Nautitech 441/442 Onwers?

[Capt.Rehab]

Hello,
Short feed-back after 3 months sailing non-stop with more than 5,000 NM. The mediterranean in december was sometimes rough with winds up to 40 knots, but the boat did well. Atlantic passage was comfortable with fine winds and weather. Some issues to be considered :
- the sail plan after Nautitech recommendations is different for upwind and downwind, although the reference winds are always apparent wind. Moreover, it is recommended to reduce earlier downwind than upwind, for the same range of apparent wind. If this is not a print mistake, it seems illogical to me. I followed the upwind instructions for any kind of wind (I managed to be mostly downwind) and I found them accurate.
- the pieces holding the actuator arms of pilot and steering wheel on steering sectors are much too fragile, and they broke on both sides in the middle of Atlantic. So my spare pilot was useless. We managed with large bolts I had brought and daily check, and we arrived on the west side without problem. But this should not happen. I had big pieces of stainless built by FKG Rigging in St Maarten, nothing to be compared to the previous pieces, and they guaranteed that it would not break. After 400 M nothing has moved on each side.
- The cabins are more comfortable than I imagined, though the beds are a little short for me (6 ft). The lockers give enough room for a 3-week stay, not for liveaboard (Powhatan is a 4 cabin version). The aft port cabin has become a technical area, with all the batteries and thus all the stuff I added : 1,5 KW inverter, solar panels regulators, hydrogenerator regulator, watermaker. In total this makes weight which is not balanced by equivalent load on the stbd hull (there is only the BIB on stbd). I acknowledge I actually did not find any obvious consequence on navigation behaviour, but all this shoud be in a technical room dedicated to all additional components.
- I installed electric toilets, and I was happy to find electric cables already in the heads, the other end waiting behind the electric panel. There are other pre-installed cables for 12V network and other purposes. Good point to Nautitech.
- I tried to apply to Nautitech to order spare parts, after I had previous contacts with a Mr Colin at Bavaria-Nautitech. This man introduced himself as responsible for after sales and spare parts orders. After more than 12 days I have no response, despite of repeated recalls. Bad point to Nautitech.
- I have a question -I asked also Mr Colin !- : are the water tanks on aluminium or stainless ? When looking at them, I cannot decide !
Thank you.

The tank installed above and behind the tank is Aluminum. I inspected it on the 441 I put a deposit on. Can you send a picture showind where you found the 12v wires for the head? I plan to upgrade one head to electric too. I too have had mixed results with Mr Colin. He did provide a manual in English for me

[Capt.Rehab]

This is the tank.

[Powhatan]

Clear explanations, Peter, so the reefing rules should be established after true wind downwind and apparent upwind, not apparent for both. But this is detail, I think everybody can manage with reasonable reefing standards.
My tanks are on aluminium, thanks for the advice !

[Peter]

But this is detail, I think everybody can manage with reasonable reefing standards.

Depends a lot on how fast your cat sails but ignore at your peril.

[Powhatan]

After more than 10,000 NM I finally followed the Nautitech sailplan, and I found them to be quite adapted to every wind conditions. Peter's explanations have convinced me. I would only add a comment on the third reef, which I used only a couple of times with winds higher than 30 knots : downwind is OK, but upwind works really bad (you can think : sailing upwind on a Nautitech with winds of 30 kt + is crazy, yes it is...!). The sail was so much reduced in surface and flattened in shape, that my speed dropped dramatically to hardly 3 knots. I felt it dangerous because, without a minimum speed in strong winds, the autopilot cannot work properly and anything can happen. Of course this can be related to my particular mainsail which is 7 years old and rather used, but on a new sail I think I would ask to a lower third reef.

[Powhatan]

Can you send a picture showind where you found the 12v wires for the head? I plan to upgrade one head to electric too.

The wires can be found behind the electric panel, with other unused wires wrapped in a black tape ; on enclosed picture the tape I put after taking the wire is grey (arrow) but it was originally black. On the other end, the wires are under the sink in the head (picture).
I had no free switch on the electric panel, so I connected them to the shower pumps on each side.

[BigCat]

Nothing obvious when looking at any of the boats other than the wear and tear you might expect on a used charter boat. Every boat I looked at had some water damage to interior wood. Most likely the ports were left open in the rain and nobody wiped up the water so the finish on the wood suffered. At least the maintenance people made an attempt to make some repairs.

I have only toured one catamaran factory and that was Catana. The workmanship and engineering that goes into the new 53 is quite impressive.
As far as Hull/Deck concerns I would choose PVC foam over balsa as a core material. End grain balsa probably has better sheer strength, but it will rot when wet

Almost every fiberglass boat in every yacht harbor has balsa core decks. I've never had any problems with balsa core decks, in 46 years of sailing.

[Peter]

Almost every fiberglass boat in every yacht harbor has balsa core decks. I've never had any problems with balsa core decks, in 46 years of sailing.

I disagree, I have come across many balsa cored decks, and hulls, that have become squidgy or even failed completely. It is probably less obvious in hotter climes where higher temperature helps to keep things dry (many Australian boats still use balsa). In damper colder climes it can be a very big problem.

Balsa construction is also much less forgiving with any imperfections, poor modifications or accidental damage allowing moisture ingress.

Polyester and balsa are a very poor combination, vinyl-ester and balsa slightly better and epoxy balsa better still.

It is also not just moisture ingress that causes problems the black markings you see on balsa is actually fungi, in anaerobic form this can grow without oxygen or moisture causing the fibres to expand and create capillaries even when apparently completely saturated with resin.

So yes the shear strength of balsa is slightly higher than PVC foam and it is cheaper but with proper engineering and selection of the correct type, foam would be my first choice every time.

Peter

[Powhatan]

The wires can be found behind the electric panel, with other unused wires wrapped in a black tape ; on enclosed picture the tape I put after taking the wire is grey (arrow) but it was originally black. On the other end, the wires are under the sink in the head (picture).
I had no free switch on the electric panel, so I connected them to the shower pumps on each side.

@Capt.Rehab : it doesn't seem you were interested in my response, but if so, my pictures have disappeared, and later have been replaced by pictures which are not mine. If you wish I upload them again, give a sign of life...