Ohh Is it wrong to lust after this?

[Joe ( Cold Spring on Hudson )]

I got the latest issue of "Soundings" and there is a stunning photo of Ted Fontaine’s new Friendship 40. OH MAN is this a sweet boat or what. I know it is the wrong publication and the wrong hull material but WOW there is a LOT of wood in her.

http://www.australyachts.co.nz/Friendship40.htm

http://www.australyachts.co.nz/images/Friendship/large4.jpg

PURE BOAT LUST

http://www.australyachts.co.nz/images/Friendship/large1.jpg

http://www.australyachts.co.nz/images/Friendship/large2.jpg

[ 12-06-2004, 11:49 PM: Message edited by: Joe ( Cold Spring on Hudson ) ]

[AngWood]

Steady, Joe, steady. Stay focused. Wood is good. Repeat after me: I love the look and feel of wood.

[imported_Steven Bauer]

Sorry: ugly!

[Venchka]

Repeat the mantra slowly:

single mast
single sail

Wayne
In the Swamp. :D

[Jay Greer]

Sorry Guys,
Not my cup of tea!
I would rather go sailing on a small wooden work of art than in a large plastic bathroom fixture!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Jay Greer

[Joe ( Cold Spring on Hudson )]

Hey I guess it just caught me. I love the sheer and the beam the sprung deck and the big cockpit. Hell I Just have to say I love the lines. If it were a wooden hull would you all feel the same ???

[yorgie]

She's out of your league Joe,but if you hang around her long enough she might introduce you to one of her catboat friends.I've heard that the have great "personality".

[Joe ( Cold Spring on Hudson )]

Just look at the slide show
http://www.fontainedesigngroup.com/F40_slideshow/B.html

[Stiletto]

I'm with you Joe, sweet lines. No lifelines to clutter her up.

[John B]

Built here in Enzed IIRC.

[Victor]

Pretty.

[Doug Canada]

Eye candy.
But a little out of my league $$$.

Doug

[Joe ( Cold Spring on Hudson )]

Oh WAY out of my league. I just thought that the design was stunning.

[mmd]

"Ohh Is it wrong to lust after this? " No.

Classic styling should not be limited by material. Aesthetics is not constrained by the medium.

But given your previous profession, you already know this, don't you. ;)

[bamamick]

She is a pretty boat, but I am wondering one thing: what's it for? Boats like that one, the new Morris 36, the smaller W boats, all take their lines or inspiration, at least in part, from the meter classes. Why not just build a meter boat? Too 'single purpose' you might say. But exactly what will the owners of the boats I mentioned above do with them? Day race and day sail. No body is going to distance race or cruise those boats.

To each his own, but furniture on a boat serves no purpose unless you plan on cruising or living on it.

How's that for a spoil-sport post?

Mickey Lake

[David Thompson]

What a beauty! She's the best looking "bathtub fixture" I've ever seen...
Dave Thompson

[mmd]

Oh, I don't know about that, Mickey. Here's a boat that can berth four in what looks like relative comfort, has a workable galley and enclosed head, and looks pretty nice. She'll probably sail well and worse boats have sailed from Boston to the Azores. I'me sure she is a fine coastal cruiser, albeit a bit pricey. But who are we to set limits on the price of a recreational toy?

Not all vehicles should be stripped of all style in favour of function. If that were so, we'd all be driving either mini-vans or pickup trucks, and Corvettes and Cadillacs would never have existed.

[bamamick]

You're right, you're right, mmd. This whole sailing thing is a little quirky anyway. Never could I justify any of it if I just had to. If you've got it and you want to spend it it's your right to do so.

Sure would like to see more meter boats built, though.

Mickey Lake

[ 12-07-2004, 09:40 AM: Message edited by: bamamick ]

[TomF]

Lovely lines. I also like the cockpit, and the big sweep of uncluttered deck.

Still, my taste would run more to a Pinky schooner ... more workhorse than thoroughbred.

T.

[mmd]

Yes, the meter rule produced some very fine looking boats, but, competition being what it is, the desire to stretch the rules to breaking point has brought some pretty ugly boats towards the end of the common useage of the rule (the last of the America's Cup 12-Meter boats are many wonderful things, but not pretty to my sensibilities). The Seawanhaka Rule brought about some pretty boats as well, such as Fife's 'Minerva', before they became extreme overhang beasts.

[Joe ( Cold Spring on Hudson )]

By the way I can not even find the price on this boat. I guess it is one of those if you have to ask you cant afford it ;)

I just have to get a drool bucket every-time i look at the slide show :eek:

[Garrett Lowell]

I like it, too. Can somebody explain to me why the wheel is so large? It's the one thing I don't like about the helm.

[Meerkat]

A big wheel like that is for leverage. On the other hand, if she's got hydraulic steering, it's an affectation. ;)

[Concordia..41]

My cross-over tastes are already on record, but cast my vote in the cool category!

