Admiral is Back...?

[BrianH]

Just came across this by chance a few days ago.

It appears that someone is building Admiral Catamarans again. Here is a LINK to the website of the new builder, Celtic Yachts (http://www.celticyachts.co.za/index.php)

It's run by a man named Tim Duncan who apparently has a reputation of building interiors. I can't tell much about the company from the website. Is it the same people operating under a new name? Is it a new company or is it an old one that acquired the liscence, molds and such to build Admirals?

Time will tell.

- BH

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[Bvimatelot]

Interestin....I'm delivering an Admiral 38 from Greece to Delaware next week.....!! tony

[JohnT]

Admiral (the design, not the factory) is back, although in a very small way. Tim Duncan obtained the moulds and is producing the Admiral 40 in a small factory in Killarney Gardens, Cape Town. The previous owners have nothing to do with the factory or boats.


Bee-Line, pictured on the web site of Celtic Yachts, is due to depart Cape Town in early November for the Caribbean with the owners on board. A second boat, Turning Point, is slowly kitting out for a trip to the KZN area of South Africa and then heading east with the owners. A third 40' should be launched in the next month or so. I am not quite sure if it is a spec boat or an order but believe it may be going to Miami for the February show. Having previously delivered a few of the 38's and 40's, they are a great sailing cats designed by Angelo Lavranos. Let's hope that Celtic Yachts can continue producing a great design without the problems associated with the old Admiral factory and owner. I will be popping into the Celtic Yachts factory in a week or so and will give some feed-back if anybody is interested.

[BrianH]

Admiral (the design, not the factory) is back, although in a very small way. Tim Duncan obtained the moulds and is producing the Admiral 40 in a small factory in Killarney Gardens, Cape Town. The previous owners have nothing to do with the factory or boats.


Bee-Line, pictured on the web site of Celtic Yachts, is due to depart Cape Town in early November for the Caribbean with the owners on board. A second boat, Turning Point, is slowly kitting out for a trip to the KZN area of South Africa and then heading east with the owners. A third 40' should be launched in the next month or so. I am not quite sure if it is a spec boat or an order but believe it may be going to Miami for the February show. Having previously delivered a few of the 38's and 40's, they are a great sailing cats designed by Angelo Lavranos. Let's hope that Celtic Yachts can continue producing a great design without the problems associated with the old Admiral factory and owner. I will be popping into the Celtic Yachts factory in a week or so and will give some feed-back if anybody is interested.

Please do keep us informed. See if they will let you get some pix.

ta

-BH

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[JohnT]

So, I paid a visit to Celtic Yachts. When I was told they have a small factory, I never realised it was really small - they can only build one boat at a time! However, they are soon moving to a different premises to be able to build two boats at the same time.


At the moment they have a four cabin boat nearing completion, which was intended for the next Miami boat show but I have my doubts that they will be able to finish it off in time to make it. It looks like they will take it over for the Annapolis show next year. It is a spec boat and has a number of changes and improvements from those that came out of the old Admiral factory. Unfortunately, I could not take any photo's - sorry BH. Also, I have no idea why they built a four cabin boat on spec instead of a three cabin owners version.


The floor area of the saloon has been vastly strengthened as well as extra integral cross-beams built in to prevent some of the flexing that occurred with the older models. The keels are extended to allow the boat to be placed on the hard without any hull flexing - basically extending them to use the existing bulkheads for support and to prevent distortion.


One thing I really do like is that instead of having port and starboard situated winches, which made control of the sails a bit difficult when sailing short-handed, they have modified the helm position and brought all lines to the helm and installed two electric winches there to make short-handed sailing far more easy.


All the internal GRP counter tops have been scrapped and replaced with proper Corian tops. This not only in the galley, but in the heads as well. I think this is a vast improvement and far more durable.


They have also changed from using balsa core to foam core, which, I am sure is going to shed quite a bit of weight off the overall finished boat - it will be interesting to see what the difference is when they launch the boat.


There are a few things that I personally do not like. One is the introduction of larger hatches replacing the aft facing portlite in the two aft cabins. They are also installing a large vertical hatch next to the sliding door (on the port side), which I think is daft - they could have had a window there with a small portlite in it. Of course, anybody ordering an Admiral 40 can simply request just the standard door or anything else they can think of.


I had a look at the hull cores and must admit the layup is pretty solid. There has been no cutting back in the lay-up to indicate any attempt at cost saving as some of the older Admirals out of the original factory.


Overall, I was pretty impressed. However, I think they need a sale or two to make the business profitable or would most likely have to shut shop. The owner (Tim Duncan) and his factory manager appear quite good in what they are doing construction wise, but really need to up their marketing to get the message of the boats out there and let the buying public know that their product is not involved in any way with the previous factory or owners. Good luck to them - I think they need it!


