Ovni 435 - opinions, stability etc?

[Guest]

As a follow up to some posts a few months ago:

1. I have yet to get hold of a stability curve - anyone got any idea what it might look like, or what the STIX is? If it bears any resemblance in reality to the Ovni 385 one published in June then I am concerned.

2. Comments on the boat (further to what has been said before). The boat interests me for a number of reasons (metal hull, price, functional rig and deck, layout flexibility etc).

3. I am considering a charter management deal for the boat based in the Caribbean. Experience with this approach would be appreciated. I would potentially want to use the boat for several years after the 5 year charter period as a liveaboard. If the boat is likely to be past it by then, then there is little point going for this deal.
My priority is robustness - both inside and outside - I have three small kids who can dismember anything in seconds. Shiny and polished just isn't on our agenda at the moment.

regards

 

[dk]

Why don't you charter one first - get an older one so you can see how she has fared over the years. I had one from Kiriacoulis in Martinique last Christmas, about two years old, seemed pretty solid to me. Fixtures & fittings a good deal better than you average modern plastic production cruiser from Europe.

D

 

[kidnapped]

September's YM has a letter about Ovnis and their apparently 'poor righting moment' and warning eveyone of their apparent 'shortcomings' as an serious cruiser ie. blue water. What makes the correspondent so sure?
I came accross several during my recent summer cruise and asked owners/crews what they thought. They were thought to be good sea boats, very strong and not deemed to be tender.
The current series on stability is proving that one measurement alone does not necessarily confer stability/instability etc. to any particular design. Perhaps we should all keep 'our powder dry' until we all learn some more from these articles.

 

[Roberto]

French ovni owners are almost all very satisfied of the boat; well it is an "unusual" boat and I think one buys her if really looking for her specific features; build/joinery quality is somewhat inferioro to other alu shipyards like Garcia, but I only hear reports of satisfaction with ovnis.

They are sturdy of course, but also delicate in all electrolysis/galvanic aspect: if the boat is yours it is sufficient to get informed a bit to avoid any inconvenience, but I would not trust any usual charterer to take any precautions an aluminum boat demands (use of shorepower, metal to metal contacts, hanging zincs, etc). That leaves a big question mark as to the conditions of the yacht at the end of the 5yr period.