Handrail design and positioning is a tricky art. You want the rails where they are convenient to use, and easy to grip, but not overbearing aesthetically. The photo above is on the starboard side of the entry landing on the first FPB 64.

Over the years we have found that about 1.5″/37mm is a good clearance between handrail and adjacent surfaces. Within a couple of weeks you will see the handrail layout throughout the first FPB 64.

You are looking at the Murphy mechanical gauges in the engine room. Notice that the center “Engine Oil Pressure” is reading 50 PSI. The engine is being tested (along with all the other systems).

Meanwhile the interior is starting to have its protective coverings removed. We are looking here at the aft guest cabin, from the aft end forward.

Head compartments are notoriously hard to photograph. This is the aft head area.

The aft section of the office.

Still in the office, only now looking at the forward end of the desk. There is lots of room for full sized monitors. For example, the first boat will have a 27″ Apple Imac + a 30″ Cinema display on the desk.

This will give you an idea of the electronics layout with the three monitors in place. The monitors are for charting, radar, and sonar.

Moving to the next bay in the shop, FPB 64 #3 is shown here.

An interesting view of the anchor sprit and the fairlead for snubber lines, etc.

Still on FPB 64 #3, this is the aft starboard cabin adjacent to the engine room. The topside stiffeners are incorporated into the interior design.

We’ll close with this photo of the fuel tank area on FPB 64 #4. Note the tight baffling in both directions. This close spacing of baffles reduces liquid movement which has a positive impact on noise and motion.

Check back often as we’ll be posting photos as the interior of the first FPB 64 is exposed.

It is often hard to find enough space for one let alone two dinghies. So when this motor yacht passed us in Falmouth Harbor in the UK we grabbed the long lens.

The sailing dinghy is sitting on an elevated frame, over the door into the salon. The framework is designed so chocks can be easily changed.

There are a couple of considerations here:

• The height of the storage platform will make it a little awkward to use in anything but smooth water.
• The lifting boom needs enough clearance above the elevated dink for the bridle and halyard blocks.
• The weight of the dinghy sitting high is a hit on vertical center of gravity.

In a lot of situations this approach could make sense.

We’ve been using flat plate attachment bales for our lifelines for the last 30 years. These are exceptionally strong with lots of weld surface to carry the load. In short they last.

The marine standard to create an attachment point for lifelines is with stainless rod, typically about 3/16″/4.5mm, welded to the pulpit or boarding gates. There isn’t much weld area, and over time, between the effects of bending and corrosion these terminations are prone to fail. If you have rod bales, keep a close eye on them, especially the top life line attachment point.

We’ve been noticing these Ovni 43s for years. The hard chine hull with its bare aluminum topsides stands out, and the fact that these boats are designed to sit on land or ice is additionally intriguing.

We saw Lady Salope first in Bergen, Norway,

Her 74 year old owner is single handing and after we helped him work into a very tight berth, we took him back to Wind Horse for a fashionably late dinner of left overs. We were invited for a tour of his boat the next day.

The Ovni 43s have a flat bottom, centerboard, and hinging rudder at which we are looking above. Three feet (90cm) of water and you are afloat.

Most of her halyards and reef lines end up back in the cockpit.

She has a Max Power retractable thruster to which the flat bottom lends itself.

The salon is nicely designed, with the typical galley abeam of settee which has become so common.

The table leaves fold on top of the base, and are held in place with timber runners. Simple and effective.

This deck hatch privacy cover is also a simple way of solving the light and privacy problem.

We don’t care for this locker hardware system. The left door is held in place with an old-style finger latch. These do not have a good record in heavy going. The push latch on the right hand door is solid, but only as long as the right hand door is in place.

The Owner’s stateroom forward is very spacious for a 43 foot yacht.

There are a pair of quarter berths aft. The starboard side is for storage and shares its space with a 5kW diesel genset. The port side (above) is used at sea.

Robust aluminum construction, extreme shallow draft, and the ability to dry out makes the Ovni 43 an interesting concept.

