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Old 27-03-2016, 13:22   #16
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Re: Gunboat 66 – the ultimate fast cruiser?

I find it difficult to report any positive impressions

Maybe... because
I dont like cats
I dont like plastics
I don't like white details on board

No doubt, you can reach 20kn on a limited AWA range, at due conditions....(close range indeed)
Ok, so f.......g what!?
I dont see any "ultimate" thing, please..

If i really want to taste speed, i choose a TRI, or an IMOCA60


Sorry, not my style definitely
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Old 27-03-2016, 16:01   #17
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Re: Gunboat 66 – the ultimate fast cruiser?

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Originally Posted by TheThunderbird View Post
I find it difficult to report any positive impressions

Maybe... because
I dont like cats
I dont like plastics
I don't like white details on board
One wonders why you waste your time reading the thread then.





Sent from a stupid phone that replaces words with weird stuff.
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Old 27-03-2016, 16:04   #18
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Re: Gunboat 66 – the ultimate fast cruiser?

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Originally Posted by beiland View Post
I haven't watch this video in some time now, but it really is quite good. Even non-sailors should have a look.


This vessel, or style of vessel, has to be one of the top contenders as world cruiser. Its a shame that they find themselves in financially difficulties at the moment.
Speaking to the skipper on a Gunboat he said that they had to rein in the speed as the carbon fibre hull was incredibly noisy at speed and the guests didn't like it so ended up being like a Ferrari that couldn't get out of first gear. Mind you his first gear was probably faster than my 4th gear.

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Old 27-03-2016, 16:15   #19
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Re: Gunboat 66 – the ultimate fast cruiser?

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Originally Posted by alansmith View Post
Polux, your remarks hit the mark on what I perceive as what the underlying problem with the Gunboats were. These boats are for the uber wealthy crowd. But the boat is really a skittish high maintenance racehorse. Nonetheless she is gorgeous, sexy, and can I rent her for couple of thousand a week from Sunsail? I promise not to use the spinnaker...I swear it
There is nothing wrong in targeting the uber rich to sell your products , PJs only problems were that once you narrow down uber rich list by , lack of space in the narrow hulls, skidish boat behaviour to sail, high profile boat losses ..,, there isn't much of a Market left to sell to.
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Old 27-03-2016, 18:01   #20
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Re: Gunboat 66 – the ultimate fast cruiser?

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Thanks

That's exact what I meant.

Mark
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Sometimes I am slow, it comes with age I guess that they need that if they are racing or showing off the boat and have it with a high performance, high maintenance set up. Off course the boat if it was equipped for world cruising could have a lot in common, including the hulls but would have to be equipped differently.

The point is that they are not equipped that way because they are not used for that. Not what their clients want.
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Old 27-03-2016, 18:31   #21
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Re: Gunboat 66 – the ultimate fast cruiser?

So, Andrew Grace, do u think we will be able to find these 'has beens' I Sunsail charter fleet? He he. Dying to get my hands on one.
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Old 27-03-2016, 20:04   #22
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Re: Gunboat 66 – the ultimate fast cruiser?

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There is nothing wrong in targeting the uber rich to sell your products , PJs only problems were that once you narrow down uber rich list by , lack of space in the narrow hulls, skidish boat behaviour to sail, high profile boat losses ..,, there isn't much of a Market left to sell to.
Besides.... The uber rich buy power yachts able to tote around lots of toys. Very few would even consider a sailing yacht, let alone a measly 66 footer.
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Old 27-03-2016, 21:16   #23
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Re: Gunboat 66 – the ultimate fast cruiser?

There is all too much emphasis placed on the speed aspect. Yes most Gunboats are in search of the speed aspect, but it that all that important. What if you built one with a little less rig to go cruising,....even a 'motorsailer version'

[QUOTE...from another forum]
Catamarans - The Ultimate Motorsailers

I regard catamarans as the Ultimate Motorsailers. They are awesome sailing vessels, and when there is no wind, they keep moving toward their destination under power.

We often motorsailed on board Exit Only, and we did it for many different reasons:

1. When wind is light, and we are near port with bad weather or darkness approaching, we turn on one or both engines to get to our destination expeditiously and safely.

2. When we are stretching our daily run to fifty miles, we often motorsail to make sure that we arrive at the next anchorage with plenty of time to find a good place to anchor, and to insure that we have enough daylight to find an alternate anchorage if the first one does not work out.

