HANSE 470 ARCH??

Hi Nirvana - while stern arches can be really useful (I have one) do keep in mind that you're placing a heavy weight in the second-worst place onboard. This will affect performance to some extent and can cause the boat to hobby-horse (go up and down instead of forward) in waves. While your 461/470 can certainly tolerate more weight on the stern than my 400 you still have to be careful not to overdo it; dinghys, engines, life-rafts mounted on the stern all have an effect and you can turn an easily-driven hull into a right pig if you overdo it. I'm not saying that this is necessarily wrong; everything on a boat is a compromise and its up to the owner to decide what is acceptable for that person's type of cruising. What might be unacceptable for offshore or ocean sailing might be perfectly fine if you mainly sail in the right conditions.

I don't think you'll find a ready-made arch from any supplier; you'll need to have one built specially for your boat. These can be very expensive; mine cost the equivalent of EUR13000 a year ago and even though its been useful I still question the value for money. Whatever, keep in mind that even a brilliant stainless-steel fabricator is unlikely to be a sailor and will care little about balance on a sailboat. The pitch axis is about a meter or so forward of the sprayhood (dodger) so the further the distance from that point the more that added weight will affect your boat.

Looking back I might have chosen aluminum instead - but of course it doesn't look as nice as stainless! However, despite keeping the design fairly minimal I noticed a clear hit to boat trim and windward performance as the boat 'sat' heavier in the water at the stern, something that can clearly be seen in one of the pictures in an earlier post above. To compensate, I got rid of a lot of weight and moved heavier items as close to the pitch axis as possible. This included moving the tender from the locker to under the boom and replacing a very heavy life raft with a lighter coastal version (although I hire an ocean one when heading beyond easy SAR coverage). These are all compromises I chose for my boat for my type of sailing but I'm sure that many others will make different choices. Just don't think that putting an arch up is a 'cost free' alteration - in any sense of the phrase!

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NIRVANA III Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Sub Lieutenant Joined: 08 December 2014 Location: Spain Status: Offline Points: 14	Post Options Post Reply Quote NIRVANA III Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 14 March 2024 at 16:50
	I like this arch very much. It looks very reinforced. We have the boat in Barcelona (Spain) You have more images Thank you very much

Ratbasher Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Vice Admiral Joined: 31 May 2017 Location: Cyprus Status: Offline Points: 818	Post Options Post Reply Quote Ratbasher Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 15 March 2024 at 06:47
	Hi Nirvana - while stern arches can be really useful (I have one) do keep in mind that you're placing a heavy weight in the second-worst place onboard. This will affect performance to some extent and can cause the boat to hobby-horse (go up and down instead of forward) in waves. While your 461/470 can certainly tolerate more weight on the stern than my 400 you still have to be careful not to overdo it; dinghys, engines, life-rafts mounted on the stern all have an effect and you can turn an easily-driven hull into a right pig if you overdo it. I'm not saying that this is necessarily wrong; everything on a boat is a compromise and its up to the owner to decide what is acceptable for that person's type of cruising. What might be unacceptable for offshore or ocean sailing might be perfectly fine if you mainly sail in the right conditions. I don't think you'll find a ready-made arch from any supplier; you'll need to have one built specially for your boat. These can be very expensive; mine cost the equivalent of EUR13000 a year ago and even though its been useful I still question the value for money. Whatever, keep in mind that even a brilliant stainless-steel fabricator is unlikely to be a sailor and will care little about balance on a sailboat. The pitch axis is about a meter or so forward of the sprayhood (dodger) so the further the distance from that point the more that added weight will affect your boat. Looking back I might have chosen aluminum instead - but of course it doesn't look as nice as stainless! However, despite keeping the design fairly minimal I noticed a clear hit to boat trim and windward performance as the boat 'sat' heavier in the water at the stern, something that can clearly be seen in one of the pictures in an earlier post above. To compensate, I got rid of a lot of weight and moved heavier items as close to the pitch axis as possible. This included moving the tender from the locker to under the boom and replacing a very heavy life raft with a lighter coastal version (although I hire an ocean one when heading beyond easy SAR coverage). These are all compromises I chose for my boat for my type of sailing but I'm sure that many others will make different choices. Just don't think that putting an arch up is a 'cost free' alteration - in any sense of the phrase!
	H400 (2008) 'Wight Leopard' Gosport, UK



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