Hi,

In May this year we picked up our new Hanse 445 in Greifswald and sailed home to Sweden, following some days of testing and adjustments. I am new to Hanse (and to this forum) and would like to start with saying that the boat was all I hoped for - the beautiful lines, the easy maneuvering, fast in light winds, comfort for the family …

However, my first encounter with Hanse also brought up some issues that I did not hope for - or at least did not expect.

Since this is my first own +40 feet boat (in this size I've only rented Bavaria 46) I hope for some tips and/or forum links related to the following three issues:

1. Mainsail jam

I have an in-mast furling system with Z spar rig and Elvstrom sails including vertical battens. For some days ago, the mainsail got jammed when I tried to unfurl. I only got it out half a metre. Yes, I admit that the last furling - conducted single handed in very windy conditions, with the sail flapping when going in - was not according to the manual on Z-spars homepage:  "Maintaining a light tension on the outhaul, furl the sail with the wind ahead. A slight pressure from the wind will avoid creases in the sail."

However, I've never experienced (with Seldén rigs) that the mainsail gets totally jammed in the entrance, without possibility to fix it in port. Now, a number of vertical battens in the bottom of the sail have been jammed in the mast entrance and the roll now refuses to move in or out. 

My dealer said that Seldén masts - previously standard on Hanse - are designed with a more extensive entrance. He also told med that Hanse now, for unknown reasons, will turn back to equip with Seldén again.

This small note on the Z Spars homepage did not lighten me up: "PLEASE NOTE: We do not recommend sails with vertical battens for our in-mast furling spars." http://www.zsparsuk.com/furlingmasts.htm

2. Fresh water inside the boat

During the test sailing with Hanse's handover guy, we found water in the bilge. Actually, a lot of water. The handover man suspected the rudder stock entrance and three factory workers came out and did some plastic refit. The production line manager, however, did not really believe in that explanation. He was right. During my voyage home I found new water in the bilge. It I turned out that the entire fresh water tank (filled 100 %) had been emptied in the boat and the fresh water pump was making noise. Making 10 knots in a gale we had not heard anything of this up in the cockpit. Back in Sweden my dealer tried to localize the problem. We could not find any leakage. But the dealer showed me how the deck shower could, at least in theory, cause this problem, if you put it back into the hull opening without having secured it.

3. Bow thruster hatch gone

When leaving a distant port this summer the bow thruster refused to work. Something, probably waste, was stopping the hatch from closing the last centimeters. I had no snorkel mask, so with the hatch slightly open I turned back home on the dealer's advice. There, I dived under the boat and saw that the hatch was gone. I gave the bow thruster box a small push. It now works properly, but my hull hatch is gone. "Impossible", the Hanse shipyard commented. "A fabrication error", a very experienced local marine engineer said.

Sorry for all these words. I'm grateful for any feedback.

 

I cant help you with the main, I didn't go for in mast.

 

I know my deck shower sometimes leaks if I rely on the button on the head, so i have to swich it off using the tap.

 

We were told that the hatch on the bow thruster will come off if you move at more than 6 knotts with it down, and we have no alarm to say that it is still down.  Several times I have been worried because i failed to retract the thruster before setting off.  I am thinking of finding a way to generate an alarm if the thruster is down and speed is above 4 knotts or something. 

It makes the desk shower theory stronger and I forgot to write that the major part of the water was found in the aft, also pointing in the same direction.

When it comes to the thruster I will never leave a port again if I am not sure about the status of the hatch. I did 10 hours with an average speed of 8 kts, so after having seen the hatch construction, it's obvious for me that it can't stand against that force. 

The dealer said that the thruster will not retract if something is blocking it.

Turning off the fresh water pump seems as a good idea.

Welcome to the Forum. Sorry to hear about your 3 problems but, sad to say, no new boat is completely free of problems. Taking them in order here's my 5 cents worth

Furling Main. I have this option on my 415 with vertical battens in a Z Spars rig, but with a North mainsail. Mine jammed slightly during the handover test sail but a quick in and out freed it. I was told it would get easier once the 'newness' of the sail had worn off. Of course, it didn't so I had North sails rep come and have a look. He thought it was the stainless steel attachments at the bottom of each batten twisting and catching across the slot.. These were designed to take the round batten and finish in a flat strip, in theory to minimise the thickness at the bottom of each batten, which wasn't happening when they twisted.  He took the sail away and removed the SS bits, replacing just with a full length round batten. He also advised that furling should be done on starboard tack with slight wind pressure in the sail. This keeps the battens away from the edge of the slot. Since then, I have had no problems.

Thanks!

No ticking from my freshwater pump.

Having read about your pump issues, I will also be more active in closing seacocks when away from the boat.

If there is no ticking from your pump then the leak must be on the low pressure side of the pump i.e. between the tank and the pump. This is usually a very short run and should be easy to check.

If the leak is on the other (pressurized) side of the pump then you would hear an occasional tick (or burrrr) from the pump as it replaces the pressure lost by the leak.

Thank you for this detailed info.

The weak fitting on the self traveller track sounds as something we should report to Greifswald (even if I suspect your dealer in Australia has done it, I've heard that you have a quite active Hanse community down under ).

Just to make a clarification regarding my pump and leakage: The pump is silent and works fine. I don't have any leakage currently. It's just that I still don't know (for 100 %) what caused the system to spill out water during BOTH the test sailing day and my trip home. I've seen how the deck shower could do this. So I suppose that's it.

It feels great to be a part of this forum, with so many helping hands from all over the world. 

Cheers,

Chris

Again, thanks for all comments. 

Aided by a rubber hammer and a rig specialist, I finally got the mainsail back into the mast again (after it was jammed at the entrance). 

The main reason behind my problems, it turned out, was that the main halyard had been adjusted, so the angle of the main became wrong when furling.

However, when taking a closer look in the Hanse manual, I noticed something important that I missed before (maybe because the section concerning the mainsail is not even a half-page long). It says that you should not use the electrical winch when furling the main. The e-winch is to powerful, it's going way to fast. When the clogging starts, it's to late to act.

In fact, I had already begun to suspect that. But in my defense, the hand-over guy at Hanse used the e-winch several time to furl and unfurl the main on my boat ...

 

I will get a 455 as well!

Have to wait until April/May 2015...