This new Hanse model combines the naval architectural design work of Judel/Vrolijk with the interior design skills of Watervision & Schnasse Interior Design. It's a very interesting cruising boat with a very well-thought-out deck design.

The 505 is a high-freeboard, short-ended boat with a very broad transom, and I thought it would be fun to see what percentage of LOA the DWL is, and it is 91%. If I check the same number for the Moody I get 91%. Interesting. The D/L of the Hanse is 157 making it a bit lighter, relative to length, than the Moody.

The L/B is 3.13. It's a beamy boat, but I would expect that. I find it curious that they offer two keels: one draws 6 feet 9 inches and the other 6 feet 6 inches. That's only 3 inches difference. I wonder why you could live with 6 feet 6 inches but 6 feet 9 inches would be too much draft? The keel is a fin with a torpedo bulb. The drawings I have actually show three keels; two of them have L-shaped, "bulbish" tips and one has the torpedo bulb. The more shoal L-shaped keel is cast iron. The T-bulb deep keel is lead.

I can't imagine how a design company like Judel/Vrolijk could produce a bad sailing boat. They work on the edge of the high performance envelope all the time, and that experience has to carry over to cruising boat design. I'm certain this boat will sail very well.

Again, a variety of layouts are available for this model. It's become pretty common for production builders to try to cover every option when it comes to interiors these days. The layouts available range from two three-stateroom models to two four-stateroom models.

The three-stateroom layouts differ in the number of heads: three heads in one, or two heads in the other. The three-stateroom models becomes the four-stateroom models by dividing the forward stateroom into two small staterooms.

With the two double staterooms aft these four-stateroom layouts would be good for charter groups. The four-stateroom versions offer the choice of a large head to starboard aft or a "utility room." In all the layouts the main saloon and galley areas are identical.

The galley stretches along the port side of the saloon and there is an L-shaped dinette to starboard. This boat can sleep up to eight people, but I can't see eight sitting around the dinette. That's a common problem. There is a nice nav station aft of the dinette.

This deck is full of clever design features. All the deck hatches are flush with the teak deck. Winches that you would usually find flanking the companionway are moved aft to the cockpit coaming. Lines coming aft go under the deck and emerge at these winches making for a very clean deck. We did this on the Carter 39 back in 1973. There are large, opening skylights on each side of the companionway that provide light and air into the aft cabins. I'm assuming the broad transom opens up for boarding. Twin wheels give access to the boarding area.

The rig has no surprises except for the location of the mainsheet. I scaled it off, and the mainsheet location on the boom is exactly at 50% of E. It's a bridle type mainsheet and it leads forward so it can come aft under the deck. I know mid boom sheeting is convenient when you want to keep the cockpit clear of clutter but the old guy in me likes to see a traveler aft.

The SA/D is 19.93 and that is enough even with the minimal overlap of the working jib. The deck plan shows a track for self-tacking the jib and genoa tracks aft of the mast for a bigger headsail.

You either like this high-sided Euro style or you don't. It's advantages are a very aggressive approach to interior volume. It is functional.