Motor Sailers?

I am interested in the 34 foot 35 ft to build.
but I can not communicated with the architect trevor bolt
I already send mails but several unanswered.
Can you help me?
thank you
Cyrillo
valeoo@hotmail.com

 

Banjer 37 versus 37' catamaran...

I have owned a 37' Banjer that I bought in Panama and extensively customized, including a bowsprit - the jib became a staysail and I made my own furler for the genoa - a roll furling mule sail subtended by a wishbone hinged on the backstay and sheeted on top of the same mizzen mast raised 3' and a storm spinnaker from a larger vessel. I sailed her full time for 7 years, including 2 transatlantic crossings and she was the sweetest vessel I have ever owned, averaging 5.5 to 6 knots under sail on long passages and doing once 12 knots under spinnaker and full main in a blow...

I sold her in 1985 and she's back on the market at a very reasonable price:

http://www.yachtworld.com/boats/1971/Banjer-A-4,-Pilothouse-1601363/Merritt-Island/FL/United-States

10 years later I bought a 37' Fountaine Pajot catamaran, which I sailed from France to the Western Caribbean, via the Canaries and Cape Verde islands, She was marginally faster - Cape Verde to St Vincent in 14.5 days and 15 knots under spinnaker alone - but not anywhere as comfortable. In fact with a totally inexperienced crew of wife and 10 years old child, I hardly ever slept more than 20 minutes at a time and it was a very tiring experience due to lack of sleep and the usual quirky motion of catamarans...

Cruising cats are fine if you have an experienced crew on board and the bridgedeck clearance is at least 3', usually found in larger vessels of 45'+, otherwise the cat has to be sailed so conservatively that there is hardly any speed advantage, compared to a sea kindly monohull...

On the subject of Autoprops, they're unsuitable for vessels sailing at more than 8 or 9 knots. I had them fitted on my 37' catamaran - admittedly they were somewhat oversize - and with the gears locked into reverse to stop prop rotation under sail, the prop drag increased so much that both engines kick-started in reverse while doing 14/15 knots under spinnaker...

It took me a little while to figure out where all the sudden noise and vibrations came from the first time, as no rpm's were showing on the meters, since the ignition wasn't turned on but a look at the black smoke belching out of the exhausts soon resolved the issue. The speed with both engines in full reverse barely dropped a half knot and the problem occurred twice more before I locked the engines into forward, which seemed to work...

If I ever get another passagemaker, it'll likely be a 47/50' aluminium power boat, in the style/concept of the Dashew 64, designed for the geriatric crowd, but with a low drag canoe stern, capable of cruising at 8.5 knots (200 miles/day) at 4+ miles per gallon with a single John Deere engine and 1000 gallons of fuel, but I haven't seen one built like that yet...

 

Hi, Seagem!
I'd love to hear more from you and the times you owned ARAOK (the Banjer now for sale you mention).
Please send me a PM at: msclub<at>banjer37.net

Kind regards.

 

http://oceanlines.biz/2009/07/vessel-assist-salvages-launch-accident-nordhavn-56-motorsailer/


Ooopps....