New SO 32

[braehouse]

Any advice on what too look out for during the commissioning process? This is our first boat so am totally new to this and slightly apprehensive.

Thanks

Chris

[MalcolmP]

Hi Chris

Firstly I would take a lot of time checking to ensure that no external cosmetic damage has occurred during delivery (eg from hedges or trees depending on how remote a location you boat is being delivered to) I think Jeanneau does not normally bubble warp for UK deliveries at least. Study the windows and hatches for any scratches as well as the topsides obviously.

The quality of the commissioning will of course depend both on the skill and experience of the guys who are doing the work, but also the level of complexity that is being added - especially with electronics. Things like after market radar cables can requires some major work. Arguably I would say that over the years most owner’s problems seem to have emerged from post-factory additions.

The standing rigging needs to be set up correctly and you can learn a lot by going over things that you will need to check yourself in the future, like all the split pins are in place etc

I would spend a lot of time getting to know the far recesses of the boat. When we commissioned our SO34.2 I fitted most of the electronics and also did things like remove the saloon backrests to varnish parts that are not normally seen. This helps you understand where everything goes and will help identify if there are problems, but now that over 400 SO 32's have been built there should not many surprises

I would advocate building up a friendly, but professional relationship with your dealer, be reasonable but be firm if you find something that requires attention, well worth putting it down in writing to ensure poor communication is not blamed for lack of action!

Ensure you first sea trial is thorough and that all the sails furl and reef correctly, it is frustrating but if things like reefing pennants have not been correctly rove it can take weeks for a new owner to work out the problem

Best though try to avoid getting too stressed and look forward to going sailing!

Fair winds

Malcolm

[braehouse]

Thanks alot. Very helpful. Know what you mean about the varnish, I noted a couple of edges that just need to be sealed!

Will let you know how it goes.

Regards

Chris

[Anwen (Deep Joy)]

Here are some of the problems we have had with our SO32, which was new last year. Everything was sorted by the dealer, so as Malcolm says, the key thing is to maintain a positive relationship with them.

The biggest problem in the first week was the battery charger not connected to the batteries. This meant that even lying on a marina berth with the shorepower connected, we flattened the house battery. It doesn't seem to have suffered permanent harm. The boat was correctly rigged, and all the mechanical and electrical systems were fine.

We went over the boat thoroughly looking for defects. There were a few niggly things such as the saloon table being slightly warped, the join between the stbd seat back and the nav station looked untidy, a small piece of veneer on the heads door came adrift etc. All of these were cosmetic and were sorted out by the dealer.

Closely inspect the portlights - the opening ones in the heads and galley. Ours suffered from cracking around the hinge screws and the closing dogs, where they had been over tightened. We also had a leak from the forward hatch around the handle - this was due to it being insufficently tightened, meaning the rubber seal wasn't effective.

The transom seat at the back of the boat is very fragile - the edges are very easy to chip when you are removing or replacing the seat. I smoothed mine off with some emery cloth to make it more resilient to knocks. We also had a void in the gelcoat with I found with my finger during this process. The dealer arranged for this to be filled and you can't see the repair.

The velcro pads which hold the saloon seat cushions in place had been fixed with screws too small for the holes drilled in the wooden bases. I replaced them all with the next size screw - number 6's instead of number 4s.

Check the keel fixing bolts - I was advised that some boats have had these overtightened, cracking the glassfibre beams that take the load to the hull. Mine were fine, but I took the opportunity to get the bilges really clean.

Also go round and check all the split pins on the standing rigging - I taped all mine up with PVC tape, and while you're at it, do the rings which secure the stanchion pins in place, and the pins which hold the lifelines to the pushpit/ pulpit. The tensioning shackles for the lifelines have locking nuts which tend to work loose - give them a good tighten up.

After a couple of months, we had the shackle pin come loose at the tack of the roller furling genoa. Fortunately, it was spotted in the marina, so we didn't lose the pin, and I used monel siezing wire to lock it back in place.

Thats all I can think of at the moment, but if you want to chat further, IM me.

[braehouse]

Thanks for that advice deepjoy.

Did you have any extras fitted and if so were they worthwile? We have gone for heating, holding tank etc and also an autohelm. As the boat is a Legende is comes with a fairly high spec anyway.

Do you consider the fuel and water tanks big enough for the sort of cruising that you do?

Thanks

c

[Anwen (Deep Joy)]

We ordered two extras - wheel steering and a holding tank. The way that Euro legislation is going, holding tanks will be pretty much essential, so we saw it as a way of future proofing the boat. It has already come in useful when spending the weekend at Newton Ferrars and Fowey when on a mooring, so overall, well worth the extra spons.

The wheel steering is less clear cut - the main reason we specified it was because everyone else seems to, but in practice we are not so sure that it was a good idea. It occupies permanent space in the cokpit, whereas a tiller would fold up out the way when in harbour, and the wheel is really too small to sit out on the coamings and steer by hand, whereas a tiller with an extension would make it easier and more comfortable. Lastly, a tiller autohelm is cheaper than a wheel pilot. On the plus side, the wheel is more straightforward than a tiller, and my other half who does most of the helming finds it easier. You pays your money and takes your choice.

I added the autohelm myself - it was relatively straightforward, and helped me to learn about the boat, particularly about the wiring and how it was run.

We also added Eberspacher heating last autumn - bought it at the Southampton Boat Show, and Espar in Plymouth fitted it. I had great ideas about how to fit it myself, but when you are faced with miles of ducting and boxes of bits, it all becomes a bit daunting. Espar did a really neat installation job, much better than I could have done. Make sure that the main heater is installed in the transom, and not in the cokpit locker. We had them install the controller in the aft cabin by the transom, so we can switch the heating on while lying in bed...

