So How Did She Sail?
Over the course of 12 days we sailed Gerty through all points of sail, in light air to a fresh breeze. We did not experience any heavy weather or strong winds.
Our sail inventory was limited to the Main, the Solent (Jib), and the Staysail. We had no dedicated light air sails, which likely would have added a knot or two of boat speed on half our days.
The strong currents had a big impact on our speed over ground. The current read well over 6 knots on numerous occasions. On our windiest day, going with the current, we reached a max speed over ground of 15.2 knots. Gerty may never sail that fast again! At her fastest, she was breaking 9 knots boat speed through the water on a close reach in about 22 knots apparent with one reef in the Main, full Solent, about 10 degrees of heel, and almost centered rudders. This exceeded her theoretical hull speed and felt great.
Our sailing experience is limited. We have never sailed a true performance sailboat over 20 feet, so our expectations for speed were low. We bought and wanted a “blue water cruiser” and were not expecting incredible sailing performance. That said, the Allures 45.9 exceeded our expectations. From Broad Reach to Close Reach she felt like she was flying on rails. Even Close Hauled, there was never any fight in the wheel and the rudders were close to centered.
Pinching up wind, she slowed noticeably at 35 degrees to the apparent wind, but she was still making decent forward progress at 30 degrees apparent with the centerboard all the way down. We timed our sails to avoid tacking upwind. I will post better upwind data when available.
The chart plotter photos below show true wind speeds from 11.2 to 15.3 knots with corresponding boats speeds of 7.1 to 8.8 knots with a heel rarely exceeding 10 degrees and usually substantially less.
In lighter winds on a beam reach she also got moving nicely. Note below that with 5.5 knots of true wind she was moving at 4.3 knots with the help of 7.3 knots of apparent wind.
On another day, with light wind behind the beam and a following current of 2 to 6 knots, she struggled as the apparent wind speed started to zero out. This is unavoidable, although a lighter downwind sail would have helped to maintain full sails.
The Staysail was tested in 16 knots true wind on a reach. In those winds the Staysail was not beneficial as the boat flew along with little heel and a centered rudder under a single reefed Main and full Solent. We also tested the Staysail in light downwind conditions (160-170 degree wind angle), when we poled the Solent out to windward and had the Staysail and Main to leeward (see video). In this scenario the Staysail added less than a half knot boat speed. When tested, our apparent wind was only 5 knots and the confused seas made it hard to keep the sails full. In stronger winds, I am sure the Staysail would have been more beneficial.
The strongest wind we had when sailing downwind was about 15 knots. With the decent breeze, she glided downwind with little effort, but 15 knots true resulted in less than 10 apparent, too light for her to reach her potential without a big spinnaker. Regardless, it is easy to imagine that on a fast-downwind run, she will be smooth as can be.
So how did she sail? Overall, magically.
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Hi there, I’ve been keeping an eye out for YouTube videos of the Allures 45.9 in the wild, and Googled SV Gerty after seeing the quick video on the English Channel. What a pleasant surprise to find that you have a blog! Congratulations on the new yacht! I’m looking forward to reading more about your experience with Allures – this seems like such a well rounded boat!
Best,
Denton
So far we are very happy with her. However, there was a long “punch list” of items for the factory to fix. We are holding off on an overall review until we see her 100% complete near the end of September. Thanks for sharing your interest.
Delighted to find your blog: I intend to use it as a guiding light in my countdown to doing the same thing- hopefully with the same boat. I am very interested in 2 things which I hope you may be able to expand on: firstly your decisions around the electrics, the exclusion of shore power and a generator. That’s a lot of faith in solar: what happens when the sails mask the panels or it’s just lousy weather? I like the idea, but I would
Like to understand the calculations that led you there! Secondly you make reference to the factory scheduling & communications and the snagging issues: anything out of the ordinary or that would make you question your choices?
Thanks in advance and I look forward to seeing where the wind takes you
Ben
Ben,
I will put together a post on our electrical and water configuration choices as they are somewhat related. I also am planning a post on our experience with Allures, but I am waiting for the final punch list to be finished so I know how the story ends. In the meantime I am happy to trade email regarding specific questions.
Great to see some true world experience instead of sponsored reviews
Would like to know how loaded the boat is – ready for round-the-world with full tanks? Or still light and fresh off the yard?
And for the novice sailor: how about growth on an aluminium-hull?
Looking foreward to more posts
Best regards
The water tank ranged from full to almost empty over the two weeks. The fuel tank was 1/3 full. There were some provisions and spares on board, a RIB, an outboard, two anchors, 300ft of chain, etc. However, she was not fully loaded. There were three to four people on board.
Below the waterline the aluminum is painted in a seven layer process. The last two layers are Trilux 33 anti-fouling. Time will tell how effective the Trilux 33 is. The fact that it is over Aluminum shouldn’t make the Trilux 33 any more or less effective than if it was over fiberglass. However, the Aluminum does limit the anti-fouling paint options to those that do not contain copper.
Just wanted to say thanks for our little spin in the Chesapeake. I’m
quite excites for you and Jill. If you ever need an extra hand for a cruise, I would love the opportunity to join you. Safe travels home.
Mike – great blog. My wife and I joined you and Pete on a test sail the on the last day of the Annapolis boat show. While the wind was light, the boat slided along impressively. From some of your posts above you appear to be very happy with the sailing performance – magical!. This is great to hear, as there are few boats like the 45.9 out there. While it is almost 46 feet, there is a very managable feel about it – especially for a double handed crew. Wishing you and Jill alot of joy with Gerty – bring on next season! I am looking forward to seeing more of your adventures and outfitting choices in the coming season (s).
Thanks for the note. Will be posting entries about our sail from Annapolis to New York soon. Gerty handled some rough weather very well.