Beneteau First 42s7

A few days ago a Beneteau 42s7 arrived on our dock in Marina La Cruz. The owner, an Aussie, bought the boat in L.A. and is sailing it home to Australia. The 42s7 is a big sister to the Honcho, so naturally I jumped at the chance to go for a sail aboard her. We left the dock around 11:00am and sailed a nine mile beat out to Punta de Mita in a breeze that started at about 6 knots and built to about 16 as we approached the point. Flying a fairly tired dacron main and 120% roller furling jib and towing a dinghy, we werent exactly setting any speed records, but I did get a good sense of how the boat might perform if it was set up in racing trim.  Handling, as you would expect from a Farr design, is crisp and positive.  In light air the boat was sticky, but I attribute that to the small jib and the dinghy we were towing. As the breeze built to about 10 knots the boat began to come alive, and by the time we got close to the point, we were passing all the other boats in sight in spite of the tired sails and dinghy. It is very clear to me that this boat, in racing trim with a good suit of sails will be a pretty effective racer.

Beneteau 42s7
This and all other images of the 42s7 were taken from yachtworld.com, where there are several of these boats listed for sale

Here are some dimensions and stats:
LOA:  42- 6"
LWL: 35- 9"
Bmax: 13- 6"
Ballast: 5,840lb (std), 6,283 (race)
Draft: 7- 7" (race), 5- 11" (standard), 5-6" (shoal)
Sail Area: 771sf (std), 845sf (race)
Displacement/Length ratio: 178
Sail Area?Disp ratio: 17.8 (std), 19.5 (race)

The boat we sailed aboard has the deep keel and standard rig. This is a good combination where there is plenty of water, but the deep draft limits where the boat can be cruised. The taller racing rig includes running backstays, which most cruisers would object to. The hull, rig and foils were designed by the Bruce Farr office while the styling and interior were done by Philippe Starck. The Honchos styling and interior were also done by Starck, with the hull and foils by Jean Berret. While the Honcho has impressive sailing performance in view of its cruising accommodations, the 42s7 is certainly the better performing boat for its size. Drawing from their vast experience with racing yachts, the Farr office gave the 42s7 a slippery hull with a fine entry, relatively narrow beam and fairly powerful stern sections. This hullform is more racer than cruiser and that racing pedigree makes the hull a pleasure to look at.

On deck, the similarities between the 36s7 and 42s7 are obvious. Both boats have sleek cabin trunks and very distinctive styling. In my opinion the 36 is the better looking boat with regard to the decks. Designed after the 42, it shows subtle refinements to the shape and details that I find more attractive and functional. With that said, both boats suffer from cockpits that are too small for really comfortable cruising or racing efficiency. Being from sunny California, I like big, comfortable cockpits and it would have been very easy for the designers to make the cockpits longer and more spacious, thus making them better for both cruising and racing. The cabin trunks on both boats are very wide, leaving little space to move around the decks. I understand the reasoning behind this, a wider cabin trunk means a more spacious interior, but my preference would be to go with a slightly narrower cabin and wider decks.

Large dinette

The 42s7 has a unique swimstep arrangement. It pivots out of the transom to create a large and convenient platform, and when in the stowed position, fairs into the transom. There is a lot to like about this arrangement but I would be just as happy if the builder had opted for an open transom. As you know, I had to build a swimstep on the Honcho and would have been much happier if it had been built with an open transom or at least had a serviceable swimstep molded into it. I should say, however, that within the crowded confines of the 42s7s cockpit, everything is egonomically sound and well designed. This particular boat has the mainsheet traveler mounted just forward of the helm, which is good from a sailing standpoint, but makes it difficult to lie down on the cockpit seats and take a snooze, which is very important to me. Fortunately Beneteau molded a beam into the cabin top where a mid-boom traveler can be installed, and many of the 42s7s have that arrangement. I was aboard one with a mid-boom traveler not long ago and its cockpit is definitely a friendlier place without being bisected by the traveler.

