Hi everyone,

I have a 312 on order for delivery in the next few months. I was wondering what the first changes or upgrades were that you made soon after taking delivery?

Having had a smaller boat for a few years we have ordered quite a few extras that we know we need. I am now thinking about the small changes and improvements that you make after having spent some weeks or months sailing your boats.

Any advice would be gratefully received. I am sure we can manage to spend even more money at the London Boat Show in January.....

Thanks!  

Welcome to the HANSE family...

We purchased a wind generator as we are on a swinging mooring - it keeps our batteries well topped up.

We also invested in a vetus fuel gadget - when filling with diesel the tank seemed to produce an air pocket and fuel would come out onto the deck.. the vetus gadget fits beneath the fuel cap and is attached to the fuel piping. It has a small tank and enables the tank to be filled without accidental fuel spillage.

A genoa - the self tacker was fine - but the performance was oh so much better this year - knocked a good hour off our channel crossing.

You may well have these items on your list, but happy spending at London - good fun what, bit  hard on the feet mind....

Sue  

Hello,

Congratulation with your new boat. Good decicion! I own #192 since 2004, which is your number?

The extra list depends on what you want. I like to sail a bit more sporty, so I made some changes:

What I don't ordered:
Track for self tacking Genoa
Ring for mainsheet

What I ordered:
Kicker vang.
Pre Installation kit for the webasto 3500
4 Spinlock Clutches on both sides incl. blocks at the mast.
Important: 40er Genua Whinches (extra 80€) !!!!!!!!!
                 Extra long Genua Tracks (#III and #I 150%)

What you should buy from Greifswald:
One extra battery (the same model) which I build in parallel to the standard one so I have now 120 / 160Ah in one circle. Maybe later an extra starter battery with a leab EDR.

What I changed on the boat myself:

VC-Tar II and VC 17M Extra
I bought spectra hailyards for genua and main
I put an extra block in the backstay with a spectra strop (now 16:1)
I build in a long Harken traveller with a low profile track
Easymatic Mainsail 6:1
Spinlock Tiller Extension SG 900
Simrad TP20 (the wiring comes standard and the TP30 is too big)
Simrad Wind System + two extra multi clocks (bought in the USA)
Webasto 3500
FI Switch for 220V in the stb.back locker
Sterling 30A
Ah Counter for the Battery from Votronic
Furuno GP32
CD/MP3 Radio with remote control
VHF navman 7100 (GMDSS)

UK Sails Genua I
UK Sails Genua III
Dolphin Sails Gennaker about 76sqm with 6mm Spectra Sheets and Harken Blocks

This winter:
Compressor Cooler and good insulation from the downside
Extra blocks for the mainsail foot ???
Maybe a Cunningham
Board for the big locker to seperate it a little bit

I think more or less that's all.

Kind regards Thomas.

Thanks for the ideas. We have quite a lot of those on the list already. Have not thought about a genoa yet as it will be great to have the self tacker for a while. At least then I can still sail the boat when everyone dives below at the first sight of rain!

I am a bit concerned about the Simrad instruments as they seem expensive to add to and there are a number of reports of problems with the wind units. It also seems to me that they are moving away from the robnet (?) that the IS15 instruments use. Is that right? I would be more inclined to use Raymarine or maybe Tacktick if it didn't mean throwing the IS15 units away. I know you can mix and match to an extent but it could look a real mess on deck with different brands.

Once the deal is finalised I am looking forward to posting here a lot more. Thanks again for your help, and keep the ideas and info coming!  

I ordered my Hanse without any instruments and fitted Raymarine instruments myself. Not that I think that Simrad instruments are not good, but I have always had Raymarine (Raytheon, Autohelm) and they never let me down. I could use most of the Simrad wiring, sometimes just to pull new wires through the conduits.

Jos 

371#152 Quinta

Hi BlueMan

All the above suggestions are great. I have a solar panel which is hooked onto the guardrails and tends to keep the batteries topped up nicely. We have had the fridge on most of the time at weekends and it works quite well. Turn the fridge down during the night and ensure that you have a battery isolated for starting the engine should you oversleep.

Happy sailing, you will enjoy the 312.

Tony & Jo ( and Francesca 315)

Thanks Tony. We're used to having a single battery with no engine charging (outboard), just shorepower. For us the only significant drain is the fridge too.

Having two batteries and engine as well as shore power charging will take a bit of getting used to. I am wondering whether to fit a more sophisticated split charging system than the simple standard switch. Most of the time it isn't really an issue as we tend to marina hop but it might be a good idea.

Given that we use shore power a lot I am wondering if the standard (factory) arrangements include a galvanic isolator. Has anyone had to or chosen to fit one?

As far as I know, the standard shorepower is just an FI Switch at the chart table and a plugin in the cockpit. The wiring for that comes standard. For a plastic boat you don't need al galvanic isolation?!

The standard split system is just a switch with the positons Bat.1, Bat 1+2, Bat.2. There is not really a seperation. If you want to save your engine battery you have to manually switch from 1+2 to just 1 or just 2. That's unsave in my opinion.

I bought a LEAB EDR which should work fine but I haven't build it in. I have two batteries in the locker in one circle and I'm going to buy a small engine battery with the EDR in between.

Hi Blue Man

The factory mains system does not come with a galvanic isolator so if you use the shorepower system a lot you definately need to have one. If you were to plug in to a location where your boat was the lowest in the galvanic series your anodes could become the ones that fizz away very fast in place of everybody elses !! 

They are available from many chandleries (approx £70 to £80) and advertisers in PBO etc and you simply fit it in the earth lead by splitting it at some convenient point between your mains board on the boat and shore connection.

I have fitted mine in the electrical cupboard above the chart table (312)

Good luck

Geoff

BlueMan:  Here is what I have done to my Hanse 311 hull #101.

I upgraded the padeye for the mainsheet (where it meets the cockpit sole), the padeye for the backstay as well as all the blocks for the mainsheet, backstay and my jib.

I sail in San Francisco USA and it gets very windy here at times and when my backstay broke loose in almost 30 knots winds I knew it was time to upgrade to  heavy duty hardware.

On the bow pulpit I added a stainless steel bar that connects the open part, this allows my spinnaker to slide over my pulpit without getting caught. 

I upgraded most of my line to stronger line.

And I just added brand new sails.  The stock sails were poorly made so I upgraded to Hood Sails.

I took my 311 out two weeks ago in 13 foot seas and 25 knot winds in the ocean off of San Francisco and she sailed really well.  It was rough, windy, wet and wild...........a Great Day!!