Wittholz Departure

Discussion in 'Boat Design' started by MikeJohns, Nov 11, 2010.

  1. brutb
    Joined: Apr 2011
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    brutb Junior Member

    I am in the process of purchasing a Wittholz 39 built by Kanter Yachts of Canada. I will have the plans for the boat as it was orginally designed and will be happy to send those when the sale is completed if the will help.:)
     
  2. brutb
    Joined: Apr 2011
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    brutb Junior Member

    Wittholz 39

    If you would like some photos please PM me and I will send photos I have taken
     

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  3. MikeJohns
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    MikeJohns Senior Member

    Thanks very much for the offer brutb. Have you got the boat yet?

    Also if I can be of any assistance feel free to ask.
     
  4. brutb
    Joined: Apr 2011
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    brutb Junior Member

    MikeJohns
    I am now the owner of the 39' steely as ol last Friday. I will be getting in touch to see what you know about putting in and getting isolation transformers.:D
     
  5. MikeJohns
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    MikeJohns Senior Member

    Here's the underbody design (keel and rudder) I was working on a while back coming out of the wraps in the yard this last week.
    A winter job for the shipwright, and it was a cold wet winter!

    Thanks for the help and offers from everyone. These sorts of projects are more challenging than a new design.
     

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  6. Tad
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    Tad Boat Designer

    That looks really good Mike, she should be a new boat in the handling department......did you change VCG (ballast) as well?
     
  7. brutb
    Joined: Apr 2011
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    brutb Junior Member

    Wittholz 39' Cutter

    I will try to post photos of my 39' Cutter built by Kanter Yacht and designed by Wittholz. This boat has a Yanmar 42 hp 4cyl diesel. There are 160gals water and 150 gals diesel. The hull was built in 1986 and the boat launched in 1994. You will see the interior has had the head moved to the aft port side of the cabin and using the port quarter berth for a storage area. The forward v-berth area has no bulkhead and in doing so opens the interior for a wide open airy space. We are using curtains to seperate when guests are aboard. The dinette makes into a comfortable double with minimum work. The starboard quarter berth is still in place for use when sailing. I am quite happy with the speed of the single hard chine in lite airs and its stability. I have not had the boat sailing in any rough weather but expect it to do quite well. So far this boat has been all I expected except for the low mount of the main boom. I have not figured out how to raise it approx 15" to allow better cockpit use and the installation of a dodger and bimini with out having to alter the sail area (and possible changing the sailing characteristics) and doing major alterations to the mast. Any Ideas??? I have more photos if you would be interested. Please email me.
     

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  8. MikeJohns
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    MikeJohns Senior Member

    Tad
    Yes I lowered the ballast. The new keel has all the lead ballast melted into the lower half. CG Ballast has been lowered by around one foot from Wittholz's original design.
     
  9. MikeJohns
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    MikeJohns Senior Member

    Yes You could raise the boom it's a common enough procedure. A compromise is often to raise only the clew 2 feet, either way you have the main recut along the foot.
    One other solutions are to jack up the mast with a robust tabernacle but then you need to start thinking about weight and stability.

    I don't think you'll notice much difference in sailing ability or balance.
     
  10. brutb
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    brutb Junior Member

    That is a possibility. I would like a dodger and a bimini that I could at least walk up even if stooped over a little while at anchor. The dodger for some protection from rain in the main hatch. I will let you know what I decide. Thanks Bill
     
  11. LeftRoamin
    Joined: May 2009
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    LeftRoamin Junior Member

    The Boat Angel is selling a Departure 35 on eBay right now (10/28/2011) .... and it looks like someone left it in a hurry too (OK bad joke ... nm).

    Went through a bit of a Hurricane on the way to St. Maarten about three years ago on a Bruce Martin 36 hard chine cutter rig sloop. I was very thankful to be on a steel vessel in Force 11 wind and waves for a few days. It was sort of freaky little February storm with lots of snow blowing. Got caught in a big gulf stream eddy about 100nm out of Norfolk and ended up not going anywhere fast (real fast) for about three days. I was a bit concerned that the Bruce Martin only draws about 4' 3" .... but that steel took a lickin' and kept on tickin' all the way through the storm. I can still hear the rigging screaming at the top of it's lungs when I close my eyes. Guess that's just one of the trade-offs of being on a steel hull/steel deck sailboat when you wouldn't want to be on anything else.

    The owner took off on a solo circumnavigation (keeping mainly in the Roaring Forties the following year) and finally capsized in the Southern Ocean in Force 12 conditions. Again ... the steel hull saved the day, and when the boat finally righted herself after being slammed by another 20 meter breaker, he was able to grab the boom, cut the sunken mast away, and sail another 2000 miles (oops! 900 miles that must have seemed like 2000 miles) under jury rig to Western Australia. (sounds like a sailor's Holloween Story don't it :p )

    Anyway ... Did Bruce Martin have any input on the Departure 35 design? It sure looks like the two designs came out of the same neighborhood school of thought.
     

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  12. Angélique
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    Location: Belgium ⇄ The Netherlands

    Angélique aka Angel (only by name)

    Roberts inadvertently interchanged for Martin above . . ? ?

    Pics in above post shows a Roberts 36 A, also a Bruce...

    [​IMG] - [​IMG]

    It looks like below story from above link is the same adventure as in post#41 as it is also mentioning Waterbird and the same circumstances..

    Cheers,
    Angel

    P.S. - Waterbird* -- Follow the Voyage** -- Sail to the Antarctic -- Sail on -- Yep, upper boat is the same as in post#41.

    * Ah, Czech "Další fotky" means more pics :)

    ** In English from Panama.​
     
  13. Angélique
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    Location: Belgium ⇄ The Netherlands

    Angélique aka Angel (only by name)

  14. LeftRoamin
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    LeftRoamin Junior Member

    OMG! I Meant "BRUCE ROBERTS" oh geez! .... ha ha .... Bruce Martin is my State Farm Insurance agent in Lenoir City, TN .... and I very seriously doubt that he's ever even been on sailboat .... much less designed one! Sorry. My bad. What can I say .... I'm an idiot! dut dut dut
     

  15. LeftRoamin
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    LeftRoamin Junior Member

    Thank you, Angel ..... you're an ... ahhh .... Angel!
     
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