Privilege Performance

[neelie]

Antares is a wonderful boat, no question.

You will never hear an owner of any marque say a bad thing about their brand of boat for fear of extreme pain at resale.

My only comment about the exposed steering stations is that if you're cruising, 99.9% of the time you're under autopilot which you can control from one the luxury of the heads via one of the now ubiquitous wireless controllers.

So, inside or outside steering stations are immaterial...unless autopilot fails.

Try a Catana or Outremer before you make your decision,

Good luck

Niels

[downunder]

Originally Posted by SailFastTri

The FF46 has some features I just don't get, like free-standing table and chairs in lieu of anchored salon table. The dining set shown looks like it was bought in Walmart or Target, and it would slide all over in storm conditions or a real seaway.

And what's with the 'queen-sized day bed' in the cockpit? Just what kind of sailing or entertaining did the designer have in mind? And do you really want to keep a queen mattress outside (or haul it out then put it away each time you use the boat)?

It's a dock queen for non sailors, IMHO.

SFT you are correct about the saloon in that particular build. Not sure of the rational of the owner. Possibly he ran out of money to complete the interior and will do it later. However there are about 8 different options on website and in reality you can fit it out custom. As the saloon area is 6 x 4 meters there are many options and I personally would finish similar to several St Francis 50's I have seen. Only there is more room.

Re the day bed . Not a bad spot to kip in hot or wet weather for cruising in the tropics as fully protected. Works for me.

Cheers

[BigBeakie]

Originally Posted by SailFastTri

The FF46 has some features I just don't get, like free-standing table and chairs in lieu of anchored salon table. The dining set shown looks like it was bought in Walmart or Target, and it would slide all over in storm conditions or a real seaway.

And what's with the 'queen-sized day bed' in the cockpit? Just what kind of sailing or entertaining did the designer have in mind? And do you really want to keep a queen mattress outside (or haul it out then put it away each time you use the boat)?

It's a dock queen for non sailors, IMHO.

Umm, a couple of things about your post, just to clarify. The FF46 pictured on the website does not have that furniture "as a feature". It was put in by the owner because the contractor doing the lounge and upholstery did not finish in time for launch, and Greg has kept it until he re-does the interior. It is a semi-custom boat, you can have whatever you want. And actually there are several cats with cane furniture that do NOT slide all over the place in a rough seaway. They may move a little, but not much at all.

As for the cockpit day bed, tell you what. When in the tropics, it is a fabulous feature. Why would you need to remove the foam mattress? Where did that idea come from?
Besides sleeping comfort on a hot, humid night, notice the holes around it? Poles insert into those and it can be enclosed to keep little kids safe in the cockpit. The cockpit is huge for a 46' boat & the family can all spend time together while underway.

Re your "dock queen" comment, if you sailed on the boat you would realise immediately it's a pretty silly opinion. Look on Multihull Dynamics and compare it for yourself against some of the performance cats, then at least you will have an informed opinion. While you're at it, compare it to the Antares 44i !!

[Factor]

The FF is an exceptionally nice boat. Sensible and fast, would be at least as quick as Catana of similar size and probably better.

[BigBeakie]

The FF46 light air performance impressed me greatly. Boat was not lightly loaded and with 8 aboard it moved along at 5 knots in 8 knots apparent on the beam. Not too shoddy, for a dock queen that is

[rickpalm]

Hi all
We take delivery of an Outremer 51 at the end of August and solved the exposed helm station by having a dodger put on the boat. Raised the back end of the boom a little bur it looks good. Of the three hulls ahead of us two have added dodgers.




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[RichinBoca]

That's Awesome!!!! Any drawings or Pics you can post. I'm sure many of us would love to see them.
Thanks and Congrats!!!!



Best,
Rich
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[rickpalm]

I'll post some pictures tomorrow


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[RichinBoca]

Thank you! Look forward to seeing them.


