Seawind 1160

[BIRDDOG]

Would anyone with first hand experience like to comment on the Seawind 1160?

[Factor]

Good Boat - well in the ball park with all the other 38 foot boats, well built, and the key is the enormous visibility and the integration of saloon and cockpit. Keep them light and they perform okay, I have done Brisbane to Gladstone race and a few others on one of them and some other coastal stuff, One recently did a trip from Australia to the USA (there is a podcast interview with the owners available in apple store for free).

Did you have any specific questions, and what part of the world are you located in.

[bayview]

Originally Posted by Factor

Good Boat - well in the ball park with all the other 38 foot boats, well built, and the key is the enormous visibility and the integration of saloon and cockpit. Keep them light and they perform okay, I have done Brisbane to Gladstone race and a few others on one of them and some other coastal stuff, One recently did a trip from Australia to the USA (there is a podcast interview with the owners available in apple store for free).

Did you have any specific questions, and what part of the world are you located in.

I am also interested in the 1160. What year did you do the race, and where abouts did you finish. Nice looking boat.

[Factor]

My Bad - we did the cruise attached to the race last year - we will be racing this year. Did the Manly to Mooloolaba race - coastal about 50 miles and the Mooloolaba to Manly Race the other weekend and on Handicap (OMR) we were 2nd and first.

[BIRDDOG]

Thanks Factor,

I'm on the Pacific NW USA West Coast. Hardly any catamarans close by. I 've followed many other threads on specific cats here on the forum most seem to center around the French cats and the ones about OZ boats never mentioned the 1160 much.

What's your impression of the top hinged triple doors to the saloon?

Did the boat you sailed have the Island berth layout? If so did you like it?

The podcast about the American couple that transited the Pacific is available on the Seawind web site.

Since you have a Seawind 1000XL any comments on the company, service, warranty, integrity etc.

[muskoka]

I sailed one here in HK before we bought our FP. It's a nice boat. Sails well and the triple saloon doors work just fine.

[bayview]

Originally Posted by Factor

My Bad - we did the cruise attached to the race last year - we will be racing this year. Did the Manly to Mooloolaba race - coastal about 50 miles and the Mooloolaba to Manly Race the other weekend and on Handicap (OMR) we were 2nd and first.

So the 1160 was second lasst and then last over the finish line? See Mooloolaba Racing 2009

[Factor]

Bayview - Yep - certainly was (BTW you any relation to catty?) thats why we have handicaps. Ocean emu is a beuatiful tri 43 foot long and 36 feet wide, Spook is a hard charging corsair 36 that is only ever raced and never cruised. Kestrel is a self designed cat and rythmic is a whitehaven pescott design. Aminbo is also a race only tri

You want line honours - dont buy a seawind. In fact - probably dont buy a cat at all unless its something like a raider.

You want a good cruising boat that can succesfully race on handicap, then they come into the picture. The 1160 I sail on is certainly carrying far too much gear to gain maximum benefit but by goodness its comfortable. For example going to gladstone last year we were carrying a dive compressor and scuba gear for 6 people amongst a lot of other gear, RIB with 15 horse motor for example.

So yes it is never going to be first across the line, but at the end of the year it will probably be on the podium for the clubs race series.

Birdog - If I bought an 1160 the Island berth is the format that I would go with, Its better than the fore and aft berth on my (ordered) boat. But there isnt enough room on the 1000 to get an island berth configuration, I wouldnt think.


The doors work very well, usually sail with them up all the time, but bar crossings and the like, close them down. As to the company - I have my 1000xl on order and so far so good. I have spoken with most recent purchasers and none report any dramas with warranty work or similar. I am sure - if you were interested that I could - subject to their agreement give you the names of some recent purchasers.

[stull]

I have had Camelot, my Seawind 1160 since the beginning of October last year and its done over 5500nm - including a Sydney to Perth delivery trip across the top of Australia that presented us with some very challenging conditions at times. Very happy with my choice - its a very solid boat - Seawind are a good company to deal with - and the design and build quality are first class.

Haven't done any racing in Camelot - have raced on another SW1160 and we did okay against a FP38. If you wanted to race in preference to cruise then I would personally look at something else that had daggerboards as the SW1160 struggles a bit for speed towards a mark when the wind is on the nose. But for cruising, the SW1160 is definitely my choice.

The Island Bed works well and is a real bonus. The trifold doors are brilliant and we have them up most of the time, creating a great indoor/outdoor area. This feature alone has sold a lot of boats for Seawind.

[kps]

I took a trip around florida in an 1160 2 years back delivering from Tampa to Miami for the boat show. Wonderful trip. Boat was easy to handle, traveller on arch was nice, hard targa helped get the sailcover zipped easy.

The doors are great as all know. The screecher really makes a heck of a difference. Visibility is great and there is plenty of light in the hulls. We made a run from Sarasota to marathon key overnight and averaged about 10 kts with the wind just aft of our beam the whole way.

Lots of fun.

[C--man]

Factor-

I am 6'2" would I have headroom?

[stull]

Yes - I have a friend who is 6'5" and he has enough headroom.

[Ramsey_Steve]

we chartered an 1160 last year for a week in the Whitsundays, three adults and two teenagers. With the exception of one light day, it blew between 20 and 30 knots everyday, and on one day we had a steady 30-35 with a few gusts over 40 knots. That day we close reached across the Whitsunday Passage with 2 reefs in the main and 2/3 of the jib unfurled. Despite quite steep, 1.5 - 2 meter quartering seas, she had a relatively comfortable motion making around 8 knots SOG.

Everyone agrees about the trifold doors, enough said. What I really enjoyed, particularly that day, was how one could steer standing inboard of the wheel, fully protected from the elements and yet with decent visibility through the saloon windows. In nicer conditions I enjoyed sitting on the coaming outboard of the wheel with unrestricted views of the sails.

Despite being in the charter fleet, our boat was set up as an owners boat, with the Island berth. For a 38' boat this is an outstanding cabin.

My only criticism was the steering. The port side wheel suffered from an on-center binding. The starboard side wheel was free-er, but the engine controls are on the port side.. Sail controls and other systems are extremely well laid out.

Our boat had a somewhat blown out mainsail and no screacher, but she still sailed well in the 8-10 knots wind speed that we saw on the light weather day. Motoring performance was excellent.

Steve

[TaoJones]

Originally Posted by stull

. . . a Sydney to Perth delivery trip across the top of Australia . . .

I'm just curious, stull, about which end is "up" down under. Did your voyage take you around the northern side of the continent, via Darwin, or the southern side, via Melbourne? In the US, we generally refer to the directions this way: up north, back east, out west and down south. If that is common in Oz, as well, then I presume the "top of Australia" refers to the north as it would here, but since that route must be at least three times as far, I'm guessing you actually went the southerly route.

I, too, like the Seawind 1160 a great deal. I seriously considered a Seawind 1000 several years ago, but we couldn't come together on price.

TaoJones

[Glenn C]

G'day, North is 'up' down under, so over the Top is via Darwin. Going West along the bottom of down under is a pain because you are in the prevailing westerlys and very few anchorages, along probably 2000nm of coast or so. Trade winds in oz are SE on the East coast, during most of the year, but strongest during winter, or great for going up, but a pain for going down, as they parallel the coast.