Hanse 385 vs Jeanneau 379

[simonpickard]

Hello all,

I'm trying to work out the pro's and con's between these two boats.

If anyone has any feedback between them that would be amazing.

One thing I was wondering though... The forward cabin on the 385 seems very big for a boat this size. Is it bigger than the 379? Is there any way to get info on things like forward cabin bed sizes?


Regards,
Simon

[FLLCatsailor]

Jeanneau all the way...

[markstansfield]

Not a very useful response for Simon.

I went for the Hanse. I started with what i wanted the boat for, and what crew i was likely to have, added some likes and dislikes from our previous catalina, drew up a short list, decided which features were most important and than contacted the dealers of the top 3. Hanse dealer was the most responsive so pursued it and after several visits and a test sail (albeit on a 415) ended up with the Hanse.

The forepeak bed is 2.18 metres long or 86 inches if you are in the US.

Our important things just so you know.

Fast cruiser with a high transom (cathie doesn't like open transom) that we can cruise as a couple but spice up for club racing. So mainsheet back to helm very important. Small jib rather than big genoa important (so boat wont round up in gusts while wife or kids struggle to manage sheets) important. On the other hand has to sail well with additional crew to handle optional genoa and assymetric kites. Interior of catalina and space was excellent - so we needed something close to being as good, particularly a large gally. And we wanted a boat that was seaworthy enough for extended passage making, because we intend to cruise and port hop for extyended periods, so we needed plenty of storage.

So fastish boat for short handed sailing, with additional sails for club racing, with lots of space and that is SAFE.

Hanse is geman and even though some argue that it is not as good as the earlier steel fram ones, it still has a massive subframe strengtheining the boat. To me its more VW than citroen if you understand the references.

Short list was elan, dufour and Hanse, Nothing wrong with the jenneau, looked ok but wanted controls back at the helm without traveller in cockpit, and that option wasn't available when we looked.

Im sure you will find plenty of J owners who will support that brand too, so its down to your wish list. Ask anything you want, i have spent the last 5 months researching and buying our 385, which will be ready in July.

Mark

[markstansfield]

Bye the way, the Jenneau is probably nicer on the eye I think, but of course thats personnal too

[simonpickard]

Thanks for the reply Mark,

I feel the same about the Jenneau, inside it really does look good. I'm very keen on the Hanse though for how well everything is led aft.

There's pro's and con's of both. What I do find however is that the Hanse 385 has a LOT of space in the forward cabin and the bed is much larger. There's also way more light and ventilation up there as well which I like.

The idea foe us is to have this as a coastal crusier in the Med for a season or two and then hop over the pond so we want something safe. I think the Hanse really is built like a tank for a production boat, I'm finding it hard to hear the same options from Jenneau owners.

One thing I would like to ask... The boom seems quite low on the 385 and we were going to add a Bimini with solar. Would there be space to do this you think?

Did you go for a 2 cabin version by the way? The storage on that version is very impressive.

Also, what wood options did you go for?

Regards,
Simon

[markstansfield]

Hi Simon,

We have the same kind of requirements then, we are sailing in Dubai and then coming back to UK via the Med, and I have half an eye on the ARC at some point. So the strength thing was definitely on our list.

The boom! If you are fitting the performance sails the boom is too low to have the binimi up when sailing. This is not an issue for me because I don't like them. I worked with Phil at Inspiration marine (uk dealer do you know them?) to design a sun shade that zips to the back of the spray hood when we are moored or anchored and stretches to the backstays with a boom lift, of course you can raise the boom when not sailing.

If I wanted a binimi with solar I would do what the Aussies do, if you go on the windcraft web site (aussie dealer) or some of the Aussie boat broker sites you can see that they fit a small binimi forward and aft of the backstays. It stops short of the boom, but is enough to shade the helm, and of course crew can shade under the spray hood, and when moored I would get a canvass part that zips to the short binimi and the back of the spray hood. This looks like the best of all worlds if you want some sort of support for the solar. I nearly did it, and I still might if I find I just cant stand the sun in the summer. For now im just going with the shade. I wouldn't switch to the J just because of the binimi issue, the lower boom will make the 385 stiffer (less heel) and my family will appreciate that.

