Revist a Marauder 27 yacht
November 30th 2006 18:00
I had an opportunity yesterday to revisit a yachting favourite, the
Marauder 27. I was acting as delivery skipper for the four new owners who had some but not a lot of sailing and boating experience. The day before gales had raged along the NSW coast with wind over 45 knots and seas and swells over 4.5 meters. It would be a challenge in a small yacht I thought.
I knew the boat quite well having raced against her at my club. She could show a set of heels to most boats around her size when the crew were trying and she had a clean hull. Only two years ago she was division champion in her class for the year. She was a racer but had been built quite sturdy in seamanlike manner. Solid fibreglass with attractive timber trim and lots of timber furniture and timber trim down below. Her past owner of twelve years had looked after her very well. She is around 24 years old and apart from some crazing of glass is some places which is only visual not structual the guys who own her said she was the best yacht at that size for that price they had seen in a year of searching. (Valued by the marine surveyor at $32,000 sold for $25,000)
Down below the usual combination of accommoation of 2 singles a fold out double and two short bunks in the bow. There is a pump out toilet there as well. A navigator's table, a decent small galley with sink and ice box good head room and a 12 hp Volvo that purred along very nicely. The cockpit has a portable table and by adding a timber insert athwart it gives comfortable seating or five adults. Sloop rigged with adjustable backstay and wheel steering, the helmsman having a timber seat behind him that folded up to give him a standing stool. A very good accommodation of space here! Quite narrow side decks, probably too narrow for my liking but as all lines for sailing the boat lead back to the cockpit there is not much reason to go forward often.
We left Toronto at 5.30 am and motored through the channel to the Swansea bridge about half an hour to early for the seven am opening. We spent that time rigging her for the sail down the coast as we picked up a curtesy mooring at the bridge. A good sized main on slides but no lazy jacks and hank on headsails. We decided to use the #2 but could easily have carried the big #1 genoa.
The coal seam bar did not look very promising but as we got closer we saw how the island at the entrance sheltered the bar from raging 3.5 metre waves which were crashing and spuming about the rocky island giving the impression of breaking on the bar. Wind was around 12 knots from the South West on a swell of 3.5 metres. With main and #2 plus the Volvo we were doing around 5.5 knots quite comfortably despite the biggish seas. We could have pressed her a bit more say with a bigger headsail but with those seas we wanted to nurse her along. We kept the motor running all the way as we were mostly sailing too close to the wind to keep up boat speed with sails alone. My belief in delivering a boat is as quick as possible as safe as possible.
We were surrounded by dolphins on crossing the bar and they followed us quite a long way down the coast. We did not see many recreational vessels about but some huge schools of bait fish being viciously attacked showed that anglers in the know could have done well for themselves. There was a touch of mal de mer on the way down but it may have been due to the quiet little drink the night before. We did have some very sloppy water as we sailed close to cliffs where the huge swell was being bounced back into itself as it surged on the unrelenting rock of the cliff.
Occasionaly we were able to get her up to around 7 knots just slightly off the breeze and I am sure with a well trimmed main and her big kite she would be a flyer off the breeze. Steering was easy and at no stage was the helm threatened with to much weather helm. This makes her ideal for long distance cruising and I could see her coasting easily with a couple on board, being able to visit most Australian ports and cruising grounds.
The new owners are rapt with their new toy and look forward to many enjoyable days cruising and racing.
Marauder 27. I was acting as delivery skipper for the four new owners who had some but not a lot of sailing and boating experience. The day before gales had raged along the NSW coast with wind over 45 knots and seas and swells over 4.5 meters. It would be a challenge in a small yacht I thought.
I knew the boat quite well having raced against her at my club. She could show a set of heels to most boats around her size when the crew were trying and she had a clean hull. Only two years ago she was division champion in her class for the year. She was a racer but had been built quite sturdy in seamanlike manner. Solid fibreglass with attractive timber trim and lots of timber furniture and timber trim down below. Her past owner of twelve years had looked after her very well. She is around 24 years old and apart from some crazing of glass is some places which is only visual not structual the guys who own her said she was the best yacht at that size for that price they had seen in a year of searching. (Valued by the marine surveyor at $32,000 sold for $25,000)
Down below the usual combination of accommoation of 2 singles a fold out double and two short bunks in the bow. There is a pump out toilet there as well. A navigator's table, a decent small galley with sink and ice box good head room and a 12 hp Volvo that purred along very nicely. The cockpit has a portable table and by adding a timber insert athwart it gives comfortable seating or five adults. Sloop rigged with adjustable backstay and wheel steering, the helmsman having a timber seat behind him that folded up to give him a standing stool. A very good accommodation of space here! Quite narrow side decks, probably too narrow for my liking but as all lines for sailing the boat lead back to the cockpit there is not much reason to go forward often.
We left Toronto at 5.30 am and motored through the channel to the Swansea bridge about half an hour to early for the seven am opening. We spent that time rigging her for the sail down the coast as we picked up a curtesy mooring at the bridge. A good sized main on slides but no lazy jacks and hank on headsails. We decided to use the #2 but could easily have carried the big #1 genoa.
The coal seam bar did not look very promising but as we got closer we saw how the island at the entrance sheltered the bar from raging 3.5 metre waves which were crashing and spuming about the rocky island giving the impression of breaking on the bar. Wind was around 12 knots from the South West on a swell of 3.5 metres. With main and #2 plus the Volvo we were doing around 5.5 knots quite comfortably despite the biggish seas. We could have pressed her a bit more say with a bigger headsail but with those seas we wanted to nurse her along. We kept the motor running all the way as we were mostly sailing too close to the wind to keep up boat speed with sails alone. My belief in delivering a boat is as quick as possible as safe as possible.
We were surrounded by dolphins on crossing the bar and they followed us quite a long way down the coast. We did not see many recreational vessels about but some huge schools of bait fish being viciously attacked showed that anglers in the know could have done well for themselves. There was a touch of mal de mer on the way down but it may have been due to the quiet little drink the night before. We did have some very sloppy water as we sailed close to cliffs where the huge swell was being bounced back into itself as it surged on the unrelenting rock of the cliff.
Occasionaly we were able to get her up to around 7 knots just slightly off the breeze and I am sure with a well trimmed main and her big kite she would be a flyer off the breeze. Steering was easy and at no stage was the helm threatened with to much weather helm. This makes her ideal for long distance cruising and I could see her coasting easily with a couple on board, being able to visit most Australian ports and cruising grounds.
The new owners are rapt with their new toy and look forward to many enjoyable days cruising and racing.
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