Hanse 630e
2006 December 7
December 2006
The first thing that struck me when I saw the drawings for the new Hanse is that in profile the hull has some of the same design features as Mills' 39-footer. The freeboard is high, and almost straight, the stern overhang is pronounced and even the rig proportions appear very similar to those of the Mills design. Looking at the general appearance of the boat and the attention to deck detailing and hiding sail handling gear, the Hanse reminds me of the Italian Wally boats. The focus of the overall look is keeping the decks clean and simple. Sheets and halyards are led under the deck to electric winches. Hatches are set flush into the cabintop and deck. The self-tacking track for the jib is recessed into the deck. Chainplates have moved out to the edge of the deck. Stanchions are sunk into the top of the low bulwark. In short, pretty much all the toe stubbing lumps and bumps have been smoothed out while their functions have been preserved.
The cockpit is laid out for comfortable daysailing with sail trim functions collected aft of a large seating area. This is a symmetrical layout with U-shaped settees and tables. There is plenty of room to walk between the tables and the twin wheels to get to the open transom. There is no swim step per se but with the transom open like this it's not necessary. Clearly you could do all the sail trimming from either of the wheels by yourself if your guests chose not to be involved with making the boat go. I kind of like that idea myself. It's a great way to avoid "who brought the main in?" conflicts. There is a large foredeck well for the ground tackle. It looks like a foldout anchor roller is planned that will live hidden in the well most of the time, giving the bow a very clean look. A large inflatable dinghy stows in a "garage" accessed from the transom.
The interior is available with a series of four major options. You can mix and match these four areas to suit your needs. I'll confine my review to the layout with options A1, B1, C1 and D1. What's not to like? It's a spacious interior with three staterooms each with its own head and shower stall. There are lots of lockers and plenty of elbowroom in all areas. OK, I'm not wild about the galley but given the aft stateroom layouts I do understand why it is like it is. The island with the sink on it means that you will be dripping your washed veggies from the sinks to the range. And there is very little prep area next to the sink. The way I cook, I wash, then prep, then onto the range the food goes. I work left to right and I like to see the counter unbroken in that sequence. But that's just me. If you go with a layout using the C2 option your galley has more counter space but the sinks remain on the island. Somehow I think I could make do just fine with either of these galley layouts.
The hull has a D/L of 132.47 and an L/B of 3.64, making this a relatively narrow boat. You can choose from three draft options with a lifting keel giving a keel up draft of 7 feet, 2 inches and a keel down draft of 11 feet, 7 inches. There is a fixed shoal keel with 8 feet, 2 inches of draft and another fixed keel, the standard, giving 9 feet, 3 inches of draft. If shoal draft were an issue for you the lifting keel is the best option and ironically if you were after the best performance its keel down draft would also make it the best option. The price you would pay for this advantage is a large keel trunk taking up the very middle of the saloon space.
The rig has an SA/D of 24, and that's more than enough for exciting cruising speeds. Keep in mind that with a self-tacking jib the LP will be restricted to about 95 percent, so you need that basic big rig for good light air performance if you are going to avoid having a genoa. The chainplates are integral carbon type on the deck edge so sheeting a genoa closely is out of the question. I can't tell from the drawings what happens to the mainsheet. One drawing shows the mainsheet on top of the house but the underway sailing photos do not show it there. There is no traveler shown on the drawings and the mainsheet seems to just disappear in the cockpit sole ahead of the wheels. Mainsheets can be a problem for the designer.
The Hanse 630e is a spectacularly handsome looking boat under sail and should be a joy to cruise anytime, anywhere.
Performance cruiser
The first thing that struck me when I saw the drawings for the new Hanse is that in profile the hull has some of the same design features as Mills' 39-footer. The freeboard is high, and almost straight, the stern overhang is pronounced and even the rig proportions appear very similar to those of the Mills design. Looking at the general appearance of the boat and the attention to deck detailing and hiding sail handling gear, the Hanse reminds me of the Italian Wally boats. The focus of the overall look is keeping the decks clean and simple. Sheets and halyards are led under the deck to electric winches. Hatches are set flush into the cabintop and deck. The self-tacking track for the jib is recessed into the deck. Chainplates have moved out to the edge of the deck. Stanchions are sunk into the top of the low bulwark. In short, pretty much all the toe stubbing lumps and bumps have been smoothed out while their functions have been preserved.
The cockpit is laid out for comfortable daysailing with sail trim functions collected aft of a large seating area. This is a symmetrical layout with U-shaped settees and tables. There is plenty of room to walk between the tables and the twin wheels to get to the open transom. There is no swim step per se but with the transom open like this it's not necessary. Clearly you could do all the sail trimming from either of the wheels by yourself if your guests chose not to be involved with making the boat go. I kind of like that idea myself. It's a great way to avoid "who brought the main in?" conflicts. There is a large foredeck well for the ground tackle. It looks like a foldout anchor roller is planned that will live hidden in the well most of the time, giving the bow a very clean look. A large inflatable dinghy stows in a "garage" accessed from the transom.
The interior is available with a series of four major options. You can mix and match these four areas to suit your needs. I'll confine my review to the layout with options A1, B1, C1 and D1. What's not to like? It's a spacious interior with three staterooms each with its own head and shower stall. There are lots of lockers and plenty of elbowroom in all areas. OK, I'm not wild about the galley but given the aft stateroom layouts I do understand why it is like it is. The island with the sink on it means that you will be dripping your washed veggies from the sinks to the range. And there is very little prep area next to the sink. The way I cook, I wash, then prep, then onto the range the food goes. I work left to right and I like to see the counter unbroken in that sequence. But that's just me. If you go with a layout using the C2 option your galley has more counter space but the sinks remain on the island. Somehow I think I could make do just fine with either of these galley layouts.
The hull has a D/L of 132.47 and an L/B of 3.64, making this a relatively narrow boat. You can choose from three draft options with a lifting keel giving a keel up draft of 7 feet, 2 inches and a keel down draft of 11 feet, 7 inches. There is a fixed shoal keel with 8 feet, 2 inches of draft and another fixed keel, the standard, giving 9 feet, 3 inches of draft. If shoal draft were an issue for you the lifting keel is the best option and ironically if you were after the best performance its keel down draft would also make it the best option. The price you would pay for this advantage is a large keel trunk taking up the very middle of the saloon space.
The rig has an SA/D of 24, and that's more than enough for exciting cruising speeds. Keep in mind that with a self-tacking jib the LP will be restricted to about 95 percent, so you need that basic big rig for good light air performance if you are going to avoid having a genoa. The chainplates are integral carbon type on the deck edge so sheeting a genoa closely is out of the question. I can't tell from the drawings what happens to the mainsheet. One drawing shows the mainsheet on top of the house but the underway sailing photos do not show it there. There is no traveler shown on the drawings and the mainsheet seems to just disappear in the cockpit sole ahead of the wheels. Mainsheets can be a problem for the designer.
The Hanse 630e is a spectacularly handsome looking boat under sail and should be a joy to cruise anytime, anywhere.
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