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[rickpalm]

Here are 4 pictures of the dodger on an earlier hull number of the Outremer 51s.
First time I've ever tried to attach pictures so I hope it works

Rick

[valhalla360]

Originally Posted by neelie

Richin.. As for exposed helms? If you're day sailing and racing around the buoys, they're truly excellent. The rest of time the autopilot is on. The reality is that the AP is used 99% of the time while cruising so the exposed helms are really a non issue.
!

Open ocean crossing, it's mostly correct. Coastal work such as running the ICW, the autopilot is far less useful. Yes, you could sit inside with the remote but you still need a helm seat to keep an eye on things and the feel from a wheel is much nicer.

Also what happens on an open ocean crossing when the autopilot goes out? Do you really want to spend days stuck on an exposed pedestal?

[RichinBoca]

That is OUTSTANDING!!!! Thanks for the pics.
Best to you and your new boat.


Best,
Rich
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[DaveBW226]

I rented a Catana 42 bareboat out of Sint Martin for 6 weeks last summer. I was really looking forward to being on a higher performance cat than the leopards i had chartered in the past. Hated it!

Outboard helms are a pain in the butt. No shelter from the sun and rain. In fact there is no forward facing seat on the boat from which you can see where you are headed. Except in the saloon. I found myself having to stand under the Bimini to see where we were headed if I wanted to be out of the sun. Cursed it daily.

The side flush mount cabin windows serve to funnel rainwater into the cabin unless closed absolutely tightly. No fun spending all the time in the tropics needing to worry about the windows every time it sprinkles. I swear the boat tries to sink itself every time it rains. Looks great. It terrible design.

Very little storage unless you want to climb under the bunks all the time.

I personally didn't find it to be nearly as much faster than other lower performance cats than I expected.

Shaft drives would not be my choice.

Just .02 from a guy who has sailed bit mono and multi hulls a bunch. The experience on the Catana sealed it for me...I paid my deposit on an Antares 6 months ago. No remorse so far.

[Factor]

Not surprising - the C42 is 9 tonne, not particularly light for a 41 foot boat. In fact pretty much on par with most 41 foot cats. The FP Helia 44 (43-5 ft) is only one tonne heavier. The leopard 44 (42 ft) is a bit heavier at 12.6 t, the outremer 45 (which is actually 45) is half a tonne lighter and can be made lighter still with some carbon options.

Of course the above assumes that manufacturers are truthful, at least one of the above will contract to the displacement, and weigh before launch.

[EllesBelles]

Originally Posted by DaveBW226

I rented a Catana 42 bareboat out of Sint Martin for 6 weeks last summer. I was really looking forward to being on a higher performance cat than the leopards i had chartered in the past. Hated it!

Outboard helms are a pain in the butt. No shelter from the sun and rain. In fact there is no forward facing seat on the boat from which you can see where you are headed. Except in the saloon. I found myself having to stand under the Bimini to see where we were headed if I wanted to be out of the sun. Cursed it daily.

The side flush mount cabin windows serve to funnel rainwater into the cabin unless closed absolutely tightly. No fun spending all the time in the tropics needing to worry about the windows every time it sprinkles. I swear the boat tries to sink itself every time it rains. Looks great. It terrible design.

Very little storage unless you want to climb under the bunks all the time.

I personally didn't find it to be nearly as much faster than other lower performance cats than I expected.

Shaft drives would not be my choice.

Just .02 from a guy who has sailed bit mono and multi hulls a bunch. The experience on the Catana sealed it for me...I paid my deposit on an Antares 6 months ago. No remorse so far.

I agree about the outside helms. We just made our first passage on our Antares 44i (from South Florida to New York) and cannot say enough good about the boat, and the full glass windshield, encloseable cockpit and protected helm.

We also have been told by many people who work on boats propellers, including Hinckley Yacht Services, that we were very smart to go with shaft drives. I'm surprised you wouldn't choose them. Care to share why?