The 42s7 has the same type of cabin portlights as the 36s7. They open outward instead of inward. this has the benefit of making them better at keeping water out of the boat, but the drawback of being magnets for jibsheets. In fact, the Honcho had a broken portlight when we bought it because a jibsheet got caught on it sometime in the past. We are very careful about them when sailing.

The 42s7 has lots of space below. This is due in part to the smallish cockpit and the wide cabin trunk. The 36s7s interior layout is, in my opinion, just about perfect for a small cruiser. Having lived aboard the boat for several months now, I can say that its as comfortable and functional as can be expected in a small boat. The same is true, for the most part, of the 42s7.  Beneteau offered both a two-cabin, and three-cabin layout in the 42s7. The three-cabin version was probably intended for the charter business, with three large double cabins and the galley strung along the port side of the main salon. This galley arrangement would work well in an apartment but is not suitable for an ocean going boat. The two cabin version has a large and well designed U shaped galley aft to starboard in the main cabin. With the large dinette and tasteful design elements, its a nice layout for living aboard and entertaining.  Sleeping arrangements are great for cruising. The owners suite, just forward of the mast, includes a large pullman berth, lots of lockers and storage, and a private head and shower in the bow. There is also a large private stateroom aft to port, with an adjoining head. The only downside is the lack of good sea berths. Queen size berths are great at anchor, but when youre at sea, you want nice deep berths with secure lee cloths or boards.

Two cabin layout.

I occasionally hear critical remarks about the structural integrity of Beneteaus. After living aboard one, and crawling all over many of them looking for cracks and flaws, I can say that with regard to structural elements every one Ive been aboard has been very well designed and built. I did reinforce the stemhead on the Honcho, but there are dozens of unreinforced 36s7s sailing around without stemhead problems. There are lots of Beneteaus out there that arent pretty, or particularly good sailers, but Im pretty certain they are all structurally sound.  If I had the time, Id gladly jump aboard my friends 42s7 and sail it across the Pacific to
Australia.

Overall, I like the 42s7 quite a lot. Its big enough to be comfortable at sea, fast enough to make sailing it exciting and its nice looking too. I plan to do some racing aboard one in a few weeks...Im looking forward to that.

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Wooden Boatbuilding in Castro Chiloe Chile!

Well, the Boot brothers have been doing a lot of walking, together of course, you’ll rarely find them apart from each other.  I went along with them, it keeps them out of trouble you know.

We’ve been exploring part of Chiloe Island just off the coast south of Puerto Montt which is well south of Valparaiso, one of the more southerly of the major ports here in Chile.

We took the ferry over, perhaps a 30 minute ride on a drive on drive off ferry which was an amazingly slick operation. There were at least a dozen of these ferries working when we were crossing, they carry around 30 vehicles each and  operate across a straight where the tidal streams run at ( guessing here, but not exaggerating) up to 8 knots.  This means that they’re going sideways as much as forwards, and the skippers know where all the major eddies are and work them just the same as a white water canoeist does.

On our travels on Chiloe we found a couple of boatyards and stopped with the camera. No problem with walking around in there, the “boatyard” where these pics were taken is the bank between the road and the waters edge, no more than about 20 metres wide, some very simple roofs on poles, and a few truckloads of roughsawn lumber in stacks.

There are repairs going on, and several new builds, I took pics of the biggest, and one of several small boats in frame, and you’d be amazed at how rough, and how basic these are. “Lofting”? All by eye!

Fitting? Axe and adze, and absolutely no more than just enough to get two pieces of wood close enough to get a bolt through. Those bolts? Hardware store mild steel hot galvanised, no fancy stuff here.

This is how the old square riggers were built, no frills, and way cheaper than the current way of building replicas. The fastest and cheapest path to the water, built under a very simple roof on poles with a monster bandsaw and a thickness planer being the only power tools,  axes and sledgehammers being the preferred tools and muscle being the main prime mover.

Have a look!

This little ship in build is about 20 ft long, shes partly planked, the frames are bent in using two temporary ribbands between the keel and the gunwale on each side, shes fastened with galvanised nails bent over on the inside. Some of the material appears to have been salvaged from older boats, and that monster piece of wood in the foreground is a stem removed from a much larger boat which has been demolished and saved for another build.

