Boat

OVNI 385: 

When we were planning only to comfortably sail in the Mediterranean for some months every year, we were thinking in terms of a production boat of about 37'.

The decision to try something more challenging has led to looking for a boat with the following characteristics:
- safe under heavy weather, but at the same time capable of good performances, both under sail and motor.
- very solid, capable to withstand those little - and maybe not so little - accidents that will almost certainly happen during a long voyage in unfamiliar waters.
- spacious and comfortable for a crew of 2 people + the occasional hosts, while at the same time small enough to be handled by two - not very young - people.
- new or well refurbished, in order to limit the need for expensive - and time consuming - maintenance at least in the first years.
- well equipped for long voyages, without overdoing it but ensuring all the things which we felt inportant for our well-being and security.

The OVNI range of no-nonsense, medium-priced boats, soon appeared to be an interesting candidate.
The aluminum-built hull is a promise of great strength and the lifting-keel (with some doubts concerning self-righting under extreme conditions) should grant access to shallow harbours as well as reducing the risk of damage in case of accidental groundings!

The purchase of an "almost-new used-boat" was almost an accidental event: we did not spare a lot on the purchasing price, mainly we jumped ahead of the 1-year waiting list which would have made it impossible to get a new boat delivered in time for the 2005 season.

After two sailing seasons, over 4 months and 4000 miles at sea, can we say that our OVNI 385 did fulfill our expectations?

- safety with heavy weather: so far, we did not meet very hard conditions, so all we can say is that up to F7-F8 we can sail in total confidence.

- strength: the boat oozes solidity everywhere, although the aluminum build has some drawbacks, such as:

- need to care about electrolytic corrosion: our hull is still perfect after 6 years, but certainly all must be done by-the-book (aluminum-specific antifouling, lots of anodes, electrical wiring with absolutely no connection to the hull, etc.); we did have some serious corrosion to the propeller blades, possibly due to stray electrical currents in some marina.

- looks and finish of the boat are quite "professional": business-like, not glamorous (although it must be said that the 385 is probably more old-fashioned than the current OVNI's).

- painted areas are constantly subject to "bursting", requiring frequent, laborious touch-up jobs (8 layers of 4 different products!!).

- it's almost impossible to repair small bumps and scratches to the hull.

- performances: good, when the wind is above 10 knots, and excellent above 20, but definitely mediocre with light winds, especially upwind.   After the first season, we bought a gennaker which proved to be excellent above 6 knots of wind, but unusable for running dead-downwind or close-hauled.   Performance when sailing close-hauled is hampered by leeway, as it is to be expected from a lifting-keeler, expecially in light winds with a swell.

- space and comfort: the interior layout is very classically rational and comfortable, despite the obvious bulk of the keelbox.   While the newer 395 is practically the same, the larger OVNI 435 can afford a markedly more comfortable layout and is arguably the most suitable for long voyages.
Initially we complained about the lack of stowage spaces, except for the huge cockpit locker.   This is partially an unavoidable consequence of the internal tanks and of the in-hull ballast.
The tank capacity, both water and fuel, is not entirely satisfactory: 350 liters of water and 200 of fuel are definitely on the low end for long passages, and require carrying additional canisters, always difficult to stow properly.

- (short-crewed) maneuverability: after a much smaller boat (10 m), we were astonished to discover that all maneuvres are heavy and require mechanical assistance, therefore becoming slow!
Furthermore, the choice of a cutter rig is an additional complication when tacking: the genoa snags everywhere, and we keep forgetting about the running backstays!
Thanks to a powerful engine, handling in port is good, although with side winds you regret not having a bow thruster and you risk to be the show of the day....    We are very keen to discover the performance impacts - if any, that is - due to the newly installed MaxProp feathering propeller.

SECOND-HAND OR NEW?  In view of our programs, we wanted to ensure to set sail on a proven but "as new" boat, likely to spare us from heavy maintenance jobs along the way.  After having studied the market over some months, we acknowledged that the option of an "oldish" second-hand boat was not very attractive, due to the fact that the cost and time required by extensive refurbishment work would largely offset the initial saving.
This turned out to be true even in our case of a "seldom sailed, almost new" second-hand boat: adding up travelling costs between Italy and Brittany, jobs that we did not have the time to do ourselves, and a few failures that happened anyway (mainly to the engine, despite the few hours run), at the end the saving was minimal!
Should we do it again, we would buy a new boat, even if this would imply one more year before being ready to set sail.

CONCLUSIONS?  So far, we believe that our OVNI fully confirms its suitability for the design objective, that is, as a blue-water cruiser, strong and safe, purpose-built at a reasonable price.
On the contrary, the limited maneuverability and the mediocre light-wind and close-hauled performance make it a less-than-ideal - and too expensive - choice for coastal cruising, expecially for the Mediterranean, where the lifting keel is almost of no use. 

RIGGING AND OPTIONAL EQUIPMENT:

Some yard-supplied optional arrangements confirmed themselves as highly desirable, in particular:
- hull thermal insulation
- forward sail locker
- second cockpit locker
- granny-bars at the mast

We are very happy with the fully-battened mainsail, and the stack-pack reefing is very handy, also thanks to the granny-bars which allow to hold on while maneuvering.
It would have been nice to lead all reefing lines to the cockpit, but there are already quite too many!

We haven't yet met weather conditions requiring to furl the genoa and sail under staysail alone; at least up to F8 close-hauled, this is not needed and we start wondering whether the inconvenience when tacking created by the cutter rig is really justified; time will tell!

So far, we never used the Walder boom brake: it's too cumbersome to keep it permanently rigged, although we still plan to use it while on passage.
Anyway, it's already clear that it does not entirely replace the use of a preventer line.

For the time being we had a limited experience with the WindPilot wind-vane, also because it severely interferes with any other use of the stern-platform and consequently we dismantle it during coastal cruising!
We have the suspicion, still to be confirmed, that it lacks a bit of power in light-wind conditions.  

Webmaster: Gianfranco Balducci - email: gfbalduc@tin.it

Last Update: 11/11/2014

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