Until now, the Hungarians have mainly built steel motorboats under the management of Dutchman Jan van der Weide. However, after Pedro, the company's largest customer, had to file for bankruptcy, it helped that the shipyard boss, himself a sailor, had already built a prototype of a 38-foot Dick Koopmanns design. "I took my time and tested it for four years. I noticed many points that needed to be improved in detail. The result is now the Centreboard 40." The word centreboard is somewhat misleading: the first customer order for the centre cockpit yacht is being built with a deep keel with a lead bomb instead of the eponymous centreboard with internal ballast. One advantage of steel is that you are not slavishly bound to the specifications of a laminate mould and can follow the owner's wishes.
Solid steel ship
They appreciate the safety reserves of a base that is not made of plastic. Eight millimetre thick frames every 40 centimetres, a 12 millimetre thick floor plate and 4 to 5 millimetre thick outer walls ensure exactly that. Collisions with floating debris or ground contact, for example on a reef, are thus significantly less frightening. This is also due to the full-skeg rudder attached to the transom. The disadvantage of solidity is the weight: the Centreboard 40 weighs around 15.5 tonnes fully equipped and fuelled. With a main, jib and 40-square-metre jib, the Hungarian with Dutch genes therefore has a sail load factor (STF - ratio of weight to sail area) of less than 4. A Hallberg-Rassy 40 weighs around 10 tonnes and with the larger genoa still achieves an STF of 4.48. While this makes the Swede a good sailor, the rather low sail horsepower in relation to the Centreboard's weight indicates moderate low-wind performance. However, many long-distance sailors will find this worth the extra safety, especially as additional performance can be teased out of the rig on rougher courses by using larger headsails.
Rust was yesterday
According to the shipyard, rust is no longer an issue thanks to modern paint systems. And indeed, once the welding work has been completed, the ship is first blasted with glass beads and then primed and finished with a system of 2-component PU paints from Hempel and AWL-Grip. Particularly vulnerable areas, such as the centreboard, are also hot-dip galvanised.
Fully equipped
The boat is ready to go. In addition to the complete cutter rig with all sails and carbon fibre spinnaker pole, a dinghy is included along with an outboard motor. A life raft is on board, complete electronics with radar, AIS and plotter. Heating and hot water boiler go without saying, as does the VW Marine (now Cummins) diesel with thrust bearing in the shaft and diesel day tank. Also included is a complete photo documentation of the construction as well as a database with all suppliers and the article numbers of the installed parts. Unquestionably practical for repairs anywhere in the world. A long-distance yacht fully equipped in this way, on which even the bracket for a windvane control system is already installed, costs 380,000 euros and is therefore significantly less than comparable GRP or aluminium boats. Individualism included.
More information can be found on the Website of the shipyard.