I am in no way involved with the factory and the above is my personal opinion. This said, I have been teaching the owners of one of the new Admirals the ropes in sailing their new boat.

[BrianH]

Thanks John. It sounds like there have been significant improvements in the manufacturing. Switch from balsa to foam core is a good idea and I am glad to hear that they do not appear to be cutting back on the lay-up schedule. The interior improvements with Corian, the larger hatches, etc. are all great ideas. Also changes in the design, handling the lines from the helm is a big improvement.

On one of the last Admirals to come out of the former factory they added a seat between the davits which looked like a good idea. I hope the new manufacturer retains that and some of the other nice additions made to the latter Admiral 40s before that company went belly-up.

I really do hope that they can make a go of it. The Admiral 40 is a great design and it deserves to be out there. Many sailors could benefit from one of Lavarnos' best designs.

- BH

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[Ruach]

Hi Guys,
Just picked up this site and hope you or other owners can offer advice.
I need to take my 40' Admiral (hull No 10) out of the water for a bottom clean and antifoul.
The remove facility is in Knysna South Africa and consists of a ramp with a dolly, upon which the two hulls will sit until the boat is out the water. The hulls can then be supported on the bulkhead support positions for and aft of the keels as indicated in the manual and water line.
The support positions will have to be moved for cleaning and application of antifoul paint.
My question is - Has anyone done this before (besides hull No 8) in the manner I intend doing it ?
The keel are standard length ie not extended.
Time on the hard is 3 to 4 days max.
If anyone has other Admiral 40' owners details I'd be pleased if you can share them with me.
If not on this blog my E mail is - peter@fisheye.co.za
Thanks in anticipation

[BrianH]

Hi Guys,
Just picked up this site and hope you or other owners can offer advice.
I need to take my 40' Admiral (hull No 10) out of the water for a bottom clean and antifoul.
The remove facility is in Knysna South Africa and consists of a ramp with a dolly, upon which the two hulls will sit until the boat is out the water. The hulls can then be supported on the bulkhead support positions for and aft of the keels as indicated in the manual and water line.
The support positions will have to be moved for cleaning and application of antifoul paint.
My question is - Has anyone done this before (besides hull No 8) in the manner I intend doing it ?
The keel are standard length ie not extended.
Time on the hard is 3 to 4 days max.
If anyone has other Admiral 40' owners details I'd be pleased if you can share them with me.
If not on this blog my E mail is - peter@fisheye.co.za
Thanks in anticipation

You should be careful about placing your Admiral on its keels. I understand that at least one Admiral 40 experienced buckled hulls as a result of resting the weight of the boat on its keels. Later versions (well after yours) placed the keel ends under stringers and/or bulkheads better distributing the load of the boat's weight onto load-bearing members of the structure.

To be safe, I would find a yard that uses a travel-lift or a crane so that you will not risk such a catastrophic problem as having your hulls compromised.

- BH

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[Ruach]

Thanks for the advice Brian.
I'm curious to know what the other Admiral 40 owners have done ?

[GrantD]

Good day
Our Admiral 40 was on the hard at Port Owen, Western Cape until two days ago; under the supervision of the Admiral Island boatyard owner - Frank Stuyck.
Frank operates a 10 ton crane on his premises and lifted us easily and professionally.
Nothing has been too much trouble for Frank and his team. We have been treated really fairly and I would recommend calling Frank, if only for a quotation.
I consider this venue to be the best kept secret on the SA coast for ventures of this kind.
I have attached a link which more or less shows the haul out process, albeit featuring a monohull.http://mysaillady.blogspot.co.za/2016/09/haulout-port-owen-south-africa_3.html
GrantD

[Paremacle]

My husband and I are the proud newish owners of Great Escape, the Celtic 40 that Tim sailed across the Atlantic and displayed at the Miami and Annapolis boat shows. I believe we are hull #4. We purchased her after the Fall boat show and displayed her in the Spring show. We are cruising the Chesapeake for now but have plans to cruise the Bahamas and Caribbean once we can get rid of those pesky day jobs. While I would have loved the owners version for the bigger bathroom, the ability to convert the forward berths into a pantry by folding the bed and accessing all the built in cabinets underneath is a nwice feature. Having all the lines run to the helm is great except we have yet to install bungee line holders so end up with a mess of lines while under sail that our dogs like to sleep on. Tim has been very responsive to our questions. There are some things we would recommend...a grate over the well in from it of the sliding doors....watching people trip on that at the boat show was not fun. We also installed a recessed step in the seat next to the bed to make it easier to climb in and out. So far we are happy but have yet to see how well she does in rougher seas and weather.