Orana 44

[Gordon]

As our delivery skipper put it "One Horn Bag of a Boat"

This gent is a monohull man (16 times Sydney- Hobart) and he was so impressed with the sailing quality and handling abilities along with the great ride he is tempted to jump ship(so to speak). On delivery over four days and two nights from Mooloolaba to Port Hacking we experienced beautiful 15-20Kt breeze from 120' and then into a 35-40Kt southerly on the nose with close spaced 3m swell. We hid in port two nights and a day to wait for weather to improve.
The boat is a delight to sail an performs very well.With the following N.E. we were moving along at 12-14Kts. and pointing into the southerly of 14-18 Kts we sailed along at 8-9kts. The ride in the larger swell and 35-40kt wind was impressive,we had main on second reef and jib to first reef dot,we were still managing 8-9kts with no slamming, this required a workout on the helm.

Finish on the boat is good just minor things like screws instead of bolts on hatch hinges and using 304 stainless instead of 316 for some of the fasteners.Great galley,so cook happy.

At present this is the only one down here in Australia and am only too pleased to show off the new toy so please send e-mail via forum if you would like more info or come for a sail. We keep our boat "La Rochelle" on a swing mooring in Yowie Bay, PortHacking just to south of Sydney.

Gordon

[tyrntlzrdking]

You are a lucky man. Good luck and enjoy.


A 'HORN BAG' is not as it suggests; a bag full of horns. It is actually Australian slang for 'A top looking bird' or a 'Good sort'..

A Very Sexy Lady
"Mate, you shudda seen her, she was absolute tops, a REAL HORN BAG'...

[psteele235]

And a 'HORN BAG' is different from a Horny Bag which in Britspeak = a Randy Admiral in the US of A!

[rigamarole]

I'm looking at the Orana and Salina right now. They are two hot designs. Either one would make my "bag" horny.

Bummer on the screws instead of bolts. I've owned several power boats on Lake Michigan and it drives me nuts to pick up a couple of screws per year in the bilge and wonder what joint they came from. I guess thats what production builders give you.
When you say the helm was a workout, was this to keep from pounding? Or just due to the weather/swells?

[SettingSail2009]

Hi Gordon,
Congratulations on your new boat. I've just been flipping through some pictures of it online and I must say I'm very impressed.

Originally Posted by Gordon

As our delivery skipper put it "One Horn Bag of a Boat"

This gent is a monohull man (16 times Sydney- Hobart) and he was so impressed with the sailing quality and handling abilities along with the great ride he is tempted to jump ship(so to speak).

Did this gentleman sail it all the way from France for you? If so, how long did it take him? Did he point out anything negative or things to be mindful of? (I know it's tough to be critical when you just got a new boat).

A few questions:
- The hard bimini looks very nice. Will it hold the weight of a man?
- How do you like the elevated helm?
- How do you like the anchor placement?

Originally Posted by Gordon

At present this is the only one down here in Australia and am only too pleased to show off the new toy so please send e-mail via forum if you would like more info or come for a sail.

I wish I was in Australia and not stuck landlocked in Beijing for the moment.

[David M]

I just look up the Orana 44 on the internet. What a nice boat!

[Gordon]

Hi All,
The ORANA was delivered on the deck of a large transport freighter and was offloaded in Brisbane. We then completed our fitout and fitted mast etc. and sailed her on to Sydney.
The hard top would support the whole crew if need be, very solid. I have mounted the solar on the hard top aft port side.They are Shell Solar SQ80 times three, they were removed from the frames,removed the connector box and diodes, silver soldered leads onto the protruding tabs and ran these through a low flat profile channel to a waterproof junction box then down through the roof into the mid support and on into the Stbd engine bay where the MP3129 PV charge solar controller was installed, all working like a dream.A Victron 12/3000/120 Inverter Charger then supplies the necessary A/C power.
The solar panels when removed from frames are 2.5 mm thick and will flex slightly. I then glued them to roof with Sicaflex 219.
Would be happy to answer any more questions or post photos.
The work out was only my time on the helm steering due to the 3m swells being closely spaced into the 35-40 Kt breeze.
The elevated helm is great, good view all around can see both bows a little exposed but will be installing a romote A/P at nav station for long passage operation.
The anchor system works well, will be installing a Quick remote control at the helm.

Gordon.

[SettingSail2009]

Originally Posted by Gordon

The anchor system works well, will be installing a Quick remote control at the helm.

Hi Gordon,
The one thing I can't see on the pictures is if the anchor is on the front of the trampoline or if it goes underneath it. On the FP Athena 38 it passed underneath the trampoline and was a pain in the ass to keep clean. How is that facilitated on the Orana?

[Gordon]

Hi SettingSail2009,
The anchor comes up under the trampoline. We have a high pressure salt water outlet in the anchor well to assist in cleaning off the anchor,no problems yet but early days. One problem we experience is that the anchor does not always come into the guide the correct way around, realise you just have to be patient.
Gordon.

[rigamarole]

Gordon, It would be nice to see some pictures. How large of a tender did you get?

[Gordon]

Hi rigamarole, We chose a Caribe 10x, it is 3.1m with fwd locker,flat floor and under seat stowage. The outboard is Honda 15HP fourstroke. The Orana could actually handle a longer tender, up to 4.1 m.Will send photos via e-mail as size limits prevents post on forum.
Gordon.

[tyrntlzrdking]

Gordon,
Easy to post large pictures on this or most other forums.
I use ImageShack® - Hosting
Upload you pictures to them.
Select and copy a hotlink for forums, paste the link here.
Its free and easy.
Try it.

[tyrntlzrdking]

.........................

[Gordon]

These were taken by father-in-law as we motored into Port Hacking, Dec21st 2007.

[rigamarole]

She looks b-e-a-u-t-i-f-u-l. The feature I like most about the new fp Orana and Salina is the helm position. You are more protected then on the Lagoon 440's and 500'rds. Did you get the charter version or Maestro? I can't tell from the layout on fp's website but is there a single berth at the bottom of the port hull stairs? I probably have to many questions to post on this site but can say I'm excited for your new "toy"

I'm flying to the Miami boat show tomorrow. FP is only going to have a Mahe and Lavezzi there. A lot of others mfgrs are there so I'm hoping to get a good feel for the boats.