Replacing Perfection

Grand Surprise - Other Photos

2007-10-21T10:46:00.001-07:00

Looking Aft

Note the lead of all lines aft. Good (and no doubt expensive) string.

The "Pièce de résistance" of the Grand Surprise. Its large cockpit, in two defined sections.

Saloon, Looking directly forward.

Saloon, to port, showing "galley"

Saloon, to Starboard, showing "Navigation Area" (lol!)

The Port Quarter.
Trust me, the Starboard quarter is the same, only the other way round. The bunks can be extended all the way aft...

Grand Surprise Polars!

2007-10-20T15:17:00.001-07:00

Promising Figures!

Managed to find the performance figures for the Grand Surprise on Archambault's website, although they were in the form of a table. Quick bit of fiddling with Excel and I managed to produce the above chart. Looks good to me!

It was nice to see that the figures we saw on the test sail equate to what is shown above. So many designers VPP data is a little optimistic to say the least!

The latest, as far as actually going though with the deal, is that Wessex Yacht Sales have offered a decent "trade in" value for Neraida if we want it! Shocking stuff, and brought about some mixed feelings from both of us!

Grand Surprise Test Sail

2007-10-14T11:01:00.000-07:00

Arrived at the marina at 1100hrs, murky and a bit windless. Craig of Wessex Yacht Sales greeted us, and re-introduced us to the boat. She is a Grand Surprise called "Magic Roundabout", owned by the owner of WYS. As we were talking the sky seemed to clear a little and a light breeze was felt. Lines were readied and Craig started the little Nanni.

First thought, the engine is a bit noisy. However this could be easily rectified by the addition of some sound insulation in the engine bay, where there is plenty of room to do so.

We manoeuvred easily out of the berth and headed out of the marina. Claire and I trotted round the deck and stowed the fenders in the lazerette (v neat, and plenty of room for warps, fenders and all sorts!) We both noticed at this point how much more steady and sturdy she was compared to a First Class 8, hardly moving with my considerable bulk on deck.

Once out of the marina, I was handed the tiller and I put on a few more revs on the engine, when it got somewhat quieter, and pushed us along at six and a bit knots. After some U-Boat avoidance style random helming, I got the hang of her very responsive tiller and we came into a little bay. I pointed the boat head to wind and Claire and Craig made light work of hoisting the Kemps Carbon laminate main and No.1 Genoa. Claire noted how much heavier than our own sails they were, however the Harken 40's were on hand to help. 2 speed winches! Luxury!!

I bore away slightly and Claire trimmed the No1, while Craig took the Main. More on that later... What I need to tell you now is "WOW!" In about 11knots of wind, we, easily and without fuss accelerated to 7.1-7.5Knots with the wind at about 40ish degrees true off the port bow. She can go closer, but for the minute we were just going. Another 10 degrees off and we busted 8 knots without breaking a sweat. The following wake to leeward getting louder and louder and the boat "humming" to herself. Apparently, when you've got the Grand Surprise "in the groove" she develops this harmonic vibration caused by her "short" foils. It can be reduced by some offset V's on the trailing edges of the foils, but I rather liked it!
Her heeling angles didn't get to the extreme, and she certainly felt much stiffer and more confident in the water than Neraida. Even with the mainsheet un trimmed (deliberate), when a gust came through, she heeled a little more (say 5 degrees) and developed a smidgen of weather helm. As she has a balanced rudder, this is a relief, as if she developed the kind of weather helm a FC8 does, the rudder would stall quickly and you'd have to quickly snap back to midships and start again! The only comment on heeling was the added beam made you fell a long way up over the large cockpit. Claire also has a little difficulty finding a bracing point for her legs as the cockpit is pretty wide.
The mainsheet is a neat system. Large Lewmar track across the cockpit floor, 5:1 coarse adjustment and a 16:1 fine tune which is accessible from both sides of the cockpit (double ended). The mainsheet trimmer sits just fwd of the helm, and has his or her own sissy (foot) bars to keep them planted. I suspect this is where Claire would sit!