I’ve got a Sea Brake drogue and am looking at rigging up the lines to tow it…

The manufacturers data sheet that came with it said to use polypropylene …I talked to my rigger and he said “What ? that’s nuts….I think you need 3 strand nylon or polyester to give some stretch and give for the load”

I contacted the Sea Brake folk and they said …no don’t use polyprop, use braided polyester …correct me if I’m wrong but that’s what our jib sheets are and they are low stretch..

So now I’m a bit confused…

BTW the Sea Brake is a canvas-like material which is tapered at each end with gaps in the sides aft of the largest dia and a hole at the aft end…

I’d be interested to know what you think

Best regards to you and Linda

All the best

Alan

To begin with we have a long and successful history of using heat treated Grade 70 chain. But this gets little respect with a regulatory authority with whom we are discussing the classification of one of our yachts – hence the following comments.

When you look at chain in a catalog it is usually displayed with a working load limit (WWL) or safe working load (SWL). To arrive at this figure a factor of safety is applied, a divisor into the ultimate or mean break strength for the chain in question.

These WWL/SWL factors of safety are on part based on service to allow for degradation, in part based on regulations, and part a simple CYA (cover your posterior) for lawsuits.

To compare different sizes and alloys of chain it is necessary to remove the SWL/WWL factors and get at the mean break strength.

Here is some interesting comparative data sent to us by Washington Chain, our source for Acco/Peerless chain products, based on the chain being hot dipped galvanized.

• 3/8″/9.6mm Grade 70 – break strength 24,000pounds/10,880 kg
• 1/2″/12.6mm Proof Coil – break strength 18,000 pounds/8160 kg
• 5/8″/16mm Proof Coil – break strength 27,600 pounds/12.500kg

Note that the 3/8″ Grade 70 is significantly stronger than the 1/2″ Proof Coil and within 13% of the strength of the 5/8″ Proof Coil.

Some will argue that the heat treated Grade 70 is more brittle and less able to absorb shock loads, which is true. But we have the real world experience to indicate that, for our yachts at least, the shock loads are minor compared to the MBS of the heat treated chain.

One other figure to keep in mind. Assuming you carry 300 feet/90meters of chain, the 3/8″ will weight in at 408 pounds/185 kg. The 5/8″ weighs 1107 pounds/502kg. That is a huge increase in weight forward and a negative in terms of motion and steering control (which is degraded through increase bow down trim).

Have a question about experience with anchoring on rock bottom.

We are planning to go cruising in Croatia and we have heard that there is mostly rock bottom there, and that this may pose some problems with traditional anchors. We find it a bit strange since Croatia has a fast growing charter fleet and we cannot believe that these boats are equipped with anything else than standard anchors. We have a Rocna 20kg, one fortress kedge anchor and one fortress hurricane anchor, but wonder if we should go for an anchor more suitable for rock.

The boat is a Dehler 37 Cr, waterline length 9m, dry weight 5,6 tonnes, cruising weight probably up to 7 tonnes I am afraid.

Do you think the Rocna will be OK, or do you think we should go for another spare anchor? And in that case what type? Space and weigh will be a problem.. The boat is flat bottomed, no sump.

Have been looking at a fisherman type like the picture below, which I can find to an affordable price .. And then there is the Luke, storm anchor which is very expensive in comparison.

BTW. Hope you liked our country! Saw that you visited Norway in your logs. Did you visit Oslo?

Thanks!

Erik
Norway

It is the middle, more direct route about which we want expert opinions. While we always make up our own minds, and the final decision will rest on the weather patterns we see when ready to depart the UK, we like to get an early jump thinking about various scenarios. For part one of this discussion click here .

This allows us to put what we see weather wise into context. By early April we will start to watch the 500mb and surface analysis data along with forecasts, in order to get a feel for the pattern this. We’ll judge what we see in the context of our own analysis, keeping in mind the expert conceptual advice noted below.

The east to west scenarios we are considering are not for the faint of heart, or for an ordinary cruising yacht. But Wind Horse , with her ability to maintain high average speeds, and enormous range under power, makes it feasible to discuss a non tradewind east to west passage.

