions - we simply powered through it all. With much relief we tied up in the dark in Haslar.
The conditions were better for the next sail, so here are a few more pictures in sunshine. Firstly Hawana in her home berth with the lazy bag attached:
A picture of the staysail set:
A view of the foredeck, which is huge for such a little boat. I can pump up the tender here no problem:
Another view of the rig, showing the fantastic sail shape. Unfortunately the main roach snags the backstays, so I need to come with a solution for that:
And finally a view from inside, whilst underway:
So my initial thoughts:
- The Handover process was a bit of an anti-climax, because I had been through so much to get the boat there. Having installed the heating and chartplotter myself, I already knew the boat very well.
- RMs simply do not let you know that they are bilge keelers. The performance, the close windedness and responsiveness are that of a good fin keeler and almost getting to race boat standards. Upwind powered up seems to deliver 6 knots fairly consistently, whereas off the wind I mostly see 6.5 knots plus.
- I specced a slightly oversize rig to maximise performance, but I really think the standard sail roaches are more than adequate. She is a powerful cruising boat.
- Under engine 2000rpm gives me 6.2 knots, 2500rpm gives 6.6knots and 3000 rpm gives 6.8knots. Suggests hull speed is about 6.5 knots, which is 1.3 * root of waterline length.
- The tiller seems relatively heavy. Partly this is because the bearings are new, but I also suspect that the rudder area (nearly as deep as the keels) is quite significant for a boat of this size and a relatively short tiller. This is most noticeable under power, where the prop wash is really felt. It may even be the case that the rudder is slightly over-balanced. Has anyone else experience this?
- Wide sidedecks and a huge foredeck make it really easy to move around the boat when underway.
- Having a tiller autopilot does seem to clutter the cockpit somewhat.
- Still don’t understand the YM comment of the loo being impossible. At 6’6” I find it more spacious than most boats of similar size, where my knees typically stop the heads door from closing. The only thing you can’t do is stand up, which is maybe what the comment refers to.
- Hawana was a deliberate downsize on my part, as I found my previous Moody 44 was really under-utilising her potential when only 2 of us were using her for mostly weekend sailing and a 2/3 week summer cruise. A 2k saving on marina fees and the reduced maintenance time of a smaller boat was my attempt at adjusting the fun/cost ratio for me and SWMBO. So far no regrets, but I need to teach myself not to look at larger boats and avoid the “keep up with the Jones” syndrome. I did feel a pang of nostalgia on seeing another Moody 44 on New Years day – she still looks a fine boat on the water.
That’s all for now. I know that at least 2 other forumites have RMs on order, so expect to see a few more around.
Here she is in the paint shop - not a sight you want to see after having seen the completed boat already:
So winding the clock forward to the day of handover, a freezing and overcast December 15th and here is my first sight of the finished boat:
Everything seems in order except the lazy bag has not been fitted. It later turns out that the dealer was unsure of the best position to attach it. A view from the aft quarter:
For a 28 foot, 3 tonne boat it’s a big 40 foot mast. Just look at the width of the spreaders - the boat next door is a Dufour 34 (a fairly racy boat) and the boat to the left is a Dufour 425. You can also see the extra long boarding ladder that I specified which allows you to easily board the boat when dried out. And a quick look at the cockpit:
I specified Raymarine tridata and wind system, which is on the left and installed a Standard Horizon CP300 chartplotter on the right myself. The CP300 is interfaced with a fishfinder, AIS, DSC VHF and the Raymarine instruments, so that I can literally see everything from the cockpit. A SH command mic will be fitted to the right of the chartplotter. At the sides you can see the running backstays (the red rope pulley systems), which contrary to the YM previews are only there if you order the staysail option. I literally ticked all the options on deck, so have the most complicated rig setup with hi-tech main/genoa, staysail and symmetric spinnaker and a furling asymmetric.
After my quick look around, we attended to some of the formalities in a nice warm office before going out for a quick test sail in 15knots of a biting easterly wind. I’ve helmed rather a lot of boats in my time, but this was the most nervous I have ever been in getting a boat out of the marina. I couldn’t even start to relax until we had got Hawana completely out of Northney Marina.
We basically did a quick zip down to Hayling Island SC and back. The day was so overcast that I didn’t get very many photographs, but here is Hawana reaching along:
And here is a picture of the rig.
