Gunboats: Any First-Hand Info ?

[sparau]

regarding cruising, you wouldn't want to run reefed all the time and ruin such a nice main so spend 0.5% of the purchase price on a smaller sails and get your maintenance guy, cleaner or butler to rig it up for when you want to cruise, which would make the "hair trigger" point moot yes?

[downunder]

Originally Posted by webejammin

I thought this thread is about Gunboats not other copies.
Your starting to sound like the 99%

Any decent discussion of boats compares and contrasts with other vessels and improves and contributes to the discussion rather than being negative.

44C It is easy to see why your vessel has been compared with the 48ft Gunboat. Not disimilar looks and performance, composite chainplates etc, from a distance and at a bargain price comparatively.

Cheers

[MehmetCan]

Originally Posted by sparau

regarding cruising, you wouldn't want to run reefed all the time and ruin such a nice main so spend 0.5% of the purchase price on a smaller sails and get your maintenance guy, cleaner or butler to rig it up for when you want to cruise, which would make the "hair trigger" point moot yes?

This is a very good idea indeed. Having a larger Quantum spectra mail sail as a backup, now that's spoiled in the best possible way!

[Sand crab]

I was going to hire a boat to follow me in my GB that had a big (really big) fan on it so I could have my lackeys turn it on to any speed I want. That way it would send me on my way just as fast as I want. If I was in a hurricane I would just turn the fan on reverse to cancel out thos annoying gale force winds. Did I say it was going to a really. really, really big fan?

[tomfl]

I have only seen the vids, no first hand knowledge. This is my two cents.

I started sailing with my Dad when I was in Junior High School in the 1960s. Crewed one summer on Mike Burke's Windjammers. Single handed my Dads 34' ketch from the keys to the Bahamas after I graduated from college. Helped build and sail a Cross Tri. Was a serious sailboarder, went to the Olympic trials.

The plain fact of the matter is I would have no idea how to sail a GB. Did you notice the professional chef in one of the vids, not to mention a first rate professional skipper. I would even question anyone's ability to single hand a GB.

This is not to say I would pass up the chance to see a GB up close, to say nothing of going for a sail on one. But if I won the lottery (kinda unlikely cuz I view it as a tax on stupidity and have never played) and had the big bucks I doubt I would buy a GB. My idea of sailing is more along the lines of single handing and enjoying the solitude of the open ocean. A GB would not only require lots of coin of the realm, but having a crowd along on any cruise you went on.

Still it is a fantastic boat.

[barnakiel]

This all depends very much on the lay-out. Some truly big boats can be single-handed. Also, big light boats can be easier to handle than small heavy ones.

So, with proper lay-out a GB should create no issues to a single hander. And with such a huge potential, one does not have to get the whole 100% of the boat, I bet getting just 90% would be good enough for 99% of us.

b.

[tomfl]

Originally Posted by barnakiel

This all depends very much on the lay-out. Some truly big boats can be single-handed. Also, big light boats can be easier to handle than small heavy ones.

So, with proper lay-out a GB should create no issues to a single hander. And with such a huge potential, one does not have to get the whole 100% of the boat, I bet getting just 90% would be good enough for 99% of us.

b.

Again just my two cents, but I think it would be irresponsible to try and single hand a GB. Even in light airs there are a lot of flat surfaces blow you around. Docking could be a real issue, same with pulling up the hook.

I have no doubt I could stand near the wheel and watch the electronics steer a GB once the sails were set in say a 5-10 knot breeze in open water. But that is such a small part of sailing. As a kid I use to stand on the bow of my Dad's schooner and read the bottom of the flats in the Keys and the Bahamas and guide my Dad, who was at the wheel, safely to where we were heading. One of us was always at the wheel, under power, and headed into the wind while the other one lowered and secured the sails. Docking and anchoring were so much easier and safer with additional hands.

Not to mention I would be nervous at the wheel of a $US3.5 million dollar boat, even if I had a professional crew to help out. There are lots of boats I would feel comfortable skippering, but the GB is not one of the. After all the whole idea of sailing for me is suppose to be fun, and single handing a GB would not be fun, at least for me.

[barnakiel]

OK.

It is equally irresponsible to take a Laser out if one does not know what they are doing. In a GB an irresponsible driver may face a lawsuit. In a Laser they may face losing their life. Etc.