3. We sometimes motorsail to point higher in choppy seas when sailing to a windward destination. It makes the ride more pleasant and gets us to our destination faster.

4. There are huge bodies of water like the Java Sea and large sections of the Miditerranean that are frequently windless. I don't think we had even a breath of wind as we sailed across the Java Sea, and we motorsailed two-thirds of the way across the Med.

5. It's often smart to motorsail across black holes. The two times we sailed to New Zealand, we motorsailed through the center of high pressure areas that were coming off the Tasman Sea. On both trips south, we made it to New Zealand just before then next low pressure area came through with 40 knots of wind. People who allowed themselves to wallow in the center of the high pressure area without motoring got clobbered by the oncoming low. Both times that we sailed south, there was loss of life by people who had the situation unravel in the black hole north of New Zealand.

6. Motorsailing reduces wear and tear on the mainsail and rigging when there are cross seas in light wind. Rather than have the main flop back and forth with shock loading of the rigging with each roll, turning on one engine quiets the main, and the crew is happy that they don't have to listen to the flopping main.

Our engines are one of the least expensive pieces of gear on board Exit Only. A new mainsail costs about $4,000 - $5000, but a new 28 hp Yanmar engine is only about $6,000 to$7000. A fancy watermaker can end up costing $8000. I happily "use up my engines" and I will happly replace them when they are worn out because they made my cruise much more enjoyable. If I am lucky, I will have to repower Exit Only three times, because that means I will have sailed around the world ten times.

When our speed drops below four knots, we automatically turn on one engine to keep the boat moving. It's rare that we ever run two engines, but the second engine is there if we need it for close in maneuvering or for additional speed.

Most of the time we motorsail with one engine, and we run the engine that's under the bunk of an unoccupied cabin. That way a sleeping sailor doesn't have to listen to a loud engine. If we motorsail for long periods, we alternate the engines in a manner that maximizes everyone's enjoyment of the voyage.

If we are going to motor around the clock through a high pressure area, we will run the port engine for twelve hours and the starboard engine for twelve hours. Before we switch engines, we can check oil and coolant to make sure the engine coming on line is ready for action.

Finally, having two engines on board gives awesome redundancy to an offshore world cruiser. You always have a spare engine on board. And having two steerging wheels and two rudders increases the margin of safety as well.

My Privilege 39 is a sailboat first and motorsailer second, and I would rather be sailing than moving under power. But it's great to know that my cruising machine is multidimensional. I am not at the mercy of the wind, and because Exit Only is a dependable motorsailer, I can push the envelope when I need to, and I know that the odds of a successful and safe voyage are greater because I am in a cat.

Catamarans are awesome offshore cruisers and dependable motorsailers.[/QUOTE]

...or what if you rigged one in such a manner that it would be safer to sail short-handed. the hull form and light-weight construction should make it still a nice performer for world cruising. And then you have that nice layout with big view-around saloon, ....and separate staterooms in each hull,...and shallow draft.
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Old 27-03-2016, 21:34   #24
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Re: Gunboat 66 – the ultimate fast cruiser?

For me, anything that big that can fly a hull out of the water that easy is not a cruiser....

I can just hear the old lady now, "PUT IT DOWN!!!"

"yes love"......"sorry love"

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Old 28-03-2016, 03:17   #25
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Re: Gunboat 66 – the ultimate fast cruiser?

Quote:
Originally Posted by MarkJ View Post
One wonders why you waste your time reading the thread then.





Sent from a stupid phone that replaces words with weird stuff.

1) I am open minded
2) the heading of the post is wrong, and misleading
3) your objection gets back to you in full, no wonder maybe it is your stupid handset writing it
4) unuseful as you are, please join my selected IGNORE LIST
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Old 28-03-2016, 04:07   #26
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Re: Gunboat 66 – the ultimate fast cruiser?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Kenomac View Post
Besides.... The uber rich buy power yachts able to tote around lots of toys. Very few would even consider a sailing yacht, let alone a measly 66 footer.
In America and you are right since it was in America that the Gunboats were sold. In Europe that is another completely difference story and the very rich also buy maxi yachts, even if they buy even more motor yacht.

The social status of having a sail yachts is bigger than the one of having a motor yacht, maybe because they have to pay to a much bigger crew

Seriously I do believe they like sailboats as much as us, in a different way and I am happy with the situation since they provide beautiful boats for us to look at and lots of professional jobs to sailors as crew.



