New 418 Questions

I sure do love my in-mast furling. Ease the main sheet a bit, ease the outhaul to the desired reef point on the boom, wind in the furler to the desired reef point on the leech, re-tension the outhaul, haul on the main.  I can stay on the port wheel driving while I control outhaul and main sheet and my first mate can wind in the furler.  Stay flat and fast in 2 mins or less with infinite adjustments and no dramas.  Because it's so easy, we can do it as we see the conditions changing and be ready early.  Shaking out a reef in lightening conditions is almost as easy.  Flip the lever on the mast, open the jammer on the furler, tension the outhaul.  Done.  Never have to be afraid of too much or too little sail.

Hi David,

we live in the Netherlands and rec'd our 418 spring last year.

Some of the mod's/additions we did:

- installed some Ikea storage bins on either side of entrance, the 418 cockpit lacks storage for small stuff like phone, keys, book etc.

- we had retractable bow thruster fitted by the yard. Works perfect.

- After initial delivery had a B&G 4G radar dome installed in the mast. Problem here: Hanse does not install some empty pipe/conduit from electrical panel to mast area. Adding a cable later (like we did) is very cumbersome.

- we opted for the ss anchor & chain. Mainly because I don't like the rusty look after a while on regular anchors. Didn't regret it, but the boat is only 18 months now.

- FCL sails, they're really nice. Added UV coat on the jib + separate cover when sail is not used for prolonged period of time. This also avoids the rainwater ingress resulting in mold in the sail.

- we didn't add third reef, certainly would for your type of trip. After reef 2 you can disconnect lines of reef 1 and use that for reef 3.

- opted for extra winches, otherwise you only have 2. We did go for electrical, love it.

- opted for Dyneema halyards.

- after delivery we added a Furlstrom sail from Elvstrom. WE LOVE THE SAIL!! Used it a tremendous amount and the furling is so much safer in choppy conditions. In downwind tracks we always have an AWA of ~150 degrees to have the boat comfortable and sail stable. In pure downwind runs you’d need a spi/gennaker pole.

- this winter we'll have a 'stay/support' added between end of anchor support and bow to absorb the high halyard tension required for sails like Code-0 or Code-1. (Furlstrom = Code-1)

- We replaced the regular Mastervolt charger with a Victron EasyPlus 1600 and modified the small AC panel wiring ourselves. Now the Nespresso Coffee maker works at sea ;-)

- This winter we'll look for a storm jib. I'm not a big fan of the storm jibs installed around a rolled-up jib. And since I only use storm sails when it's windy, I also don't like hoisting a storm jib in the second groove/track because the 35 m2 of the regular jib is a lot of sail to handle understaffed on the foredeck. I'm still doubting between a storm jib with anti-torsion line, use the furler drum of my Code-1 + Dyneema loop around both bow cleats. This way we can hoist the sail 10-15 inch behind the jib and you can even prepare it well in advance. When needed just roll in the jib, and roll out the storm jib.

Another way is using one halyard as a 'forestay', hooked into a Dyneema loop around bow cleats and hoist a regular storm jib along this line.

- I haven't checked our lightning solution yet. Something you may want to check.

- take a spare motor starter!! So far roughly 10% !! of all 418's have seen their motor starter burn. Yanmar blames the large diameter electrical wiring in combi with large number of connections made at the starter plus connection. Installing another connection to join these wires and then only have 1 cable connected to the motor starter may avoid such issues.

- the fuel filter & water separator is installed close to the fuel tank under PS aft bed (we have 3 cabin version). The location is almost impossible to service. This winter we'll have this filter removed and install a double filter (Racor or Vetus) in the motor compartment, there is enough room. The double one so we can switch filter when one is clogging up and clean the dirty one while engine keeps running.

- we had handle bars installed on the outside of the sprayhood. One of the very best spent Euro 200 ever.

Hope this helps,

Have fun and sail safe!

Henk de Groot

Touch of Grey

H418 #026

Matt - Tecsew can supply the sprayhood side grab handles, they had a few pics on their website when you look for Hanse Sprayhoods. The side grab handles are brilliant, well recommended especially in big seas and on way back from pub!

David - Many congrats on your new 418 and hope you will be as pleased as we have been with our 418. She sails really well and is a delight to live on. If your thinking of sailing around the Stockholm Archipelago you may want to check out another 418 "Sailing Yacht Aurora" on YouTube, looks a stunning area.

You have lots of good comments and suggestions already but a few from our 418 experience:

- We upgraded the cockpit table to the version with the built in storage as you always need a place to keep bottles, snacks, hats etc plus it raises the height of the chart plotter so far easier to read and use. Just makes for more comfortable sailing.
- Added extra grab rails by companion way steps, can send picture but really useful.
- Second water tank needs a sender unit installing, not part of standard package, good to have full picture of your water levels.
- Battery monitor, if off the grid for few days also good idea to monitor consumption and battery state, we are in process of installing a PICO monitor.
- Bilge alarm, simple low cost enhancement is to add buzzer with mute switch to Bilge float switch circuit so if bilge float is triggered you hear the alarm and get an early warning.
- Primary fuel filter as Henk mentions is not easy to access as by fuel tank under rear port berth. We had his moved to engine bay as offers far better access to check/maintain. Our dealer Inspiration Marine kindly did this for us under warranty, its a case of simply moving it to reverse side of bulkhead it is bolted to as standard.
- Anchoring, we added an extra 30mtrs of warp and oversized swivel plus will upgrade the anchor this winter to a 20KG Rocna as sits well on bow roller but would go even bigger if living on the hook. Also add a bow fender for anchoring as with the 418 plumb bow will save a lot of dents and knocks.
- Liferaft storage, we installed a shelf in rear stb locker under helm to make easier to access, the lockers are so deep we wanted to raise raft for easy access.


Hope these help and best wishes for your new 418.

Good sailing.

Jon.
418#44


   

Here some additions to my previous post:

Edited by TouchOfGrey - 21 November 2019 at 19:30