I have seen the big orange boat. She did not look like anything that cannot be handled. In any big boat pulling the hook, if single handing, is done from the driver's seat, with a push of the button. No difference here between GB and any other big boat. Docking is done with the help of thrusters. If there are no thrusters, you ask dinghy support from the marina office. Catamarans tend to be easier to turn on spot than monos - you know - they tend to have two engines, which helps.

BTW IMHO minor and addressable nuances at anchoring and docking should not detract from the boat's ability to deliver loads of adrenaline on the passage.

The 3.5 you mention only counts if you do not have it. People who have it have their boats insured and a minor crash does not really bother them. No-one crashes theirs or their neighbour's boat on intent, do we? But if you do worry about that 3.5, then never sail YOUR boat, whatever she is, anywhere close to that GB. You do not want to scratch their topsides ... If I did, this could be the end of our sailing adventures. That is, unless the owner is insured and he understands nobody crashes into his boat on intent...

Big hug,
b.

[tomfl]

Originally Posted by barnakiel

OK.

SNIP
The 3.5 you mention only counts if you do not have it.
SNIP
b.

[MehmetCan]

Originally Posted by tomfl

Not to mention I would be nervous at the wheel of a $US3.5 million dollar boat, even if I had a professional crew to help out. There are lots of boats I would feel comfortable skippering, but the GB is not one of the. After all the whole idea of sailing for me is suppose to be fun, and single handing a GB would not be fun, at least for me.

If you can drive a Ferrari just like you drive a Chevrolet, feel comfortable with it's expenses, can sleep tight when you park it on the street, then it's obvious that you can afford it. Same goes for GB, if it's expenses are easier for you to pay that most people's 40 footers, then you can afford it.

As for single handing, you can always delegate minor&safe tasks to family members while you take care of the big and more dangerous stuff. And if you're sailing a 55 footer or larger boat, it's obvious that you're not sailing alone...

[Sand crab]

I believe the GB 66 is about $4.5M not $3.5M. What's an extra million between friends? However I think that model is no longer in production. The china facility is building the 60 and 78. and the North Carolina yard is being set up for the new 55. I wonder what the price tag on all of these are.

[MehmetCan]

1.6 for the 55, 2.2 for the 60 and around 7.5-8 for the 78. These are standard prices of course!!!

[44'cruisingcat]

Originally Posted by tomfl

I have only seen the vids, no first hand knowledge. This is my two cents.

I started sailing with my Dad when I was in Junior High School in the 1960s. Crewed one summer on Mike Burke's Windjammers. Single handed my Dads 34' ketch from the keys to the Bahamas after I graduated from college. Helped build and sail a Cross Tri. Was a serious sailboarder, went to the Olympic trials.

The plain fact of the matter is I would have no idea how to sail a GB. Did you notice the professional chef in one of the vids, not to mention a first rate professional skipper. I would even question anyone's ability to single hand a GB.

This is not to say I would pass up the chance to see a GB up close, to say nothing of going for a sail on one. But if I won the lottery (kinda unlikely cuz I view it as a tax on stupidity and have never played) and had the big bucks I doubt I would buy a GB. My idea of sailing is more along the lines of single handing and enjoying the solitude of the open ocean. A GB would not only require lots of coin of the realm, but having a crowd along on any cruise you went on.

Still it is a fantastic boat.

Huge racing tri's can and have been single handed by very petite ladies. All the way round the world, at record setting speeds. It's simply a matter of how the boat is set up.

[MehmetCan]

Originally Posted by 44'cruisingcat

Huge racing tri's can and have been single handed by very petite ladies. All the way round the world, at record setting speeds. It's simply a matter of how the boat is set up.

Thank you!

My biggest argument to this negative approach on boats bigger than 40 feet is always the same; can you trim a single sail on a 30-35 feet boat with only muscle power (no pulleys, vinches etc.), even during a light breeze?

The difference between man and other animals is that we're not as strong as them but innovate methods and gadgets to handle gigantic tasks.

Of course it's easier and safer to navigate a smaller boat with professional crew, however, during a storm, we're the smallest thing on the sea, no matter how good we are or how small and controllable the boat is.

Last but not least, have you ever met with a true old salt who claims to know everything? Even after years of experience with the same boat? Every boat is different, and on a GB; you pay 1M$'s for the size and rest of the money for single handling, speed and bragging rights!!!

[gonesail]

per the 66 video: looked to me like the guy was having a hard time trying to see from inside the steering station .. seems like a strange setup. but yes nice when raining.