Hanse 470e

Pittwater was picturesque with just six to nine knots of afternoon sea breeze caressing the waterway and propelling the motley mid-week fleet around the cans in a twilight race.

They were also light winds for a test sail, but just about any yacht can dip its skirt and come home with wet sails in a gale.

Not so the big old heavy cruising yachts and lesser boats that might call it quits in a slow race (or on an ocean passage) and motorsail to reach their mark before nightfall.

Hanse was once a builder of big heavy cruising yachts, but in recent years the highly progressive German yard has undergone a sea change.

This was underscored by the fact that, in its trendy new 470e which is turning plenty of heads, we were hitting 5.5 to 6.5kts and, on a beam reach, clocking a snappy seven kts. These are good figures for a comfortable and contemporary 47-foot production-built yacht that's designed for cruising in a set-and-forget manner with a self-tacking 95 per cent headsail, electric winches and more.

But while I was thrilled to see the bluff bow carve a path past so many other yachts on Pittwater, the evolution of Hanse yachts has been no less entertaining over the last few years. You could liken it to one of those change-of-life stories where the subject sheds half its weight, finds a new identity, new levels of agility and attracts widespread attention from the heavyset. Then there is the beauty within – a very different interior on this yacht, indeed.

A great example of where Hanse has headed in recent years, the 470e is the most modern European production yacht I have set foot aboard.

The 'e' stands for Elite Class but it could also be epoxy, as in SP Systems, previously a boatbuilding method confined to custom craft and cutting-edge race yachts but now available through this German yard. So that 'e' might also stand for egalitarian.

Epoxy is available as an upgrade on its 37, 40 and 43-footers, and adds just five per cent or so to the bottom line. But the Elite Series comprising this 47, 54 and 63-footers come no other way. And, while other yacht builders have moved into injection-moulded decks, it's surely only a matter of time, given the quest for more performance in light airs and strength in the rough stuff, before epoxy becomes more widespread.

Since the big leap forward, Hanse has set Europe and, now, Australia on fire with its epoxy yachts. Since the 461 was introduced here in 2005 every Hanse sold locally has been an epoxy number. In fact, there is something of a scramble to get aboard, and the yachts - which have been heavily awarded in Europe - are even being bought sight unseen.

Hanse's popularity is also being helped along through share syndications and yacht management, as was the case with the 470e tested here. But would you want to share it? Given the designer interior, it seems like a yacht for the boat-proud above all.

WIN-WIN WITH EPOXY
Why epoxy? Simple. The composite construction using Corecell closed-cell foam coring (balsa in the decks), quadaxial glass and vacuum bagging requires less resin for a stiffer and stronger end product than everyday polyester and, the next best, vinylester layup. Weight savings are generally 10 per cent (up to 20 per cent according to Hanse) compared to a GRP hull, which it must be said Hanse was over-building to the extreme with almost silly laminate thicknesses.

Now built to Germanisher-Lloyd Yacht Plus Certificate standards, with less weight but greater stiffness, there's more scope to add: (a) ballast where you need it as in down low in the keel; (b) greater sail area thanks to the extra ballasting; and (c) more mod cons which are increasingly being demanded by today's cruising folk. As an added bonus, the risk of osmosis is virtually zero.

The 430e is stiffened, somewhat ironically, by a heavy-duty one-piece galvanised sub and ring-frame, to which the keel bolts and chain plates are attached, and without tie-rods the interior volume is maximised. The epoxy hull is backed by a two-year warranty and every Hanse is water-tested for 48 hours prior to shipping. There are bronze skin fittings and double-hose clips on all the plumbing lines and neat electricals with smart monitoring systems.

But all this would count for nix if the boat wasn't designed to sail well. Though primarily cruising yachts, the Hanses have some performance pedigree via the Judel/Vrolijk & Co design house, with ties to all kinds of top-shelf yachts winning events from the Admiral's and America's Cup to the Sardinia Cup and more. Hanse says the main aim was to produce a yacht with plenty of volume, but which points well.

Having got the design and construction ironed out, the boatbuilder then set about, at least with this new Elite series, producing an "e" for exciting interior. It engaged young aspiring (primarily female) designers who, it appears, have borrowed a leaf out of the latest American super-yachts yards and created finishes that are at once different and daring, certainly refreshing in the otherwise staid production-yacht market.

The sharp angles and upright lines of the coachhouse and open cockpit (somewhat reminiscent of one of those designer Wally yachts), are very much a la mode but, thankfully, neither at the expense of practicality nor sailability. In fact, I can't remember a yacht quite so easy to sail short-handed as this 470e.

SHORT-HANDED SAILING
To begin with, there was a ($20,000) optional Maxpower retractable bow thruster to make decamping and berthing a breeze. The motor was an upgraded 75hp Yanmar, something all three 470e owners have done from the standard 55hp model, though the yacht doesn't need it. With a Saildrive and folding three-blade prop, it gets along doing 8 to 8.5 kts at 3000rpm or 9.2 kts flat out. The 400lt fuel supply should suffice at more sensible cruise speeds.

Mooring lines, fenders and an array of spiffing pop-up deck cleats with overboard drains, a la custom yachts, all come standard. The deck is easy to get around too, thanks to those outboard shrouds, but for safety and to avoid clashes during raft-ups and berthing, the designer stainless steel stanchions are angled inboard. Nice touch.

The yacht features a huge bow storage locker for the optional folding anchor system, again as per superyachts, plus storage for the supplied stainless steel gas bottles. There are Lewmar hatches, including a series of trendy flush mounted models aft of the stick for a skylight effect below decks.

