Nautitech Open 40

[monte]

Indimini, as the open 40 is marketed as a performance cruiser, I'd be interested to hear about then performance under sail. The BVIs would have had perfect 20kn sailing conditions when you were there. Do you recall what kind of speeds you were doing under sail?

[indimini]

Monte, sorry, I don't have solid numbers to report. I can see if one of our party who captured some tracking data on her phone can get me some numbers.

Up-wind, we were generally between 45-60 apparent. The best speed was on a beam or broad reach. If memory serves, speeds there were a little better than 1/2 TWS. Honestly, we didn't spend a lot of time tweaking for best performance so our #'s may not be a fair indication of what is possible.

[brainmaker]

Here the competition just got active .. fresh from the press
Lagoon catamarans : building, sale and chartering of luxury cruising catamarans

slower but a much more practical interior and exterior

[gelliott]

Everybody's at it now, with Nautitech opening up demand in the 40 ft market. Saw the new Bali 4.0 at the boat show, very very nice boat for cruising, love the way the whole stern window and door mechanism slides down to enclose the whole space, very attractive. However, this and the Lagoon just will not imho sail as nice as the Open 40. We spent a week on one in the solent whilst my wife and child did their crew course and they (and I ) loved it. Loved it so much actually I got of the fence and bought it. No, it's not as as much room, not as practical, doesn't have as many cool new features BUT its quality (imho) is better than any other of the mass produced cats, (Ive chartered or sailed on a lot of them) with perhaps the exception of Bali, but it sails better than all of them. It points exceptionally well for a Cat, and the feel is excellent. The boat feels completely solid and has the best motion underway of any Cat Ive sailed. I was always strongly opposed to open side helms but now Im a convert. I really love this boat, and I'd argue it's the best looking 40-42 too!

[gelliott]

I should also add the missus originally wanted a Lagoon or FP, for all the bells and whistles and comfort etc, but after a week on this boat she loved it and was also converted. Left me really happy as I had pretty much abandoned hope of getting a "fast" boat. This is a really good compromise (as are all Cats in some way as we all know) for those who want performance with some comfort, I would think it's going to be more attractive for mono sailors switching to multihull who want to retain performance
Also attached a nice sunset pic!

[Sail power sail]

Gelliott. Congratulations on your purchase. Did you buy out of charter or a factory new build? The open 40 continues to be on my short list of boats I'm considering. Any ongoing feedback as you continue to sail her would be very appreciated.

[gelliott]

I bought a high spec ex demo 4 cab version, and I do believe there's another available a 3 cab even higher spec version. I'll happily keep you updated......where are you based, you could always join me for a day to try it out?

[Sail power sail]

I am down in Islamorada in the Florida Keys. Thank you for the offer. Are you based down this way? Did you buy at the Annapolis boat show?

[gelliott]

sorry Im in the UK! South Coast. Ill keep you posted ! If performance is what you are after then try this boat...Tommy at sailaway catamarans sells them , theres a video online

[Sail power sail]

Gelliott - again thanks for the offer. I sailed a Nautitech Open 40 with Tommy roughly a year ago at the Miami boat show. Was impressed in all the areas you mentioned. High levels of performance accompanied with comfort. At that point the other cats I had sailed were small performance cats in my youth (Nacra, Tornado, Prindle, Supercat, etc) and a Lagoon 450 in the BVI fairly recently. The performance advantage over the Lagoon was very apparent.


I've since sailed a lot more boats (Leopard 40, Leopard 44, Balance 451, Lipari 41). Performance on the Balance 451 was comparable to the Nautitech but the price and size are both much bigger. The Nautitech/Bavaria continues to intrigue me. I'll look to get on one again at the Miami show in February.

[gelliott]

I d liked to sail a Balance, they seem high quality from what I've read...the bridge deck looks a bit low, is it? Also not sure I like the looks, but that is subjective.....Ill keep you posted on the sailing...price is obviously very different...I think you can get that high spec one I was talking about for around £280k and its got every single option plus very very cool screens.....as Ive bought it in winter we should get some hairy sailing!

[Sail power sail]

Gelliott - Regarding the Balance -- The bridgedeck seemed bit low to me as well. It seemed a very high quality build and finish, although I have heard others in these forums take exception to the build quality and finish and I am no expert.
Regarding the Nautitech - That price seems fantastic for a high spec Open 40.

Have fun with your hairy winter sailing!
Regards

[JohnyV]

Originally Posted by indimini

Sail Power Sail, we did not see other cleats being stressed like this - the front cleats seemed fine every time we picked up a mooring ball. I forgot to look at the starboard aft cleat to see if the port side was just something missed at the factory. I think it would be easy enough to address with some more glass behind the backing plate. My understanding is that the charter company was going to address it at some point.

The two main places I noticed the use of caulk were on joints between the deck and the hulls by the helm stations and the saloon top/cockpit cover structure where it joined the main deck. I'm not sure how other manufacturers handle such joint work, but the extent of the caulked seams just struck me as excessive. Knowing how those types of materials can age, it could be an issue eventually.

I should say that overall, the boat felt really solid - no squeaks or rattles were noted.

Oh, one other small pet peeve I had - the panels covering the hull bilges had no pull handle. We had to go in with a pair of butter knives to pry it open. That seemed like it would start to damage those boards in pretty quick order. I'm not sure why there weren't at least finger holes drilled into the boards for easy removal.

Regards the floorboards, there should have been a rubber suction cup on board to lift them with. It works perfectly. The latest boats have opening ports in the front screen as standard and one of the latest boats delivered had deck hatches in the aft cabins. I'm not sure if they're standard or a customer's request though.
I agree on the aft cleats, partly I think its the positioning. My berth suffers from swell and consequent snatch and I'm thinking of adding a couple of large retractable cleats on the edge of the bathing platform .

[monte]

I had a closer look at the open 40 over the last couple of days, yet to sail one though. Price wise I compared it with our current L400 specs and found it to be a little dearer (not much) at approximatelyL400 €320, open 40 €340 and the new open 46 €460 which will be shown at la grande motte. Prices would be ex factory, no vat and fairly well specced with factory AIS, radar, engine upgrades, folding props, electric winch/s, fans, mosquito screens etc. all the things I'd call essential but not including non essentials like genset and aircon. Price also includes aftermarket solar, WM, additional batteries and 1600W inverter which are factory options but a saving of around €5000 would be seen by fitting aftermarket (for both Lagoon and Nautitech models)
It's unlikely I'd change to an open 40, but if in the market again I'd look closely at both the open 40 and especially the open 46 which seems very well priced for a new 46' cat.

[Sail power sail]

Gelliot - how have your post purchase experiences been with the Nauti Open 40? Are you happy with the build quality, performance, customer service?


Best regards