new hanse 400

That transom bench makes sense on the First. Look at the space between the bench and the wheel. It’s huge. It is a boat designed for a crew, and racing is the essence. So lots of space for several crewmembers to move around. The bench is there only for protection and for the looks.

Now, that bench that fits properly on the First fails to provide, on the Hanse, another seating position. After all the Hanse is a cruising boat and a boat adapted to a small crew or to be solo sailed and having a single seating position on a cruising boat doesn’t look very practical or comfortable to me.

After all discussions and exchange of information, finally I was visiting the ongoing Boot Dusseldorf show to order my new boat and I had a chance to see Hanse 400 there for the first time. There was no bench on the show boat but I saw some of the latest photos of the transom bench. It is same as the one posted in 10^th page of this topic but additionally they put teak on top of the bench similar to cockpit bottom. The guy I talked to (probably one of the German dealers) told me the bench is an extra option. Apart from that I found the stbd aft cabin quite large but lack of storage and shelve facilities. It is like a big empty cold space, especially at the hull side of the cabin which is covered by wood but a nice shelve would be quite efficient there. I found the lay up and interior quality not really satisfying but from the outside it seems very sportive. The cockpit table is also not my type, especially with that cost !!! I could not understand why they do not put a fiberglass-wood combined table like the French boats. All stainless steel and plexiglass made table looks not really very handsome on a white fiberglass boat.