By the way Phil says he has delivered a few short binimis before - are you buying in UK?

Yes the forepeak is big, I think its better to have one heads rather than take up space with more loos. We went for two cabin so we can get the storage space for the longer trip AND the large galley - its huge too.

On wood we went for the stripped floor (because it looks right a boat) and we were surprised to go for the American Cherry. We expected to go for the oak, because we like the light interiors rather than the traditional mahogany, but when we saw both at the London boat show we felt the oak looked a bit 'made up' more like someone had pained the grain on, and the American cherry was quite light so we went for that.

Have you sailed a Hanse?

[carstenb]

If you are planning an ocean crossing, you will want to check how you can rig a wind rudder. The boats with fold down transoms need to have the windrudder demounted to use the bathing platform ( no problem once you are in the carribean , you can just take it off). Electric autopilots are generally not good for passages - eat juice like mad and they have difficulty holding the boat in heavy weather.

Just something to think about.

[markstansfield]

Yes I agree with you carstenb, I thinks its a requirement of ARC to fit one and as you say, who would go without one anyway. I recon it will cost more to fit one on a folding transom, but not impossible, there were three Hanses on the last ARC, I'll try and find out what they did

[goboatingnow]

Originally Posted by carstenb

If you are planning an ocean crossing, you will want to check how you can rig a wind rudder. The boats with fold down transoms need to have the windrudder demounted to use the bathing platform ( no problem once you are in the carribean , you can just take it off). Electric autopilots are generally not good for passages - eat juice like mad and they have difficulty holding the boat in heavy weather.

Just something to think about.

Funny three Atlantic crossings under autopilot , I'd have to disagree and ARC stats support me here.

Dave

[markstansfield]

Dave,

I'm not sure I understand, we are talking about wind vane steering not autopilot.

Mark

[goboatingnow]

Originally Posted by markstansfield

Dave,

I'm not sure I understand, we are talking about wind vane steering not autopilot.

Mark

Yes I'm referring to the fact that you do not need vane steering to cross oceans , modern autopilots are well capable and steer down wind better then most helmsmen.

If you have an openjng transom I'd spend the 10 k on a wind vane elsewhere

Dave

[markstansfield]

Ok Dave, got it, so you recon we can rely on keeping the power on for the crossing? Good news for me I guess. do many boats go without vane steering?

[goboatingnow]

Originally Posted by markstansfield

Ok Dave, got it, so you recon we can rely on keeping the power on for the crossing? Good news for me I guess. do many boats go without vane steering?

The vast majority of ARC boats now do not carry wind vanes. On one trip we powered the pilot from a towed water generator , most now are using solar

Dave

[Garrettw]

Originally Posted by markstansfield

Hanse is geman and even though some argue that it is not as good as the earlier steel fram ones, it still has a massive subframe strengtheining the boat. To me its more VW than citroen if you understand the references.

Short list was elan, dufour and Hanse, Nothing wrong with the jenneau, looked ok but wanted controls back at the helm without traveller in cockpit, and that option wasn't available when we looked.

Mark

Mark, just an FYI, the Jeanneau 379 has the traveller on the cabin top and both the jib sheet and the main sheet are routed to the dual helms.

[markstansfield]

Yes I remember now, it was on my slightly longer list before we got down to the last three. I've looked at my notes, and decided the 135 genoa (standard in Australia at the time) and the traveler controls on the coach roof were the things we found difficult short handed on the Catalina, so having the option of the relatively small and self tacking headsail and bigger main would suit us better in the end. But as I say its all personal and in the end you have to go with what you feel, both boat and dealer.

Mark