As we cleared into open sea (where there be sea monsters) the wind picked up a little to about 15 knots. Ideally, we would have changed down to the number 2 genny, but we couldn't be arsed, de-powered the main a little so she sat up a bit more. We tacked a couple of times to see how she turned. Do it slowly and she kept a good proportion of her way on and back up to 7+ before you really had to think about it. We were exchanging glances by now, mouthing "fookin farst" to each other with silly grins!

After a while we were a few miles off shore and the Grand Surprise was taking the sea well, with the obligatory "slam" over the chop from time to time. To be expected really with a light displacement boat with the hull form that she has. Even so, up with in a "4" in open sea with a dry cockpit and only a damp prow is a lot better than we are used to! No "THUNK" from the keel either!

We bore away to put her on a broad reach, she speeded up nicely, just touching 10 knots on a surf down the low swell. Craig was a little nervous about getting the asymmetric kite up, but we convinced him it was a good idea and he set off fiddling with string and a big bag. We opted for the easy option and binned the genoa and stuffed it down the hatch out of harms way. Craig and Claire seemed happy enough trotting round the deck in the little rolling we were doing. Again, a good stable boat, with friendly big decks and plenty to hang on to.

I turned her dead down wind and eased the mainsheet ready for the hoist. Out popped the pole, Claire hauled tack so the foot was 18" from the end, and then she hauled away on the halyard. Big Kite! 77sq metres in fact. Strolled away at about 9 knots on a dead run until we gybed and bought her up as the wind was dropping off. 11.1 knots was our top speed and easily done. We both would have quite liked another 5-8 knots of wind to see what she could really do, but we were impressed enough with what we saw!

We dropped the kite without much fuss and I pressed the "on" then the "start" button on the Nanni and it started! No faffing around with outboards! :) We dropped and flaked the main and I asked if it was ok to take her all the way back to the berth, Craig seemed happy enough to let me do this, and I was very keen to see how she handled in close quarters.

I needn't have worried, berthing her is easy. Plenty of engine power, and she turns "on a sixpence". So no panic or bumps ensued. Victory!

Conclusion:

The Grand Surprise is all we could have hoped for and probably more. She is very fast, and easy to handle, for what is, essentially, a racing boat. We were taken aback a bit by the weight of the sheets and halyards initially, but looking at the numbers, she's got a big rig, and we'd just have to learn to use the hardware. After all the Mainsail is 1.8x the size of Neraida's, the Genoa we used was twice the size of our normal blade and the kite was just monstrous compared to our piddly 34sq m!
The GS's light and responsive helm was a joy, and well within the capabilities of a good autopilot. We'd want a roller jib and slides on the main for sail handling, but they are all pretty standard "wants".
The cockpit would take a little getting used to, but she is a very well designed boat. I would expect we'd adjust pretty quickly.

Great Boat. Top of the List!

Option 2 - Pogo 10,50 - Mwaaaaahahahahahaaaa!!

2007-09-21T06:04:00.000-07:00

Ok, Looks Sensible Enough

Neat and Tidy Layout

Bon!

Looks alright doesn't it? Not alot is known about this chappy yet, other than these pictures and the blurb from PogoStructures which says,

"There’s been a new development in the shipyard Structures. The prototype of the Pogo 10.50 is now in construction in the yard and should sail for the first time in the autumn. Drawn by Finot-Conq with a design signed by Patrick Roseo, the Pogo 10.50 will be marine, fast, functional and comfortable for lovers of sensational sea far cruises. Equipped with a lifting keel, its variable draught makes you able to explore the coasts. Like its brothers, the Pogo 10.50 will be built with the vaccum bag moulding system. Light, this boat will be equipped with a carbon mast and a deck plan optimized for a navigation with a reduce crew. The interior will be very clear and comfortable: small bathroom with shower, fridge, air heater, 6 berths and technical area."

We also know this...

Technical Specifications

Length	10,50 m
Beam	3,90 m
Draft	1.05 - 2.80 m
Displacement	3600 kg
Keel weight
Headroom	1,89m
Berths
Twin rudder
Certification	A

Sails

Main Sail	37 m²
Genoa	34 m²
Spi	100 m²

Look at that! 1.89m Headroom (6'4") and a draft between 1.05m and 2.8m! Cool.

