Alden 46

[nuku34]

Hello all,
I've just in the process of buying a 1988 Alden 46 cutter. I'm based in Nelson NZ; this is my 5th yacht, but never had one with a centerboad. She's one of only 6 made by Alden, designed by Niels Helleberg. She's a fairly shallow draft, 1.6m, but 3m with the hollow fibreglass positive buoyancy centerboard fully down.



https://viningmarine.co.nz/yachts/alden-46-sloop-1988/


A Navtec controlled hydraulic ram pushes the board down, when pressure is released, the board floats up into the keel slot. A good design as hydraulic failure doesn't leave you with a heavy board hanging down.


I'm asking now if anyone has sailed one of these yachts or has had actual experience with this type of positive displacement board. Not interested in hearing about boats with metal or weighted heavy centerboards.


Boats with centerboards are designed to go to weather with the board down, and as an ex-racer, I like to get the most out of my boat (plus pointing high can be a safety issue if you are caught on a lee shore, been there done that).


If anyone has sailed on or owned an Alden 46, I'd appreciate general comments on the yacht. With respect, I'm Not interested in Alden 44 experiences.

[JPA Cate]

Followed your link. Nice boat. Enjoy!

Ann

[Fore and Aft]

Nuku 34 what happens when you run aground, does the hydraulics have a bypass? Not raining on your parade but on our swing keel yacht I have a strap onboard that can slip under our keel and then we can winch it back in place. If your hydraulics fail, then you're stuck with a retracted board and nothing you can do about it.
Interesting idea, I have never heard of a positive buoyancy swing keel.
Cheers

[coopec43]

Maybe this link would be useful?

https://forums.sailboatowners.com/th...den-46.189409/


https://sailboatdata.com/sailboat/alden-46

[isail52]

I've own an 1987 Alden 52' (Avatar) for going on 20 years, it's basically the same as the 46/50 your looking at it just came out of slightly larger mold. I've attached a drawing of the centerboard arrangement which is correct for your boat, design #1193. You're right, if the system fails the board floats up into the trunk. The purpose of the board is only to reduce leeway when going to weather, you'd think after 20 years I'd be able to tell you how much it helps but I can't. I can say I've had the board out twice, once when I grounded her, the second time do to a travel lift incident. Both times the removal was to look for possible damage and both times none was found. Alden's are vary well built. On the maintenance front, the board uses a seal that's the same as a shaft seal in a traditional stuffing box with a flax packing. This will leak a little and need to be replace as it breaks down, I job that obviously can't be done in the water.



Living in the PNW I often wish my Alden wasn't a centerboard. There's very few places where shallow draft is important. The board does leak a little and is sometimes hard to get down, to the point I need to hire a diver to clean the trunk, just a few barnacles on the sides will stop it. This usually only occurs when she sits for a couple of months without use, so my fault. Keep in mind however the centerboard was designed for cruising the US East coast or Bahamas where having 6' draft is critical. I'm not sure what it's like in Nelson?



In the listing photo's the toe rail looks like it might have been replaced? I've never seen that style on an Alden before, I wonder if maybe she had teak decks removed and a new toe rail installed? It's a little odd the listing photo's don't show the deck? The hull is balsa cored below the water line so I'd take a close look at that. Also check the condition of the winches as Barient isn't around anymore and you've got twelve.


Great boat, good luck!

[nuku34]

Thanks all for your pertinent and helpful comments.


Ann: Sara and I will be very much enjoying this yacht. You and Jim are doing a great job here as moderators. I have many happy memories of you and the "good old bad old days of cruising" pre- internet/gps, when a fix a day on the satnav was a very nice check on celestial.



Fore and Aft: that's a good point about groundings, and thank you for raising the issue. It is something I've thought about.
The hydraulics are Navtic and I will have a look at the settings of the relief valve. I think the yacht will sail ok to windward even if the board is in retracted position due to hydraulic failure, but since I haven't sailed her yet, I don't know. I'm going out for the pre-purchase trial sail in 2 days and will be experimenting with windward performance with board up and down, and I'll report here.



coopec43: Thank your for the links, especially the first one. That one shows the folks who are selling Arctic Loon to me.


isail52: Thank you for the centerboard details which are extremely helpful! I was wondering what the seals were like on the shaft. You mention that just a few barnacles will make it hard to lower the board; I would think the hydraulic ram would force the board down in spite of that.
Nelson, and NZ in general, doesn't have large areas of shallow cruising grounds like the Bahamas , but a yacht like the Alden 46 without a centerboard would be drawing around 7-7.5 feet, and that would limit access to some areas. With regard to Fore and Aft's comment about groundings, did your hydraulics allow the board to move aft and up?



Yes, the teak decks were removed, the deck re-glassed, painted, and a Treadmaster type of non-skid sheet material glued down. I wouldn't have bought the boat with teak decks. I can't stand the stuff on deck; been there-done that, its nice for trim though.



The original alloy toe rails were badly corroded. The seller had them replaced with custom-made stainless steel rails (a $30K job) when the teak was removed.



The yacht was built in 1988, I think there were 6 of them built from '88 to '98. The 2nd owner/skipper ran her as a charter business in the Caribbean for 10-12 years, then brought her to NZ. The 3rd owner bought her in 2017 and did extensive refit and modifications including removing the teak deck, the s.s. toe rail, custom s.s fanny bars around the mast, pulled the mast and replaced the original rod rigging with over-sized 1X19, lots of new electronics including a Sailor satellite communication system, all new canvas work, new main, staysail, 120% jib, water-maker, new autopilot and ram, new 65lb Manson and 100m of 10mm chain, etc, etc.

Arctic Loon is in very good condition for a 35 year-old yacht. The hull survey noted no osmosis or excessive moisture in the balsa core.
Yes, I know Barient is long gone, but they are all-bronze/s.s. quality machines. I believe there are spare pawls and springs in the extensive spare parts inventory. Is there anyone making spares these days? I've got a retired machinist friend here who can make anything including gears. The primaries are 2-speed electric, do you have those?
If the sail trial goes well, I'll own Arctic Loon on 21 Feb. And I'll update this thread.

[Jim Cate]

Sandy, ARCO Hutton in Sidney have spares for most Barient winches and are fairly reasonable to deal with. Our Barients which are now over 30 years old are still "as new" in performance. The PO had them re-chromed before we bought the boat, and the bloody platers ground all the surfaces of the drums to a mirror finish. Looks really great but now it takes extra wraps to keep the line from slipping. GRRRR.

Dunno about the electric models... no experience with them.

She looks like a great boat, so hope the sea trial goes well.

Jim

[nuku34]

Jim, thank you for that tip. Once I own the boat, I'll pull all the winches apart for service, and eventually find the spares. Yes, Barients are bullet proof, unlike some of the modern lightweight alloy/plastic models.
Too bad about your winch drums getting the polish treatment.
Do you know Dorothy Darden? She and her late hubby owned the big cat "Adagio"

[nuku34]

Update on the Navtec hydraulic system centerboard circuit: further investigation shows that both the ram "up" and ram "down" circuits have their own pressure relief valves. These are separate from the main pressure relief valve behind the Navtec panel and are presumable set at a much lower value.
This set up allows the centerboard to retract in the event of a it hitting something while the boat is moving forward.