General Info: Astrea 42: Owners?

[dooleedooroo]

Thanks for the review.
Impressed with your Genoa only performance.
When you talk about Genoa, is it a standard Jib from FP or any optional upgrade?
Looks like you did not get optional Gennaker sail from FP. Do you have plan where to get Code 0?

[BKC]

Hi Steve

No, you can't make a wrong decision there. That said, the final swing for us was cabin/berth size v Lagoon. On the Astrea, even with 4 cabins, you can 'walk' around all 4 berths. Everyone is comfortable and no crawling out of bed! The Astrea interior volume is surprisingly like a larger vessel. But she sails....!

[BKC]

On sail choice, went with standard furling Genoa. No gennaker or Code 0 yet, but bowsprit and gear are fitted. No idea yet on where I'll source.

[GRcatlover]

Thanks for the great update Brian. Can't get enough info! fair winds.

[MAE]

Hi Brian,


Great report! am currently returning from Sydney to Gold Coast. Weather rather unkindly. Garmin may be giving some up grades to their bits, to read the manual is like watching the "three stooges" ha
Really shook the family up at 2am on a downwind run with a super wind surge from 12kts at 120 to 25kts all sails up[ And yes you will love code 0 now that is sailing]

not a good sight rounding up but yes please keep it coming have found the transition from mono's to the cats challenging cheers

[Barra]

Originally Posted by BKC

Hi Everyone:

Finally getting to sailing performance...

Been meaning to get around to posting an update from our last trip on Asgard (hull#11) in the Bahamas in April. Second time aboard and for a more extended stay allowed me to get my head around a few elements of performance.

Let me start by saying we did a LOT of sailing this time and were THRILLED with how she handles. Had a great friend of ours and his family on board so we also tested her with 8 people (including 2 kids).

1. We were cruising at 9.1-9.4kts with a True wind speed of just under 17kts. Whooa! Ideal conditions, yes, but a lot of fun.

2. Folding Props add fully 1/2kt. Really noticeable, once you put the throttle in reverse of course. If you are a sailor, get the folding props - you won't regret it.

3. The Astrea prefers to motor sail V's just plain motoring. Heading into waves or just generally handling rollers, makes a huge difference with some sail on deck. Performance and comfort change quite noticeably with sail. In fact, my eldest daughter gets a little sea sick and changes her experience once the sails go up. With lighter winds, close to the nose it is tempting to just lose the sails altogether, but if you can get some apparent wind to fill some sail you can feel the difference.

4. Motor sailing on one engine: Apart from in harbor/anchoring maneuvering, the Astrea performs very, very well on just one engine. You really get very little benefit from that 2nd engine, particularly when motor sailing. And the auto pilot is quite happy with either once it settles down. Saves a lot of fuel.

5. Running in high winds (30knts+) with rollers chasing, she sails like magic with no main and just the Genoa furled. And I mean seriously furled. We had a couple of people fishing (successfully) so wanted to keep us under 6kts and handled beautifully with no main and just a 1/3 (max) of the Genny out for most of a day.

6. Based on my Genoa only experience, can't wait to get a Code 0 and in time, a Wingaker or similar. Delighted I added the bowsprit. When I get her to Annapolis for the summer/fall season, will add one of these - code 0 most likely.

I'll make a separate post on how I feel about other options now that we've lived with them (watermaker, Plancha, radar etc). I also have pics and materials to talk more about Solar options as I spent time looking (pictures) of the built in support structures etc. And, if I forget, ask me about the Garmin - now that I have read the 74 page small print manual and tried playing with some more options.

Hi Brian

Im struggling on another thread to get any owners of either astra or lucia to tell me how their boats sail to wind. Can you add anything at all?

ie tacking angle (COG not AWA or even VMG)?
sea motion in some decent wind waves?
how much wind before you get some bridgedeck slamming?

thanks

[David2.0]

Is everyone ordering the bowsprit? I did not specify it for my Astrea 42, but I’m starting to gather this is a “must-have”. Is it? Would you guys please share some opinions?

[MoggieM]

I would say the FP production Bowsprit is an absolute must. First option we chose. Integrated, well built and with a cat performance you need one to provide the platform for any downwind sail options.

[VP and the Fox]

I think the bowsprit fitted at the factory if you are cruising the boat yourself would be mandatory. If you are putting it into charter then maybe not. I won't be going with the FP gennaker but still haven't decided where to get my Code 0 made.

[Barra]

ill add my 2 c even though i dont own an FP as it differs. Coming from a slightly more performance cat (catana) i would say DONT bother. You would think its the other way around right?

