Advice on crew numbers and sleeping capabilites
Printed From: myHanse.com
Category: Hints & Tips
Forum Name: 371
Forum Description: 371 Hints and Tips
URL: https://www.myhanse.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=13851
Printed Date: 27 March 2026 at 02:05
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Topic: Advice on crew numbers and sleeping capabilites
Posted By: PJ Timmins
Subject: Advice on crew numbers and sleeping capabilites
Date Posted: 30 January 2023 at 19:02
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Hi all I just purchased a Hanse 371 in The Netherlands and the plan is to sail it back to Dun Laoghaire in Ireland towards the end of April. I am trying to plan crew. There will be some overnights sails in the passage plan. I am looking if anyone has experience of night sailing on the 371 and views on maximum crew numbers. e.g it is possible to sleep at sea in the forward cabin or will one fall into the gap on a tack? Has anyone installed lee cloths to keep the crew members from falling out? Can one sleep in the main cabin etc? Its difficult for me to tell these things as were have only been on the boat a few months back for a few hours. Any tips welcome. PJ ------------- PJT |
Replies:
Posted By: Matt1
Date Posted: 30 January 2023 at 20:19
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Congrats! Not familiar with the 371 specifically but if I were doing that trip in my boat I'd be looking for 3 crew eg Skipper plus 2 (assuming all were competent and able to keep a watch, including at night). I would plan on not sleeping in the forecabin (but would be ok downwind or when motoring in flat water). Ideally saloon benches would make the best berths under way. You could manage without lee cloths by stacking sails / kit bags in the gap between the table and berth (I did a passage from France - St Lucia with no lee cloths including 4 days of a continuous gale!). Aft cabin would make a reasonable berth too, again, if you wedged kit bags to divide the berth ------------- Hanse 418 #64 EmBer. Hamble, UK |
Posted By: Bitbaltic
Date Posted: 30 January 2023 at 20:28
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Surely some experience of sailing similarly large boats on similar passages would be a pre-requisite to purchase and would answer all these questions. ------------- Hanse 301 'Karisma' | https://sailingkarisma.wordpress.com/" rel="nofollow - https://sailingkarisma.wordpress.com/ |
Posted By: samuel
Date Posted: 30 January 2023 at 21:10
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Lee cloths are well worth fitting. Not only for sleeping but on my boat we have "day bags". Being a small boat, things have to be stowed away. So if one needs a jumper, a towel, hat or something, one does not want to risk sea sickness trying to get stuff out of bags in lockers. Our solution is to put the things we are likely to need in the day bags. These are placed on one bunk & to stop them falling on the floor the lee cloth is raised. So everything can be grabbed easily & does not end upon the floor. From this you can see that sea sickness is my biggest problem - 25% of all trips which are single handed. My lea cloths have metal bars on the top edges & are rigid. So when wedged in the berth they do not move. This meams one can be wedged & not wake up due to moving about as canvas ones with ropes do. Also not having ropes to the top means I can hop out quickly in emergency. ------------- Daydream Believer- Hanse 311- No GBR9917T- Bradwell Essex |
Posted By: Matt1
Date Posted: 30 January 2023 at 22:08
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Thread drift, but I suffer terribly with seasickness unless I wear a scopoderm patch (UK Prescription). On a night passage last season I heard some strange noises and was right up in the bow area with my head by the bowthruster for a good 20 mins whilst the boat was pounding up and down with no problems ;-) ------------- Hanse 418 #64 EmBer. Hamble, UK |
Posted By: sgrhma2
Date Posted: 30 January 2023 at 22:14
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Congratulations on getting your 371. My firstHanse was a 292 which I picked up at grGreifswald and sailed back to Strangford Lough, so not a dissimilar trip. I did the trip with a crew of 3 which worked reasonably well, however having since done a lot of night sailing my preference is for a crew of 4. Nobody leaves the cockpit at night and during the day only when clipped on and somebody else on the helm. Similarly at night I always have two crew on but have watches split so that there is continuity with regard to any events that might be happening and for everyone they share each half of their watch with a different crew member. This I feel keeps people more alert and minimises risk. I didn’t fit Lee cloths and still haven’t on my 370 and have found that for sleeping, as already pointed out, using bags to wedge yourself in or lying at the edge of the berth against the hull is very comfortable. The most important thing is that you’re buying the boat to enjoy it, so if the weather forecast for your planned passage isn’t great go back to the pub or do some site seeing, but wait until the weather is good enough for an enjoyable sail. You’ve got yourself a fantastic very capable boat that could do the trip in almost any weather, but the whole idea is to enjoy it rather than beating yourself up. If you’re ever up Strangford direction give ma a shout. Simon