 About 70 ft by 18, the stem is more than a foot square, shes of much the same shape  and style as the boats weve seen everywhere along this coast.  Raked stem, very full at deck level, fine on the waterline and strong sheerline.

 Another view under the roof. There is a second ship in, shes been stripped out, engine and shaft removed and is being reframed. There are new garboards and some more plank replacements in the forefoot area, those planks being about 1 1/2inches thick, and as with all the others fastened with galvanised mild steel nails.

 Wed stopped to see what was happening in Ancud, the town at the northern end of Chiloe island  and down by the waterfront came across a maritime museum.  Sadly it was closed but this was visible through the fence.  Ive no idea as to what or why but shed be 80 ft, and I suspect typical of a type which would have serviced the coastline in this area. Shes a big heavy lump of a ship, cargo carried in a midship hold and on deck, shes no cruise liner but has a certain elegance.
Shed be built in very much the same manner as the ones in the boatyard and the bow end of her is much the same shape and style as the big motor fishing vessels, just the stern being straightened and squared off to cope with the higher speeds given by the big diesel engine.

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Bahia Chamela to Tenacatita

We spent four days in peaceful Bahia Chamela. It was a windy passage from La Cruz so the first day in the bay was devoted to catching up on sleep and enjoying a magnificent sunset aboard the boat. The next day we wandered around the village of Perula, entertained fellow cruisers aboard the boat and were treated to a magnificent night of stargazing. There was another boat anchored very close to us so I was up every two hours to make sure we didnt tangle as the wind and current shifted throughout the very dark and moonless night. Around 0400 I was checking our anchor and noticed the Southern Cross low in the sky to the south, then looked the other way and saw Polaris, the north star, not far above the northern horizon, with the Big Dipper circling it. In between was the Milky Way, with its billions of stars and the mighty Orion was directly overhead. I sat for some minutes in the cockpit in awe of this wonderful show.

The following day we motored out to Isla Cocinas, one of several small islands in the southern reaches of Bahia Chamela. We anchored on the northeast side of the island near a tiny sand beach that was crowded with pelicans. We landed the dinghy through the small surf and discovered pelicans nesting in the cactus. It was a wonder how a pair of pelicans could build a nest and hatch their young in the top of a 20 foot tall cactus. Later we circumnavigated the island in the dinghy, returning to the Honcho around 1600.

We left Bahia Chamela around 1000 this morning, motoring slowly out of the bay in almost no wind. Around 1100 the wind filled in, light at first, and we hoisted sails and shut down the engine. Our course took us out past the tiny cove at Paraiso and Punta Etiopia. We sailed well out to sea and as the day wore on the wind built to about 20 knots. With a following sea and wind, the Honcho surfed along at speeds of up to 10 knots, a new record for the boat. We were at the mouth of Bahia Tenacatita by 1600 and were snugly anchored in the upper bay by 1700.

Tenacatita is a lovely bay, surrounded by beatiful beaches and lush tropical vegetation. Were only 19 degrees north of the equator here and it feels like it. Well spend a few days exploring the area, perhaps indulge in a coco loco, and  do some serious snorkeling out near Punta Hermanos.

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Christmas greetings and a couple of other things

With Christmas still happening in many parts of the world, Id like to wish everyone all the best for the festive season and a happy new year.

Advertising, this blog is running at about 10K page views a month, thats astonishingly good, thanks all who are interested enough to come and read. But its attracting increasing numbers of people posting advertising, anyone wishing to do that should first contact me so I can vet for appropriate content and work out what its worth, or Ill pounce on each post with the delete button.
Too many, or off subject ads are a distraction that we dont have to put up with.

Me? Ill be bathing the dog, he found some interesting things to roll in while we were out for a walk yesterday, then Ill be using my new sawbench to make the boom and yard for SEI. I want to be out sailing her very soon and will report as I get on with that project.

So all the best from summertime in NZ, its a near perfect morning here with the temp at about 20 deg C and rising, perfectly calm and clear weather and its looking like a perfect day.

Trekkies will know this one "Live long and prosper".

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