Reason is i had both gennaker and parasailor and used the parasailor far more in real life. Superior in all running situations and easy to furl and capable of handling gusts to 30 knots. Can be flown quite high angles useful up to about 90.

Combo of assy or gennaker and main is not that great on a cat as the main loses efficiency from about 130 degrees down due to swept spreaders. Spinny only from there down works best.

The only reason for the sprit would be if you use the boat in alot of light wind reaching conditions and want a code 0 for that

On the catana at least i was able to generate enough AWS with genoa alone 90% of the time. Maybe on the more windage and heavier astrea that would be more difficult and you need a code 0 but I would be surprised. White SA/D looks good enough.

anyway not a plus for downwind if thats your reason.

can anyone talk to me about how their astrea goes close hauled?

[jefffay]

I'm told it's advisable to get the bowsprite at the factory. I don't think that you can add it ex-factory. Here's a short page that might point out some benefits that you have not considered: https://www.cruisingworld.com/quick-tip-bowsprits

[David2.0]

Thanks for your insights on need for the bowsprit. For downwind sailing there’s yet another option that seems to have a lot of fans and that is to use a “parasailor” (parasailor.com). Apparently, it’s easy to manage singlehandedly and a sprit would not be necessary. Has anyone here sailed their Astrea with this parasailor and would they care to comment?

[BKC]

Originally Posted by Barra

Hi Brian

Im struggling on another thread to get any owners of either astra or lucia to tell me how their boats sail to wind. Can you add anything at all?

ie tacking angle (COG not AWA or even VMG)?
sea motion in some decent wind waves?
how much wind before you get some bridgedeck slamming?

thanks

Hi Barra:

Sorry I missed your question on sailing to wind. On tacking angle - I'm truly still playing with this although impressed so far by how close we can get for a Cat. Up to a few years ago, I only ever sailed Mono's (and still have a Hunter for play), so may be trying to convince myself that we get closer than we think. Asking COG of course traps us into reality (leeway impact) which is a huge factor without dagger boards and definitely see the annoying slippage. On AWA, we make decent progress up to 40 degrees or slightly below. I'm in a fun race next week so will have to pay more attention to COG to wind if wind direction is against us.

Sea motion in decent wind waves - we've only had a few experiences on Atlantic cuts from the Sea of Abaco (the rest of which is amazingly calm despite Atlantic winds). Per my post on sailing performance, having some sail up despite heading closer to wind, dramatically improves the ride from a motion perspective. No super long passages yet to fully assess but we have ridden downwind in 30kts+ for several hours and was very comfy.

Bridgedeck slamming: apart from heading to wind with motor only, where she does start to hobby-horse, we haven't had any negatives to report. Again, impressed so far. After the summer, we'll do a long passage down the US east coast to deliver back to Abaco, after which I'll def be able to a better overall assessment. Hope that helps.

[BKC]

Originally Posted by David2.0

Thanks for your insights on need for the bowsprit. For downwind sailing there’s yet another option that seems to have a lot of fans and that is to use a “parasailor” (parasailor.com). Apparently, it’s easy to manage singlehandedly and a sprit would not be necessary. Has anyone here sailed their Astrea with this parasailor and would they care to comment?

Hey David:

I went through the bowsprit decision process and ordered it despite loving to get a Parasailor (there are a few competing versions now). But worth knowing that the combined price of a Factory Bowsprit and Gennaker sail is still about 30% less than a Parasailor alone. My view was I could spend Eur 5k now (the factory bowsprit) and leaves open all sail options for later. Given Code 0 benefit for sailing upwind in lighter wind, which parasailer obviously can't help with, I took the factory fit option and leaving sail decision to later.

[BKC]

Solar Panel Support - Geek info alert!

Thought I'd add a few pictures on the factory Solar set up from a structural perspective to help folks thinking about modifying their solar installation.
As you'll see from the pictures attached, the Astrea has a structural cross member/beam that runs across the rear cockpit ceiling. It lies about 1ft behind the rear of the helm station seat. This obviously supports the cockpit roof (and also the mainsheet traveler right above). This cross beam is carried by two posts either side of the rear cockpit.
What you'll notice from looking underneath at the cockpit ceiling pictures, is that there appear to be 3 support brackets that come off this cross beam which then run aft i.e. toward the stern - btw, the center support bracket is longer that the other two. These brackets would appear to help support the solar panels which run across all three. If you were planning on running solar panels forward/aft as opposed to across the coach roof as they are now, and potentially overhang the rear edge of the existing roof, you'll probably need to consider support running across the ends of these brackets to help take the weight?
Hope that helps someone's plans - can't wait to see a larger solar array on someone's Astrea.