The photography is really good too :cool:

- M

[dan-marques]

Originally posted by Joe ( Cold Spring on Hudson ):
By the way I can not even find the price on this boat. I guess it is one of those if you have to ask you cant afford it ;)
Sail Magazine did a piece on this one, the Morris 36, and the new Hinckley DaySailor. Don't have it in front of me, but I believe this one starts at about $800,000.

That's the kind of money you can only get from inheriting, marrying, or stealing a fortune.

[John B]

big wheel? so you can sit out at the edge of the coaming and see where you're going.

[mmd]

...as opposed to two little wheels side-by-each, and a complex steering system.

[Keith Wilson]

Ohh, Is it wrong to lust after this? No.

:D

Personally, I like the Hinckley better.

http://www.solomontechnologies.com/images/Hinckley/profile_underway400.jpg

[ 12-07-2004, 06:24 PM: Message edited by: Keith Wilson ]

[rbgarr]

That big wheel makes it so you can trip over it as you try to go forward in the cockpit to refresh your drinky-poo, thus falling overboard in your Bermuda shorts and yachting cap. ;) :D tongue.gif

[Joe ( Cold Spring on Hudson )]

Keith , the Hinckley made the cover ;) This Friendship was more of a suprise inside.

[ 12-07-2004, 06:29 PM: Message edited by: Joe ( Cold Spring on Hudson ) ]

[Hwyl]

Does the jib look wrong to anyone? That huge roller furler drum is not aesthetically pleasing. And the foot is way off the deck. I know there practical advantages to having the jib off the deck (like visibility) but this one does not seem to work? The lead looks wrong to, but that's difficult to tell in photographs. I'd have lowered the drum and possibly hidden it behind some false shear. I wonder when the "Fracnor" type drums will be used on cruising boats? As to the foot, I prefer "Yankee" jibs where the tack is on deck and the the clew is high (for cruising that is)

[cbob]

Joe, Reminds me of the Japanese expression, "But for what purpose?". Out here we calls them round tillers pimpsticks. Are the grapes and the flowers and the blond plastic too? One word, SICK. You asked, cbob

[Noah]

Sheesh, what a bunch of grumpykins...

I think that all of you are missing the point on this boat.

First, price: Yeah it's expensive, but so are nice wooden boats. If all those nice rich folks in the last century hadn't blown lots of cash on pretty boats from fancy designers we wouldn't have anything to sweat over, rebuild and lust after. If this boat is built right in 20 or 30 years someone lower down on the financial scale might just be able to rebuild it and have a nice boat for the money.

Second, what it is used for: I don't know about you guys, but I don't have enough time or money to go cruising for weeks at a time. Most of my sailing is day sails with lots of friends. Otherwise I take the quick overnight or 2-3 day cruises by myself, or with 1 other person. People are busy these days, and they don't have time to go off sailing...

So what you have here is a boat that is really comfortable for day sails. It has a huge cockpit. That is good. It means you can take out lots of pretty girls (or boys) who don't know how to sail and let them sit and have a good time (and maybe even get into sailing). There is a nice head and a good galley for making sandwiches, plus a couple of comfortable berths for taking a nap. When I take a bunch of people out sailing someone always gets tired from either the sun or beer or both and takes a nap. Sleeping on a gently moving sailboat can be a very nice thing...

And that wheel...well there are pro's and con's to a wheel verse a tiller, but when it's all said and done, wheels take up beam, and tillers take up length. I have a tiller in my cockpit, and it's always frustrating to bump it into guests as I tack the boat. Yes, it is still true that there are lots of fools who like a big wheel because they feel important, but they aren't bad to drive. Anyone racing a boat would want a tiller, but wheels do have their place.

Personally I would love this boat. It's perfect for me. I can go out and sail by myself quickly and well in any wind condition. I can bring lots of friends on-board to party with and if they don't know how to sail will be out of the way, and it doesn't look terrible on the mooring when you row home for the night.

The fact is most cabins don't get used, and boats don't get used because they are too hard to single hand. I think this boat almost nails these two problems.

I do wish that the designers took a few more hints from pretty wooden boats that have been built before. They are trying to re-invent the details and aren't doing a good job at it. On the upside there are going to be more pretty looking fiberglass boats so we don't have to look at all the ugly ones!

Noah

[Figment]

The thing that rubbed me the wrong way about the Friendship 40 is that it's a sailboat that goes to great lengths to disconnect the sailor from the sailing.

Hydraulic steering. With a wheel that size, why do you need hydraulics? Can you feel ANYTHING with that wheel?
All sail controls via electric winches.
Note the single-purchase mainsheet... straight to a drum winch under deck. Nightmare waiting to happen, if you ask me.
The boom is a good 9' over the cockpit sole. What happens when something fouls while reefing the main in a blow?

As a buddy of mine once described a girl back in highschool: She's good from far, but far from good.

But then, clearly I'm not a member of their target demographic. :rolleyes:

[Larry P.]

stop with the pics already, I'm 40 years old I can't handle that many orgasims in one thread. ;)