On the local boat, teak sidedecks, an electric anchor winch or windlass and all the ground tackle were standard. You also get a decent spread of electronics from Simrad, including autopilot, chartplotter (7in below decks and 10in above on the solid stainless steel binnacle), dual wind and kombi instruments, twin VHF and stereo.

So one must conclude the 470e is bundled big time, with only a dodger - deck recess provided - and stainless steel barbie to come. The frosted Plexiglass cockpit table comes gratis, along with, you beauty, twin Lewmar 54ST electric halyard winches. With a wrap of the halyard around the barrel, the agent looked at me expectantly. I obliged, put the nose to the wind, pulled the throttle back and extended the middle finger, whereupon the battened mainsail went aloft.

With mid-boom sheeting courtesy of Harken and no traveller per se, but an oversized solid vang, there's nothing to clutter the cockpit, which is a vast outdoor living area by any measure. A tad more non-skid in some areas is my only complaint.

All lines and working strings are captive right back to the Spinlock jammers just before the twin wheels linked to Jefa steering. So, really, crew is optional, a fact made doubly certain of by a self-tacking furling headsail. A gennaker with cockpit-adjustable cars is optional, as is an asymmetrical kite or MPS, and a full race kit, even though that's not the intention of the 470e.

The sail wardrobe was upgraded on the test yacht to North's Norlam D series, a laminated Dacron panel sail with better shape. The high-aspect Sparcraft tapered alloy rig is a triple spreader number, with an adjustable worm-driven Bamar backstay. The boat had a true single-line reefing system and Lazy Jacks.

Back aft, is a huge lazarette for stowing a roll-up ducky and outboard on a bracket and more. The agents had rigged a 4:1 pulley on the otherwise flush fold-down swim platform so you could retrieve it single handed. Great to see a hot/cold shower and swim ladder.

DESIGNER INTERIOR
The Elite series interior elicits something of a love-hate reaction, but over the passage of time even the traditionalist is bound to come around. The timber paneling and quaint rattan-covers of the classic Hanse yachts have been replaced by low-slung lounges, armchairs with footrests, more open space, sharp lines and upmarket finishes like Corian counters and parquetry mock-wood flooring.

The yacht had a thoroughly modern mix of light satin-finished mahogany veneer joinery (cherrywood is an option), jaffa or gravlax-coloured leather or leatherlook upholstery, trendy lights, overhead lockers and lots of hatches and portlights. But for the lack of rails and a seat at the portside nav. station, it worked for me. Touches like Blanco kitchen and bathroom fittings lifted the boat some more.

The standard layout comprises three cabins and two heads, but there is an optional four-cabin boat, plus the choice of an offset double bed with credenza/office and en suite forward in the bow. Either way, the wide 4.46m beam makes for a spacious living area short on nothing, including headroom, and enhanced at night by mood and task lighting.

Each aft cabin has a double bed, trick brushed-alloy reading lights, hanging space and wardrobe, 240V outlet, plus headroom at their entrance. As with all good yachts, the fuel and water supplies are accessible. Underfloor are also the eight - upgraded from four - maintenance-free gel batteries and, get this, a remote high capacity commercial pump for sucking any ambient water out of the saloon, with a handy long hose of about five metres or more. My engine-check test showed access to all sides for servicing.

Massive and unbelievable were two words I jotted down for the stateroom to convey the surfeit of floor space around the island bed in the bow. There are storage lockers and hanging space, plus an en suite with Jabsco manual fresh/salt water loo, Blanco shower fittings and Corian sink. All very groovy but the communal head back aft goes one better with an optional luxury electric Techma head and second big hot shower in a separate stall. All tanks including the holding are stainless steel.

To starboard, the trendy L-shaped galley with charcoal Corian counters features a gimbaled two-burner gas stove linked to twin 4.5kg gas bottles, optional microwave oven (but no inverter, so you can't use it away from dock), and separate 130lt top and side loading fridge with freezer tray and additional 90lt stainless steel freezer or fridge. The boat's 400lt of water is modest for a cruising yacht, although I suppose this is more your weekender than long-range warrior.

Then there is the living area, a wide-bodied saloon with huge portside L-shaped lounge/sea berth with storage underneath and whose bases lift on gas struts, big enough for seating six around the dinette which includes grog locker. Opposite, the lounge chairs with foot rests face the flatscreen television. The navigation area was missing its seat, but the importers were working on a swing-away number. A thoroughly modern approach to yacht building inside and out.

AT THE HELM
Needless to say, in the light airs, nothing was pressed including time. In fact, the set-and-forget sailing plan means more time for entertaining or enjoying your own company. We did that, more or less sailing with abandon , which is not to say you can't sail it to its optimum. As touched on, 6.5 to 7kts in light airs isn't to be sneezed at.

The steering felt balanced and with 3550kg of ballast in the composite iron/lead keel, the 12,800kg yacht has a good ballast ratio. The weight is carried down low, thanks to a standard 2.60m deep draft keel, and the engine and batteries.

It was truly enjoyable sailing in the most simple of ways. Thus, that "e" in 470e could stand for elementary. With ease of handling, epoxy build and modern styling, Hanse is sailing into the future.

They aren't for everyone, but it seems the yachts are appealing to retirees, the young, the self-made, the boat-proud, and new markets like powerboat owners, exclusive charterers and, Hanse hopes, Americans. Which leaves just about no-one safe. Exciting new directions.


HIGHS