I'm sure "the Mate" is reading this rather nervously at the moment. Somewhere along the lines of "Oh Bugger". Fortunately its probably going to a) cost a bloomin fortune and b) be so beamy it wont get into our berth (think 3.9m is a bit much for MDL)

Problem with these things is that they "tick all the boxes" for our requirements. Fast in light airs, easy to sail (designed around 1 or 2 people), fully offshore capable and looks, by all acounts to be well laid out. Depends on how they put it together really. We'll wait and see.

For those of you that dont know, Pogo's do this....

Mama!!

Option 1 - Archambault Grand Surprise

2007-09-18T01:08:00.000-07:00

Sleek and Low

Upwind Machine

Light, airy and well finished, if a little basic...

Specifications

Designer:	Michel Joubert and Bernard Nivelt	Water:	50L
Builder:	Archambault Yachts - France	Accomm:	4 berths - parts of the furniture are foam cored to save weight
Length:	31' 4" - 9.54m	Galley:	Single burner stove, sink
Beam:	2.98m	Toilet:	Under forward berth infil
Draft:	2.05m mts Lead Keel	Mast / Rigging:	7/8 fractional rig with twin swept back spreaders, adjustable backstay.
Displacement:	2480kg dry	Deck Gear:	Lewmar winches, Spinlock clutches.
Keel / Ballast:	1050kg - deep draft keel	Remarks:	A great value sports yacht. Slippery performance and a lovely balanced helm. The above-deck layout caters for serious racing crews. A stiff boat for partaking in offshore regattas. Simple and stylish below decks.
Hull Material:	GRP
Deck Material:	Balsa cored
Engine:	14hp Nanni twin, with Shaft drive and folding prop.
Fuel:	25L

Cost New - About £50k on the water.

Our Comments

We have known about this boat for some years now, as it was brought to our attention by one of our French racing crew, who was also studying naval architecture. This year however, we have seen one "in the flesh" as it were, for the first time.

It must be said, we were quite impressed. She was obviously very well built, and a very nicely thought out interior, considering how little they put in. This boat is essentially a big First Class 8. We have been saying recently that we don't want to loose out on what Neraida offers us performance wise. We often ghost along in light airs, trimming and maximising our performance in the dying breeze. This really teaches you how to be efficient, and is a fantastic way to spend an evening after work. This Grand Surprise certainly looks like she'll do that with easy. She's light at 2.5 tonnes and very slippery. She has a big rig for a good powerful mainsail, and a pop out bowsprit for the humge kite. All cracking light airs fun!

Conversely, Neraida is an utter pig at times in a bit of a blow as she is light too, however only 550kgs of her 1650kgs is in her cast iron keel, giving her a ballast ratio of 0.3. This means that with just the two of us on board, and her substantial rig (much the same scale as the GS) we need to reef early, and with 35-40knots and two reefs, she can still become over pressed and tough to get to windward.

The Grand Surprise however boasts a 1050kg keel on an overall disp of 2480kg. This makes her ratio 0.43, and on those simplified figures gives her a 43% advantage alone. This, coupled with the fact that her keel is a fin and lead bulb affair is going to make her a good stiff boat.

The cockpit layout is very clever. Big open space aft for trim and helm shenanigans, and a nice bench area forward to hide behind the optional sprayhood. Good hardware, and good line handling make for simple sailing or the ability to drive her hard should the mood take you.

Down below is, as I said above, simple, light and very well made. High gloss finish to the interior despite the lack of any lining. Sitting headroom like a first class 8, but better, and the extra 0.5m of beam makes the whole place a lot more welcoming. Good access to the little 14hp Nanni, and this itself gives rise to an increase in comfort. ie, chance of an diesel heating system, good charging facilities and the ability to motor for long periods without a) going deaf and b) requiring a refuelling tanker (Nanni quote the avg consumption at 2l/hr)

All in all a nice boat, which ticks all the boxes as far as performance are concerned, however a little less comfort than we would have liked. Lets wait for the test sail!