| Holland Jachtbouw 141 |  |
"In the Mediterranean, where you mostly moor stern to, an aft
cabin isn’t practical, as everyone has to walk over your head to get on and off
the boat. Besides, in the Med or the Caribbean, you spend very little time in
your cabin," continued the owner. "As long as it’s cozy, tidy and bright, I’m
happy." The result is that the owner’s stateroom, VIP suite and two
guest cabins are all of a similar size and located forward of the engine room.
To accommodate such a layout and counteract the weight in the engine room, Hoek
designed a T-shaped keel with a torpedo bulb extending beyond the front edge of
the fin. This shifts the center of gravity farther forward compared to a
conventional keel. The main drawback of a lifting keel, however, is that it
impinges on the interior volume. On Skylge this has been cleverly disguised by
placing the corridor to the lower-deck accommodations just off of center. Hoek
then borrowed three square meters (a little more than 32 square feet) of space
from the two portside cabins.
 More than 9,000 square feet of sail let
Skylge fly. (Click image to enlarge)
Skylge’s hull was not tank tested—Hoek
Design had plenty of VPP data from previous classic projects—but she was put
through the wind tunnel at the Wolfson Unit in Southampton to test the sail plan
and calculate the helm balance. "Clearly the position of the lifting keel and
the weight of the bulb is critical if the boat is to sail well, especially on a
schooner where the sails are far forward and aft of the fin," explained Hoek.
"We have very sophisticated software to calculate rudder angles in the design
stage, but it was a combined effort with the yard to get the center of gravity
just right, and this meant repeated weighing during construction." In the end, both designer and builder were happy when the
vessel turned out to be a couple of tons lighter than predicted. The result
is a yacht that is fast on all points of sail and able to get into shallow
anchorages, too. The mechanical steering is light and responsive enough to be
managed with one hand when the sails are well trimmed, thanks to the narrow fin
and high-aspect-ratio rudder. Hoek describes Skylge as "one of the
best-performing schooners on the water today." Holland Jachtbouw is renowned for its engineering, and Skylge is no exception.
The two generators, for instance, operate on a synchro system developed by the
yard. "Connecting hydraulics to generators has always caused power dips in the
past," explained Paul Dielemans, managing director at Holland Jachtbouw. "But
our engineers came up with a new system that automatically switches on the
second generator when demand is high to maintain a power reserve for
electricity." Other thoughtful details include the six-millimeter recess
above the countersunk and gold-leaf gulf stripe—a traditional feature on the old
schooners. (The gold leaf alone added an additional €6,000—about $7,640—to the
owner’s bill). The stanchions also have user-friendly rounded tops and are
mounted into the deck rather than the cap rail for easier maintenance.
|
; function voidFunc() { } voidFunc();)
Email This
Printer Friendly Version
Reprints & Permissions
Most Popular Searches