Gunboats: Any First-Hand Info ?

[downunder]

Originally Posted by webejammin

I have not heard if a cat built by Chris White winning any races that a Gunboat was in, Have you?

Only important if it is your priority to race your vessel.

I am only interested in their relative crusing capability and comparative cost as both the Gunboat and Chris White 57 are quality designs.

[Sparohok]

Originally Posted by downunder

Only important if it is your priority to race your vessel.

I think this more or less exemplifies the difference in design brief between Gunboat and Atlantic cats. If you want to travel the world, buy the Atlantic. If you want to beat people in races, buy the Gunboat. The Atlantics are about unadorned functionality and practicality. The Gunboats are about sex appeal and competitiveness.

Martin

[Sand crab]

Originally Posted by downunder

Any photos of engine room/mech installations.

The engineering/electricall installations make or break any boats but not so many emphasize it enough.

If you watch this video they show the engine room. This is the same boat "Gazelle" that is in the pics already posted here. It is now for sale for $3.95 mil. Buy your lotto tickets.

Gunboat 66 Video - YouTube

As for comments that the GBs are not true cruisers. Are you frickin kidding me? this boat has made it from South Africa to the Bahamas to polynesia. I would say that is cruising in style and with speed. I like the Atlantics too.
Gunboat=Ferrari
Atlantic=Corvette
And there is nothing wrong with that. I want one of each. BOB

[webejammin]

Originally Posted by Sparohok

The Gunboats are about sex appeal and competitiveness.

Martin

That's what life is really about : sex appeal and competitiveness

[SVNeko]

the 66 Gunboat is multiples more expensive than the CW Atlantic 57.

I do love the Gunboats purely external molded in chainplate though.

[webejammin]

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

[Bash]

Originally Posted by webejammin

When I dream I dream about really fast and great looking sailboats. I was hopeing some one on CF had been passed by a Gunboat or seen one at a boat show. I've seen the U-tube vidios ,I just wanted first hand info.

I've been aboard a 48' Gunboat that had tied up at our dock for a couple of weeks, but I was just aboard for a beer, not a sail. What impressed me most was the Gunboat RIB, made of identical carbon fiber, on the davits. What impressed me least was the steering station, which seemed rather indoorsy.

They served a nice cold beer, regardless.

[Sand crab]

Originally Posted by webejammin

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

FWIW The Atlantics were the first (semi) production cats with the forward cockpit design, not Gunboat. There were some one offs of this type of design that predate Atlantic and that was covered in other threads. So Atlantic copied that design and GB copied Atlantic.
But back to the Gunboat naysayers. If you had a spare $4 mil laying around and enough left over for expenses would you buy a GB? Hell yes. Like the guy said in the video, "all the other boats are, well, ordinary". Now, if you "only" had about $1.6 mil you would probably want the Atlantic. Please not that the Atlantic 57 is about the same price as a GB 48. So all things considered I would get the bigger boat for the same bucks. Also GB is now made in China and I have a problem with that. Atlantic is made in Chile and I don't have as much of a problem there. I also have a lot of other problems like a lack of a couple million laying around. BOB

[webejammin]

Originally Posted by Bash

I've been aboard a 48' Gunboat that had tied up at our dock for a couple of weeks, but I was just aboard for a beer, not a sail. What impressed me most was the Gunboat RIB, made of identical carbon fiber, on the davits. What impressed me least was the steering station, which seemed rather indoorsy.

They served a nice cold beer, regardless.

Kewl As far as " What impressed me least was the steering station, which seemed rather indoorsy" sailing today in the Pacific North west "indoorsy " would be great in 40 F weather and sprinkles.

[David M]

When in chop and there is spray everywhere, do you then have to open the forward door to adjust sail trim? Is there a mount for a mop just inside the door?

[SVNeko]

There's a little bit of apples and oranges here. We are cruisers. The Gunboat is barely a cruiser. An A57 flipped in the South Pacific due to wind and wave motion. I think the Gunboat is even less stable due to light weight and a huge sailplan. On the other end of the spectrum are the charterbarges with short sticks - boring but shows there is a real issue there. I am not sure I would trade for all that speed and sexiness by having to be on a hair trigger watch all the time for a squall or other disturbance that might flip it.

[threadkiller]

Originally Posted by SVNeko

There's a little bit of apples and oranges here. We are cruisers. The Gunboat is barely a cruiser. An A57 flipped in the South Pacific due to wind and wave motion. I think the Gunboat is even less stable due to light weight and a huge sailplan. On the other end of the spectrum are the charterbarges with short sticks - boring but shows there is a real issue there. I am not sure I would trade for all that speed and sexiness by having to be on a hair trigger watch all the time for a squall or other disturbance that might flip it.

Well then, maybe you could consider that a sailor could shorten sail earlier, and go as well in the long run. All these threads about performance miss the point, IMO. The point is, you have some performance in light air when the charter-boat, old and slow boats are either slatting, or motoring.

Its not a hair trigger, it's sailing your boat and paying attention. I'm just not that into motorboats.

[SVNeko]

Originally Posted by threadkiller

Well then, maybe you could consider that a sailor could shorten sail earlier, and go as well in the long run. All these threads about performance miss the point, IMO. The point is, you have some performance in light air when the charter-boat, old and slow boats are either slatting, or motoring.

Its not a hair trigger, it's sailing your boat and paying attention. I'm just not that into motorboats.

Yea, in a perfect world... You don't need a race boat to go faster than a charter barge. Most cat sailors do quite well with a big headsail.

[44'cruisingcat]

Originally Posted by SVNeko

There's a little bit of apples and oranges here. We are cruisers. The Gunboat is barely a cruiser. An A57 flipped in the South Pacific due to wind and wave motion. I think the Gunboat is even less stable due to light weight and a huge sailplan. On the other end of the spectrum are the charterbarges with short sticks - boring but shows there is a real issue there. I am not sure I would trade for all that speed and sexiness by having to be on a hair trigger watch all the time for a squall or other disturbance that might flip it.

"Hair trigger", but have any Gunboats actually been flipped?

[Sand crab]

Originally Posted by SVNeko

There's a little bit of apples and oranges here. We are cruisers. The Gunboat is barely a cruiser. An A57 flipped in the South Pacific due to wind and wave motion. I think the Gunboat is even less stable due to light weight and a huge sailplan. On the other end of the spectrum are the charterbarges with short sticks - boring but shows there is a real issue there. I am not sure I would trade for all that speed and sexiness by having to be on a hair trigger watch all the time for a squall or other disturbance that might flip it.

I really don't know how you can say that the Gunboat is barely a cruiser. It's got radar, a watermaker, everything including a washer/dryer. Now I'm going to go out on a limb here and declare and decree from now on and forevermore that any sailboat with a washer/dryer is a bonafide bluewater cruiser. So for the next thread that asks this question then there is the answer.

But seriously, boats like Gunboats and Atlantics are safer than your average boat whether mono or multi and here's why. Speed. These boats have the ability to outrun or outmanuever an impending major storm. 200 NM days are a walk in the park for these boats and 300 NM days are not unheard of. You might get a sudden squall which was the problem for the Atlantic but these boats will literally run away from those major storms that will really cause havoc. As for the hair trigger, you know what they say, "Reef early, reef often".
I also don't see the forward cockpit as a major issue. Lots of boats, both monos and multis have exposed helms. You just get wet in the front rather than wet in the back. And one last thing, a long waterline doesn't hurt. BOB