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Posted By: PJ Timmins
Date Posted: 30 January 2023 at 22:40
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------------- PJT |
Posted By: PJ Timmins
Date Posted: 30 January 2023 at 22:43
Thanks a mil Simon that is excellent advice. I will look you up indeed as we plan to do a bit more offshore after having spend 20 years racing around Dublin Bay mainly. ------------- PJT |
sgrhma2 wrote:Posted By: PJ Timmins
Date Posted: 30 January 2023 at 22:50
Sorry I may not have been clear. I have sailed around Ireland and on bigger and smaller boats and to and from Southampton several times. However my main experience has been racing over the past 25 years. My question was specifically about the Hanse 371. It has a rounded centre table and seat and I don't know if its possible or comfortable to sleep there. On other boats I have sailed upon, there was always lee cloths and the 371 does not come with lee cloths. The configuration of the forward cabin has a gap between the starboard mattress and the port side mattress. The advice given here has been helpful by suggesting to avoid the forward cabin and focus on jamming oneself in on centre saloon or in the rear cabin. ------------- PJT |
Posted By: PJ Timmins
Date Posted: 30 January 2023 at 22:57
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That is really interesting Samuel - I love the day bag idea and are your types of lee cloths available online? Thanks PJ ------------- PJT |
Posted By: Mark_J1
Date Posted: 31 January 2023 at 10:08
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1 crew wedged into salon sofa by sail bags under table. Never needed Lee cloths on our similar 400e. Good spot for skipper to be able to hear what’s happening on deck too. Another crew uses aft cabin. Again, use sails to make this a useful ‘slot’ rather than a large berth. If you have a 2nd aft cabin you can do the same again. Forward cabin is used to move any remaining bulky gear into. It’s not viable underway and as a sleeping berth except in the flattest seas. 3 ‘solo watch capable’ crew will enable you to keep rolling along effectively. Add a 4th if you want a ‘mother watch’ and an easier time of it. Depending on how well you know each other cabins can be shared or hot bunked. Mark ------------- Hanse 400e "Grey Goose" Hull #31 |
Posted By: PJ Timmins
Date Posted: 31 January 2023 at 10:36
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Thanks a mil. I think that is the solution I was looking for. I don't want to start affixing lee cloths until I know the boat better. I love the idea of skipper being close on hand in the saloon to hear what is going on up top. Good idea to forget about the forward cabin when at sea. I do remember my first offshore waking up in a forward cabin in a big sea and levitating in the dark trying to find my clothes and dress to come on shift, a complete recipe for sea sickness. ------------- PJT |
Posted By: Ratbasher
Date Posted: 01 February 2023 at 09:59
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Have a look at the thread below; the 400 is a very similar design. We keep our lee-cloth rigged under the stb sofa cushion and its very easy to quickly rig-derig it; that location is by far the best in any sort of seaway. https://myhanse.com/lee-cloth_topic12096_post99310.html?KW=lee+cloth#99310" rel="nofollow - Lee Cloth - myHanse - Hanse Yachts Owners Forum - Page 1 As for crew, I'd argue that experience and confidence are more important factors than just numbers. Like as I suspect many in these columns, we've done a multitude of similar trips just as a couple and we adjust our watch periods to ensure that we're both up and about at critical points in the passage plan. That said, we're not racing, we know our boat and we're well set up for single/shorthanded sailing. As you probably might not feel as familiar with the boat as you'd like before departure from the Netherlands, as long as you can maintain one person who knows what he/she/it is doing in the cockpit at all times you'll be perfectly fine provided you think-through your passage plan. We've found that generally, 3 hour watches at night work well for us to avoid fatigue but others may have had different experiences. It should be a great trip - good luck! Iain ------------- H400 (2008) 'Wight Leopard' Gosport, UK |