We’ll start with John Harries, the most experienced Arctic cruiser we know. John, and his wife Phyllis, has made the North Atlantic passage many times. He is also extremely conservative. John made the following points in our discussion regarding routing which gets us back to the States early:

• Going direct from Ireland to Newfoundland only makes sense with a perfect weather window.
• Evan at Wind Horse’s 260 mile a day speed you need a week, and it is almost impossible to predict weather this far in advance.
• There is a tendency for upper level cut off lows to sit off Newfoundland and generate horrible weather.
• Even professionals have a problem forecasting these high latitude events with any degree of certainty.
• St. Anthony is a better landfall than St. Johns in that ice is apt to be less and we avoid more of the shallow water and infamous Flemish Cap area.
• If bad weather is forecast once we depart Ireland there is no bailout other than to return to Ireland (heading north takes you to Greenland which in turn necessitates going way north to Nuuk since the south will be icebound).
• Azores to Bermuda or St. Johns (latter being 1200 miles) makes more sense in a normal year since we can always dive south into the Azores high to avoid bad weather.
• Leave Bermuda by July 10th because of hurricane risks.

John has a fascinating website devoted to high latitude cruising which you can get to here.

Ralph Naranjo has been studying weather since the days we circumnavigated together (many decades ago!). He has made the North Atlantic passage many times, and as head of offshore sailing at the US Naval Academy done his share of routing and interfacing with meteorologists (Ralph’s day job is as Technical Editor of Practical Sailor) . We asked Ralph his opinion of the direct route from Ireland and what he thought of the new University of Colorado report on hurricane activity. Ralph’s comments follow:

• The (University of Colorado) report alludes to an abatement of what is now a moderate to strong El Nino that will result in a cessation of the westerly shear that has torn apart tropical storm development during the past season. The result would be an earlier reestablishment of the Azores and Bermuda High and more of an easterly surface flow across Caribbean waters AKA better conditions for tropical storm development.
• What this means for latitudes north of 40N is a more normal progression from west to east of surface lows that unfortunately remain quite volatile through May.
• Ireland in May and a sprint across double digit latitudes that begin with a 5 will include some rugged voyaging. This is likely to be a more “pilot chart like” year due to the presumed end of the ENSO event. That said, May averages out to 20-25% of the time being gale force conditions in the portion of the Atlantic you’ll cross – if you choose the northern route. Above 50 there’s less westerly but the E to NE storms are frequent enough to be an issue. Building in enough time to wait out the most punishing blows seems essential. The route is much more appealing in late June or July.

Ralph is also a voyaging consultant and can be reached at rjnaranjo@cs.com

We also chatted with John Neal (http://www.mahina.com/) who has done the Bermuda Azores run many times during his sail training cruises with students. Aside from extolling the virtues of the Azores, John felt the Azores Bermuda passage with Wind Horse would typically not be difficult given her range and ability to maintain efficient momentum when headed upwind.

You will notice a common thread here. The best route depends on what the season dishes up. For a final opinion on this subject we chatted with Rick Shema (www.weatherguy.com). Rick is a full time weather router and works with commercial mariners, cruisers, and racing programs. We’ve worked together on a number of potentially difficult passages. Rick responded to our query as follows:

• Getting back to you regarding predictors for spring/summer upper level winds and weather patterns. First off, in Dr. Gray’s report he cites no skill in November predictors for the following tropical cyclone season. However, there are significant correlations in his predictors with other physical features for later this year. For example, positive values of 500mb geo-potential heights implies more ridging in Central Atlantic. This is mainly due to stronger U/L southerly winds and enhanced blocking ridge pattern. Positive 500 hts also indicate weaker U/L tropical zonal winds, which means less vertical wind shear between 200 and 850mb.
• El Nino should be waning in May and that would mean a northward movement, as well as, the seasonal northward movement of the storm track. However, storm track still south of norm due to El Nino, and I’m concerned with storm systems along Plan Azores Bermuda route.
• At this point, Plan Ireland to Newfoundland seems the most favorable of the three options. Because: 1) tendency for storm track to be south of norm, 2) and indictors leading to a blocking U/L ridge in north central Atlantic, and possible need to travel further south than norm to reach the high cell the Azores route.
• No guarantees there won’t be adverse weather for Ireland to Newfoundland, but we can mitigate the risk hopefully easier.

There you have it. Nothing concrete today of course, but we have the basis for watching the patterns. We will start consulting with Rick towards the end of April.