St. Francis 50: "Wayfinder"

[Heath68]

Two?
A bit greedy isn't it? 😊
I'm guessing they're for charter then? .. I'm still curious why you might opt for smaller windows? I know some die hard blue water sailors prefer them but it seems less vogue nowadays.

[Catalysis]

Not for charter, these are the first two of the 50 Mk IIse series which are basically custom built to owners specs.

[geoff326]

Hi Hugh,

You happened to be moored right in front of my house- the brown cedar one - looks a beautiful boat.
Enjoy your stay in Tutukaka.

[flyingboat]

Originally Posted by yeloya

Hello Hugh,


I couldn't find the light displacement and payload of St Francis 50 on their web site. Do you have any idea ?
I have seen yr max speed under sail, it's impressive, but I am more interested to see how she goes in light winds, ie 5-6 kts true.. (To me , at 20 kts true every boat would move somehow, a bit slower or faster.)


Cheers


Yeloya

Hi Yeloya

In light winds these boats really impress, as long as they aren't heavily overloaded. If the sea is not too lumpy you'll see boat speed match wind speed up to about 10kn TWS, flying full main and genoa. At this TWS you can also fly the screecher(code zero) I don't often fly it - it's not my favorite sail as I always tend to leave it up too long and it becomes difficult to furl.

I've delivered a few of them, one of which had to be hauled in Cape Town. It was 13 tons on the crane. Not completely empty, but also not much gear onboard.

Hope that answers your question

[Hugh Howey]

Originally Posted by rallyman1122

Thanks for the update Hugh. I was wondering how the DC generator was working out. Would you consider more solar and not have the gen set at all?

Far superior to an AC genset when it's needed, but it isn't needed very often with 2kw of solar. The only time I've had to run it is in the tropics in high heat / humidity when I've wanted to cool the boat off. The air conditioners can run for a few hours on battery (or run a single unit for about 5 hours). If I run the air cons overnight, I need the genset. A larger battery bank and a few more solar panels would be less weight, maintenance, and cost than my setup. If I had to do it all over again, I'd install 4kw of solar and forego the genset completely. Unless I was installing an electric engine in one hull, and then I'd leave the genset but still do the extra batteries and solar.

I hope that helps. Basically, having two diesels, with beefy aftermarket 24V alternators, PLUS a DC genset, is overkill with so much solar. The only advantage, really, is that the genset comes on automatically and is extremely efficient and quiet.

[Hugh Howey]

Originally Posted by BigBeakie

Possibly photoshopped? Dolphin head on the left looks a bit sus?


Sent from my iPad using Cruisers Sailing Forum

It's very real. It's a still grab from a GoPro video of us swimming with dolphin in New Zealand. A Facebook friend grabbed the still and punched up the contrast. You can see the full video on my Facebook page, but it would take some scrolling back. We've been in the water with these dolphin twice now. Unreal experience. Worth sailing halfway around the world for.

[BigBeakie]

Well then that is a spectacular shot! 👍Pardon my skepticism, I'm learning video editing currently with Davinci Resolve, and I had no idea the things you could do with images, so my mind went to the manipulated image idea, a bit too quick.


Sent from my iPad using Cruisers Sailing Forum

[Hugh Howey]

Originally Posted by BigBeakie

Well then that is a spectacular shot! 👍Pardon my skepticism, I'm learning video editing currently with Davinci Resolve, and I had no idea the things you could do with images, so my mind went to the manipulated image idea, a bit too quick.


Sent from my iPad using Cruisers Sailing Forum

No worries. I'm skeptical every time I watch the video. DID THIS REALLY HAPPEN?!

I found the video and posted it to YouTube. Check it out:

https://youtu.be/vZzjJyRqd0s

This is why I wanted to sail around the world, for moments like this. You can't get these days very easily any other way, except to be out there, all the time, waiting for them to come to you. Truly a magical experience. We spent two hours with this pod.

[BigBeakie]

Fabulous video, Hugh Simply fabulous

[Heath68]

What a great video, you're very lucky. Can't wait to sell our house to do the same. I'm 50 this year so as soon as it's sold we're outa here.

[Red Herring]

Originally Posted by Hugh Howey

No worries. I'm skeptical every time I watch the video. DID THIS REALLY HAPPEN?!

I found the video and posted it to YouTube. Check it out:

https://youtu.be/vZzjJyRqd0s

This is why I wanted to sail around the world, for moments like this. You can't get these days very easily any other way, except to be out there, all the time, waiting for them to come to you. Truly a magical experience. We spent two hours with this pod.

Wow. Magical is right.

[CarstenWL]

Hi Hugh,

maybe I overlooked it but what kind of DC-Generator are you using?

Thanks,

Carsten

[Heath68]

Originally Posted by CarstenWL

Hi Hugh,

maybe I overlooked it but what kind of DC-Generator are you using?

Thanks,

Carsten

You can do a search of the thread for words... I found this.
The genset:

Fischer Panda AGT6000 (6kw)

PDF: http://fischerpanda.com/marine-pdf/AGT6000-DC.pdf

[rallyman1122]

Hugh, if you come back to the thread, just wondering how the Mastercraft system is working out? There are several posts about people preferring Victron over Mastercraft. I see that most, if not all At.Francis 50's are equipped with Mastercraft.

[Catalysis]

Originally Posted by rallyman1122

Hugh, if you come back to the thread, just wondering how the Mastercraft system is working out? There are several posts about people preferring Victron over Mastercraft. I see that most, if not all At.Francis 50's are equipped with Mastercraft.

You meant Mastervolt ?