Due to the wide spreaders, you don’t get much overlap on the genoa, so I specified some leech battens to maximise sail area. The main is short battened, with quite a large roach. Both are the Sobstad Platinum TD load bearing cloth, where the individual fibres are laid according to the stress maps. Here is a gratuitous picture of the chartplotter, showing the kind of speeds I’m getting used to seeing now (log hadn’t been calibrated):
We headed back to Northney, where I then discovered a diesel and coolant leak on the engine which had just been through PDC. A quick check with the engineer who couldn’t fix the problem there and then, but said it was safe enough for our trip back to Gosport. I had my father with me so at 3pm we set off from Northney to Gosport. I’m sure many would frown at us setting off for a first trip when darkness was approaching, but after such a long wait I was desparate to get Hawana “home” and my father (who accompanied me) and I have a combined 60 years of solent sailing experience. A quick close reach out of Chichester harbour and then we gybed for a broad reach all the way to Portsmouth harbour. By now the wind was blowing 20 knots, the full white sail rig was up and the waves were starting to grow – we were flying! In Hayling Bay we saw the GPS speed peak at 11 knots and we estimated that we had 1 knot of tide with us, which meant 10 knots through the water. However accurate our estimation, we were definitely planing in the peaks with the wake completely separated from the transom. My father was helming at the time and I simply couldn’t get him off – he was addicted to helming Hawana in this breeze. The helm was so responsive that I could feel every movement in the tiller being translated to the boat and as you looked forward, you could literally watch the nose dart around as the course changed. I was having to play the main in the gusts, so we were definitely overpowered, but neither of us wanted to put a reef in when we were having so much fun. The entrance to Portsmouth was incredibly rough as the tide was in full ebb and 20knots+ of South Easterly wind were creating savage wind over tide conditions - we simply powered through it all. With much relief we tied up in the dark in Haslar.
The conditions were better for the next sail, so here are a few more pictures in sunshine. Firstly Hawana in her home berth with the lazy bag attached:
A picture of the staysail set:
A view of the foredeck, which is huge for such a little boat. I can pump up the tender here no problem:
Another view of the rig, showing the fantastic sail shape. Unfortunately the main roach snags the backstays, so I need to come with a solution for that:
And finally a view from inside, whilst underway:
So my initial thoughts:
- The Handover process was a bit of an anti-climax, because I had been through so much to get the boat there. Having installed the heating and chartplotter myself, I already knew the boat very well.
- RMs simply do not let you know that they are bilge keelers. The performance, the close windedness and responsiveness are that of a good fin keeler and almost getting to race boat standards. Upwind powered up seems to deliver 6 knots fairly consistently, whereas off the wind I mostly see 6.5 knots plus.
- I specced a slightly oversize rig to maximise performance, but I really think the standard sail roaches are more than adequate. She is a powerful cruising boat.
- Under engine 2000rpm gives me 6.2 knots, 2500rpm gives 6.6knots and 3000 rpm gives 6.8knots. Suggests hull speed is about 6.5 knots, which is 1.3 * root of waterline length.
- The tiller seems relatively heavy. Partly this is because the bearings are new, but I also suspect that the rudder area (nearly as deep as the keels) is quite significant for a boat of this size and a relatively short tiller. This is most noticeable under power, where the prop wash is really felt. It may even be the case that the rudder is slightly over-balanced. Has anyone else experience this?
- Wide sidedecks and a huge foredeck make it really easy to move around the boat when underway.
- Having a tiller autopilot does seem to clutter the cockpit somewhat.
- Still don’t understand the YM comment of the loo being impossible. At 6’6” I find it more spacious than most boats of similar size, where my knees typically stop the heads door from closing. The only thing you can’t do is stand up, which is maybe what the comment refers to.
- Hawana was a deliberate downsize on my part, as I found my previous Moody 44 was really under-utilising her potential when only 2 of us were using her for mostly weekend sailing and a 2/3 week summer cruise. A 2k saving on marina fees and the reduced maintenance time of a smaller boat was my attempt at adjusting the fun/cost ratio for me and SWMBO. So far no regrets, but I need to teach myself not to look at larger boats and avoid the “keep up with the Jones” syndrome. I did feel a pang of nostalgia on seeing another Moody 44 on New Years day – she still looks a fine boat on the water.
That’s all for now. I know that at least 2 other forumites have RMs on order, so expect to see a few more around.
