Scanyachts / Scanner 391. Opinions?

Unlikely as only a tiny number sold in UK (probably the one for sale in Kent is the only one!) so doubt anybody here has any direct experience.
 
I have been looking at the 361 for a while. Great boat with good reviews. That was a very nice boat. The 391 is a fair bit older from design if I remember correctly. But build quality should be pretty good. Personally not fond of the scoop stern. There are a few for sale in Holland as far as I can see. There was a claim that the 391's keel construction was tested by hitting a rock at 5 knots without springing a leak.
Test review of the 361 I have ranks the yard pretty high.
 
Well, we bought her anyway!
Arrived on the mooring yesterday evening after the delivery from Chatham. A few niggles with the Volvo cooling system and she needs a good clean and polish but so far very pleased with her.

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Looks like a smashing boat that wasn't really on my radar before I saw this thread.
Would be nice if you were to tell us more when you have had a chance to sail her a bit, objective comments of course rather than the owner biased stuff that is the norm.
Best of luck with a very lovely new toy.
 
Congratulations!
That's a nice boat.
Judging by your pictures I see a lot of similarities with our Starlight, so that can't be bad. I hope you will enjoy her as much as we enjoy ours.
 
westhinder said:
Congratulations!
That's a nice boat.
Judging by your pictures I see a lot of similarities with our Starlight, so that can't be bad. I hope you will enjoy her as much as we enjoy ours.
Click to expand...

A Strarlight 35 was top of our list but they were all asking ridiculous prices.
 
doris said:
Looks like a smashing boat that wasn't really on my radar before I saw this thread.
Would be nice if you were to tell us more when you have had a chance to sail her a bit, objective comments of course rather than the owner biased stuff that is the norm.
Best of luck with a very lovely new toy.
Click to expand...

First impressions after half a season of sailing and re-fitting. We did the delivery from Chatham to Portsmouth and the Scuttlebutt Cherbourg weekend but apart from that we have been confined to the Solent and Chichester harbour.

She is faster than the Sadler 29 which is hardly surprising and did both channel crossings in about 10 hours (Needles to Cherbourg and Cherbourg to Bembridge Ledge). The outward passage under sail could have been faster if my navigation had been better and if we hadn’t set out under-canvassed (working jib still set from the beat down the Solent the day before). The return passage was all motoring and seemed like a comfortable speed. On good reaches we have seen 8 or 9 knots on the log on occasions and 6.5 to 7.0 knots is achieved with very little effort. She has a tall rig and an easily driven hull and seems happy to ghost along in very little breeze.

We have the masthead rig version I think the fractional rig with the self-tacking jib is more common. She also has a removable inner forestay on which we can set the working jib or storm jib with the genoa furled. Deck gear is Rutgerson with Andersen winches and everything works very well except for the Selden single-line reefing which suffers from friction when shaking out reefs. The boom is currently in my garage and being stripped down to investigate the problem. I suspect that the ropes could be a bit thinner and lighter. All three reefs can be taken in or shaken out from the cockpit – the third being a two-line system.

She is surprisingly wet to windward in a seaway. She readily scoops up waves onto the bow and puts her rail in the water in the gusts but very little water makes it all the way back to the cockpit. She makes a fair bit of leeway in a choppy sea but very little in flat water. This is the shallow bulbed fin version with 1.65m draft. I expect the standard 1.90m draft fin keel would be better in this regard.

In most conditions she has remarkable directional stability and can be left to sail herself for quite long periods. When hard pressed she needs more and more rudder to hold her course but shows no sign of rounding up. Eventually the rudder loads up to the point where it is hard to turn the wheel but letting the traveller down gets things back into balance again. If not then she needs a reef. We are still getting used to the change from tiller, shaft drive and skeg-hung rudder to wheel, sail drive and balanced spade rudder.

The cockpit feels a little shallower than we were used to on the Sadler. The best seats are behind the wheel using the pushpit as a backrest. The wheel is big enough to steer while sitting in the corner of the cockpit and looking forward down the rail. Side decks and foredeck are broad, flat and largely unobstructed so working on deck is straightforward.

Overall she seems solidly built. The moulded keel stub has substantial frames across it and the lead ballast is bolted on to this stub. The cored decks creak a bit but the surveyor was happy with them. The standard of finish below decks is very high particularly the joinery which I believe is done by the same people who do Halberg Rasseys.

Accomodation is much better than we had on the previous boat but nothing special by the standards of a modern 39 footer. The forward cabin is large and comfortable with adequate stowage and headroom. (Headroom relates to my 5’10” height. A 6’2” visitor found if a bit tight in places). The aft cabin is huge with standing headroom by the doors but very limited headroom in the middle of the berth. (There was an option to divide the aft cabin into two small double cabins) Sitting up in bed is difficult in the forward cabin due to the storage shelves alongside the berth. This is better in the aft cabin but we need to sort out some better lighting in there. Still not decided which we prefer but using the forward cabin at the moment.

There is a large chart table and a toilet and shower compartment to starboard and a large galley area to port. The toilet compartment has a shower sprayer that pulls out of the top of the basin tap and a sump with an electric drain pump. Showering on board is no problem but space in the heads is a little tight by modern standards. We plan a few plumbing improvements here. The chart table is excellent with plenty of space for electronics on a hinged panel that stows away in port. There is stowage under the table and in a series of drawers. The galley too is great with a large top-opening fridge, two sinks, a four-burner cooker and plenty of worktop and stowage.

The saloon berths are long and straight and make very good sea berths. The rounded corner cushions behind the seat backs look nice but would be more practical as straight cushions when it comes to lounging about down below and reading the paper. One day we will replace the cushions and sort this out. We have had 8 people around the saloon table for drinks and 6 in comfort for dinner.

Overall we are more than happy with her; she is fast, comfortable and inspires confidence.
 
Just looked at a few Google images of the 391 - she somehow looks just right, sits beautifully in the water and I'd expect her to be very comfortable in a bit of wind, especially when in forward of the beam. I suspect she'll be keen to stretch her legs when you've finished sprucing her up - so prob time to time to fire up the PC and thinking about where to go!
 
Hi, The boat looks great! I have a fractional rig 391, we are in our 7th year with it and I am still very pleased with the boat! If I could work out how I would send you a picture!!
You may be able to help, do you have an AVS for your boat? I have entered this years triangle race and need this for my entry. Any help will be greatly appreciated.
Very best regards
Chris Grey
 
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Nice to hear from you. Probably not a good idea to show your email address on a public forum - you will get loads of spam. But I have made a note of it.

You have to upload pictures to a server such as photobucket (or your own web space) and then link to them.

Where are you based? We are in Portsmouth Harbour and I have noticed 2 other 391s in the Solent area one called "Arrow" and one called "Trombone" I think. Ours in number 106 and called "Sea Reach" due to her east coast background. The Triangle Race is on my wish list too. I don't have stability curves or the AVS but the boat has a Category A certificate under the RCD so somebody must have done the stability work. We have been in touch with the designer and he might be able to help. I can send you his email address if you need it.
 
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