And even among the rich guys there seems to be a cultural difference in sailing regarding America, not only referring to the number that chose to have big sailing yachts instead of big motorboats but also in what regards those big yachts to be linked to sport: Most of those rich guys like fast boast and enjoy not only cruising but doing some regattas. But they like to do so not in racers but on their own performance cruising boats, the ones they use to cruise too, boats with a very luxurious interior.

Also the number of performance cruisers among big maxi yachts is impressive. Look at the last video and don't be mistaken: if it has a teak deck than it is a luxury performance cruiser, if they are almost as sleek and beautiful as some race boats.

It was this market Gunboat was trying to enter to and failed mostly because Europeans went not for maxi performance cruising cats, I believe most for a beauty and style reason than anything more.

Also a lot of guys recovering old big yachts (God bless them). You may think they are race boats but just look at their interior on the last video:

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Old 28-03-2016, 05:33   #27
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Back Off the Accelerator & Women's preference

Quote:
Originally Posted by IslandHopper View Post
For me, anything that big that can fly a hull out of the water that easy is not a cruiser....

I can just hear the old lady now, "PUT IT DOWN!!!"
Just because the vessel has that capability does NOT mean you have to utilize it all the time,...simply sail it in a reefed condition when your out cruising. There are a number of 'race boats' that get delivered from place to place, and often with skeleton crews. These guys don't sail the boats all-out during these deliveries, and/or certainly not at night when potential squalls might occur.

Just back off of the accelerator at times. But it is nice to know that your 'Ferrari' has that capability.

BTW, a whole lot of ladies like these level sailing catamarans, and the spaciousness of that saloon. Just don't scare them by over-sailing it while they are on board. I venture to think you would be real surprised by an honest survey as to women's preference between monos and multis.
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Old 28-03-2016, 09:25   #28
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Re: Back Off the Accelerator & Women's preference

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Just because the vessel has that capability does NOT mean you have to utilize it all the time,...simply sail it in a reefed condition when your out cruising. There are a number of 'race boats' that get delivered from place to place, and often with skeleton crews. These guys don't sail the boats all-out during these deliveries, and/or certainly not at night when potential squalls might occur.

Just back off of the accelerator at times. But it is nice to know that your 'Ferrari' has that capability.

BTW, a whole lot of ladies like these level sailing catamarans, and the spaciousness of that saloon. Just don't scare them by over-sailing it while they are on board. I venture to think you would be real surprised by an honest survey as to women's preference between monos and multis.
Yes you are right about that but making it a Ferrari makes it hugely expensive and it does not make sense if you don't use it like that. If you have not a crew to control permanently the boat than you don't need to have such a tall mast and smaller sails would be more manageable and probably the reefs would be easier to took and more effective.

That is worse on a cat than on a high performance mono. On a mono if you have too much sail and a big gust comes the boat just heels a lot. A sportive cat like the Gunboat can capsize and that makes a really high performance mono-hull more suitable for cruising than a really high performance catamaran.

The expenses continue in what regards carbon sails and top rigging material, all excellent for top performance but not in what regards low maintenance and high maintenance does not go with the needs of long range cruising.

Yes, all that could be changed and the boat can still have a very good sail performance but then it will not be the same Gunboat as we know it and probably it would not cost two or three times the price of some other big cats used for long range cruising.

You have to look at the Gunboat 66 regarding what it was designed to do and that was about the same thing the maxi yachts of the jet sail set circuit were designed to do and that was not extensive long range cruising, just luxury cruising and some racing.
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Old 28-03-2016, 12:12   #29
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Re: Gunboat 66 – the ultimate fast cruiser?

I thought gunboats were fine boats until I realized the owner of the company was pimping on some forum and talking BS about other manufacturers. Of course there's also the made in china, the stratospheric price, and IMO the wrong layout with a front cockpit on a fast cruiser (racer ?). That video ? total BS from a nice journalist. So we see 20 knots in this video ... TWS ? TWA ?? surfing ? no idea. Come on, that can't be a good video ! BTW, I still haven't seen a video where they are drinking tea at 30 knts boat speed !
In the meantime other manufacturers are selling true (fast) cruisers that families are actually sailing around the world, and that comes at half (one third ?) the price. Here is a good example and one of my favorite video:

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Old 28-03-2016, 13:53   #30
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Re: Gunboat 66 – the ultimate fast cruiser?

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Oh, and they must be single because fewer wives would put up with it.
Oh yea, mine wouldn't. She'd much rather be on a 40' monohull.
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