APRIL 19/20 2008
Michael Cook

I currently own a 20-year old Wanderer (Sail no. 814 “Skimmer”) and an RS200, which was designed by Phil Morrison who has recently redesigned the interior moulding of the new Hartley Laminates’ Wanderer.

I sailed the new Wanderer over an April weekend at Bosham [WCOA Training Event - Website Editior], with several crews who were either trying out the Wanderer or who were joining the Wanderer cruise to Dell Quay. The weather was reasonable, with wind speeds in the range F3 – 4 and as I was sailing with various novice crews I used the cruising jib which was provided with the new boat, rather than the genoa. With the cruising jib and full mainsail the boat was well balanced and made good speed up-wind, although some speed was lost off the wind. The Hartley dinghy has been modernised and the layout is extremely comfortable to sit in. All the controls come easily to hand. The hull shape for this boat and the earlier model is exactly the same, with good sea-keeping qualities. I noted the following differences.

(1) The original boat has a rubbing strip which absorbs knocks from passing buoys, whereas the new boat has a rolled edge which may be liable to chipping. This lip, however, seemed to keep out spray more effectively.

(2) The foils are made of plastic, which saves maintenance.

(3) The new transom profile made the whole boat seem more modern. The model I sailed did not have the aft locker and made the rear of the boat extremely spacious with plenty of room for the helm to move about. I would be interested to know whether the class weight for the boat is correct without the locker installed. Presumably the locker is an additional weight.

(4) The self-draining floor looks smart and has a non-slip surface on it. There are therefore no wooden floorboards to maintain. The self-bailers, when open, made quite a persistent gurgling noise, which caused some irritation to one of the crew.

(5) The boat has not been inverted by the WCOA and it remains to be seen how high it will float in the water and how easy it is to right from a total immersion.

(6) The tabernacle area is much neater but there is no provision for halyard tails: some sort of bag would be helpful. The spinnaker rested in the front of the boat in an untidy way. There was no storage capacity in the front of the boat and there was a risk of the spinnaker becoming entangled with the halyard tails and with the jib furling drum line. I am not clear how to remedy the storage of the spinnaker when it is not in use, but maybe some form of sock or chute could be added under the deck to keep it out of harm’s way.

(7) The foredeck design has changed: it is now flat with no non-slip moulding on it. This might be a problem on the few occasions when it is necessary to go on the foredeck, as the surface is very slippery. The washboard on the front deck has been removed, which makes the deck seem sleeker, but there have been occasions when we have sailed our old-design Wanderer in the Solent and waves have come over the front deck and been pushed aside by the washboard. This would not be a problem in inland water sailing, but might be in the open sea.


(8) The mainsheet arrangement has changed and the Hartley boat has a bridle with centre mainsheeting. I am used to sailing an RS200 which has a similar layout and found that tacking and gybing the new Wanderer were easily achieved when facing forwards. The position of the block and jammer for the centre mainsheet was excellent. However inexperienced helms who took the tiller and tried to tack with this arrangement found it quite tricky as they were used to the stern traveller arrangement. This technique is obviously something which will have to be learnt. I suggest that inexperienced helms practise steering the boat standing up, with the tiller behind their back, to learn the technique.

(9) The new boat is fitted with a spinnaker, which came out of its chute easily. A metal roll-bar has been fitted on the edge of the chute to prevent snagging. It was easy to lower the spinnaker and provided that control is kept of the spinnaker sheets there should be no likelihood that these will go in the water.

(10) I did not like the spinnaker reaching hook on the boat and prefer twinning lines. The reaching hook can only be reached by the crew and requires him to move to the side of the boat to release it, which in certain circumstances might unbalance the boat, whereas twinning lines can be released from either side of the boat by either helm or crew. I was sailing with a novice crew and I could not release the reaching hook while I was handling the spinnaker sheets from the helm position.

(11) The spinnaker pole has a line running through its length which passes through the loop in the uphaul. This prevents its loss overboard and was well thought out.

(12) I spent a little time crewing the boat and found the layout to be excellent and more comfortable when sitting out than in the previous model. However there is no non-slip moulding on the side-deck or seats and inexperienced crews seemed to slide about the boat. The centreboard casing has been lowered, which makes crossing the boat easier.

(13) The new kicking strap arrangement has a hook for fixing it to the mast and is a good arrangement. However the tail provided is not long enough to enable it to be fitted easily. More rope please. The dual lines from the kicker and the cunningham are both led back to the helm’s position.

I was most impressed by the new design and found the layout of the controls easy to manage. The boat is a pleasure to sail.

I am sure the boat will be a great success.


Michael

May 17th 2008