Orana 44: In General

[Gordon]

Hi Yeloya,
My wife and I will be picking up a new boat from La Rochelle in April/May 2013 and as yet, have not placed our order. We plan to purchase a boat of the same size 43' - 44' as we find this is a very manageable size for just the two of us.

Regards Gordon.

[gatorsailor]

I visited an Orana 44 at the sailboat show in Annapolis this weekend. I liked everything I saw but it occurred to me that the ventilation in the salon was limited and that it would heat up pretty easily. Any experiences related to ventilation in the salon? Thank you.

[pguillemin]

Hello Gator sailor

Ventilation ,,,like in most production boat is indeed weak But it is easy to remediate , Cowl , dorade box , solardriven fan , extra hatches and portholes, fans , air conditioning .
What work best in the sunny tropical places is a large sun awning over the boom which allows you to keep hatches open , Some sailmakers in the Caribbeans are specialized in making them and making them look good.
However the issues I had with the Orana / Salina - between 2006 and 2010 are a bit more complicated to solve , The boats were badly built , So very little support for the mast , very weak main bulkhead , and the mast bulkhead floating between the two hulls , Boats were bending , flexing, cracking . The junction of hull and counter mold was... a disaster ,As a dealer importer I got sued and lost because the builder did not want to do warranty work in the US ,,, So as you can see I am not a big fans of these boats . Mahe , Orana , Salina and Eleuthera , They are PoS

[henryv]

We have had an Orana in the Carribean for six years and have not had issues with salon ventilation. The two hatches either side of the mast allow adequate air movement.

The suggestions of widespread issues by the previous poster are not borne out by reality. We attended two rendevous with other owners and everyone was happy with their boats.


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[gatorsailor]

Thank you Henry, appreciate your insights. The one we looked at only had a single hatch on the port side and a second one behind the mast but it did not have the third one on the starboard side of the saloon. Easy enough to remedy.

[browone]

I'm just about to purchase a 2009 Orana 44 and was doing a bit of web searching on the Volvo D2 40 engine and sail drive units and saw some pretty disturbing stuff. Can any of you seasoned Orana owners with D2 40's give me some balanced views on these engines and saildrives?

Thanks
Ted

[yeloya]

I had 2 Orana's one from 2008 that I've sold another one from 2011 that I still keep, both D2 40 and I never had any issues with neither engines nor the sail drives. We alşso serviced a lot of Orana's being a service point and I doın't recall any specific issues with these engines or sail drives.
If the engines are not properly maintaned and serviced everything can happen on any engine or sail drive. The one that I've sold had 8.000 hours and the new owner still using them w/out any issues.
What you mean by "disturbing stuff" ?


Yeloya

[browone]

Yeloya, that is very comforting to know - thanks!

The disturbing stuff was along these lines: Volvo D2-40 Design Failure & Possible law suit

I discount a lot of this inflammatory type of posting, but it's good to get confirmation from someone with your amount of experience.

As you say, if you keep your equipment maintained it will treat you right.

Settlement scheduled for next Friday, so fingers crossed

[browone]

Originally Posted by yeloya

Our second Orana, this time four cabins and hull number 55 has been delivered to Marmaris last week. I didn't see it yet but my colleagues are saying that she's in very good shape after long and tiring trip from La Rochelle in record time and with very little engine hours.

Yeloya, we have just purchased hull number 55 in Auckland, New Zealand. Previously named "Maggie Rose II", now named "Chill" (appropriate renaming ceremonies were performed). Took her out for the first time yesterday and loving her so far. Only problem is a leaky hot water cylinder, but it looks like an easy fix.

Thinking of adding electric heads and a dodger at the helm (it can get rainy and cold in the NZ winter)

Any suggestions on the above would be greatly appreciated.

Anyway just thought you know that hull number 55 is in good hands and will be well looked after

Regards
Ted

[Skededel]

Originally Posted by Gordon

As our delivery skipper put it "One Horn Bag of a Boat"

This gent is a monohull man (16 times Sydney- Hobart) and he was so impressed with the sailing quality and handling abilities along with the great ride he is tempted to jump ship(so to speak). On delivery over four days and two nights from Mooloolaba to Port Hacking we experienced beautiful 15-20Kt breeze from 120' and then into a 35-40Kt southerly on the nose with close spaced 3m swell. We hid in port two nights and a day to wait for weather to improve.
The boat is a delight to sail an performs very well.With the following N.E. we were moving along at 12-14Kts. and pointing into the southerly of 14-18 Kts we sailed along at 8-9kts. The ride in the larger swell and 35-40kt wind was impressive,we had main on second reef and jib to first reef dot,we were still managing 8-9kts with no slamming, this required a workout on the helm.

Finish on the boat is good just minor things like screws instead of bolts on hatch hinges and using 304 stainless instead of 316 for some of the fasteners.Great galley,so cook happy.

At present this is the only one down here in Australia and am only too pleased to show off the new toy so please send e-mail via forum if you would like more info or come for a sail. We keep our boat "La Rochelle" on a swing mooring in Yowie Bay, PortHacking just to south of Sydney.

Gordon

I am new to posting so please excuse any impropriety. We are transitioning from a monohull to a cat. Thus far I like the orana or Helios. There is an orana for sale that has two 30 hp engines and I'd like your opinion on this installation. Application will be coastal sailing from Maine to Caribbean then onto the pacific and up to home in Seattle. We plan to be live aboard some during the next three years. Boating experience is limited to 45 years of racing and coastal sailing and powerboating. We have sailed to Alaska and cruised northern bc extensively and I think about some of our tides and 60 hp. On the other hand our first 44.7 weighs about the same and has a 50 hp engine. Thank you in advance!

[Skededel]

We are considering purchase of an Orana. Wondering if anyone has experience with boats powered with the 60 (2x 30) horsepower option. Boat will primarily see service as a coastal cruiser Maine to Caribbean then be brought around on her own hulls to our regular cruising grounds in the Pacific Northwest. We are making the transition from a First 44.7 which is equipped with a Yanmar 54 hp. While I recognize that comparisons between multihull and monohull is less than perfect, the two boats have similar displacements/weights. Thank you for any insight especially from those who have actual experience with the various engines.

[rh81]

We had chartered an Orana in the Caribbian and liked her but during sailing the boat was constantly squeeking - very annoying.

[yeloya]

Originally Posted by rh81

We had chartered an Orana in the Caribbian and liked her but during sailing the boat was constantly squeeking - very annoying.

That's a common problem in this generation of FP cats, more on Orana, a
bit less in Salina. It's a rather easy fix though..

Cheers

Yeloya

[henryv]

We found that the squeeking went away over time. I suspect that
the moving contact points between inner panels and the fiberglass wore over time.

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[rh81]

@Yeloya

Could you please tell more how to easy fix this.

To me it looks like the Orane is built a little too light and is flexing a lot while sailing.