If the boat comes with the Raymarine 435 GPS plotter, I would see whether you can pay a bit more and have the C70 or C80 instead. The C series have higher resolution displays, and you can add a radar scanner to get a really nice system.

We bought our own radio and had it fitted as part of the commissioning process. The standard fit was a Simrad, but we went for the Icom 601, with a command mic in the cokpit. This is a really nice radio.

The fuel and water tanks are absolutely fine for the weekend cruising which we do, and we only refueled the boat once last season before filling up for the winter. Incidentally, the water needed flushing several times to get rid of the plastic taste, and even then it didn't go completely, so I fitted a filter/ purifier in the cold supply to the galley sink tap. This was well worth the £17 it cost, and was very easy to fit.

Here are some pictures of our boat. Exciting, isn't it?

[Anwen (Deep Joy)]

PS: Sorry about having to spell cokpit incorrectly, but the censor routine in the software replaces cok with asterisks if you spell it correctly!!!

[MalcolmP]

Boat looks fantastic

Regarding censorship, glad to see that it is working, I am very hopefully we can have a quality forum, but I have changed settings so hopefully "COCKPIT" now is accepted as a nautical expression an does not produce a row of asterisks! ;D

Can I use the images for the photo gallery which will give them a longer shelf-life?

The photo of the month for March is a possibility as I have few takers at the moment

Fair winds

Malcolm

[Anwen (Deep Joy)]

Malcolm, absolutely fine to post these photos on the photo gallery - we would view photo of the month as a great compliment!

They are hosted from my web server space, so you can just link to them if you want to save some of your disk allocation.

[MalcolmP]

Thanks Jon

They are now on site at:

goo.gl/photos/JSUo799Fnu8TLnSR9

DeepJoy said:

Malcolm, absolutely fine to post these photos on the photo gallery - we would view photo of the month as a great compliment!

They are hosted from my web server space, so you can just link to them if you want to save some of your disk allocation.

[braehouse]

Further to my recent posts on what to look for when taking delivery of our SO 32 we have now had the boat for just under a month and seem to be living for the weekends!

What fun, just wish I had done this sooner! Still get nervous about the lock and berthing though!

We have had a few problems but Clarke and Carter especially Ian Scott is on top of them and extremely helpful.

Problems we have had include:-

Reefing lines crossed at back of boom.
Grill flames out
Minor water leak from engine........sorted during commissioning!
The large fixed windows leak water in the rain as there was not enough mastic in the joins.

All in all am very pleased! Couple of questions though has anyone tried to add extra sound proofing to the engine bay as the Yanmar is very noisy? How much vibration do others get as well? Does the water level in the header tank change at all for engine cooling? I appreciate that th level will change between hot/cold due to expansion but is there a change in cold levels? Is it a lossy system?

Sorry for all the questions!

Thanks

Chris

[agrasso]

After having sailed during the winter, let me submit my comments. If someone is interested I would be happy to receive e-mails too at ([e-mail]). I own a SO 32. I'm very happy about the boat but I need your help in order to understand better the boat behavior in rough seas with 20+ knots winds.
Seems to me that the keel it's not enough deep and in addition it's light compared to the total weight of the boat. Sailing in Beaufort Force 5/6 conditions the boat, sailing up-wind, has a too high lee way. But the main problem is when I'm sailing down wind. Despite the shapes of the hull should help riding the waves, the lack of weight in the keel and the poor deepness of it produces a great instability, bringing the boat (with the jib only) to the wind and forcing the helmer to correct the course the whole time. This situation could easily creat dangerous behaviours.

Where Am I wrong? How could I solve the problem, if I can?

[danny]

Quick question:
What's the difference between a "normal" SO 32 and the SO 32 Legende version?

Thanks
Danny

[agrasso]

I have a Legend one. Mainly get more optional included. I haven't seen any other differences

[danny]

Strange that they re-use the Legende name. I figured that they'd be a link to the Sun Legende model, use of Kevlar maybe?

Danny

[Tim]

Hi Alfredo

We used to have an SO32 and had a particularly rough time in a Force 8 off Calais in a big following sea.

The secret to stability with an SO32 I've found off wind in a blow (applies to all wide flat transom boats) is to drive it hard to keep the speed high with respect to the waves.

As the boat speed increases you will find her much more stable.

So my recommendations would be:

If you are crewed up, get a small spinnaker up (lifts the bow and increases speed) and get the crew weight well aft.

If shorthanded don't sail jib only - get a main up (sail main only in necessary).

Tim

[agrasso]

Thank you Tim. I was shorthanded so i was forced to have the jib only. Seemed to me I was on a Laser with the centerboard up...But the problem I got riding the waves, when I had the main up too, was about the rudder. It stalled several times... Have you seen the keel and the rudder of the Sun Fast 32? Much deeper. I can may ask to Jeanneau if I can replace it...too crazy?

[Tim]

I know the feeling well! The balance is all shot when you run genoa only and the boat really wants to steer itself. I'm not convinced a deeper keel would have helped in this situation - the pivot is still in the same place and the only benefit would be extra stability. And of course, a deeper keel means you can have a deeper rudder blade.

I would be wary of trying to turn an SO32 into an SF32 though. We found ourselves doing that (replacing sails, adding deck equipment etc) before realising it would make a lot more sense to just change the boat and get an SF35.

It's a shame though that a lot of people see the Sun Fast as a "racing" option. Even though I race our Sun Fast a lot I would still have one if I only went cruising as it is a much better sailing boat.

Does you SO32 have a wheel? I really appreciated the switch from wheel to tiller when we moved SO32 to SF35 as the response is so much better when the sea builds up, especially if we are carrying a lot of cloth.

[agrasso]

Hi Tim, yes I have the wheel. I agree the tiller it's much better (in addition the wheel is too small). I have sailed during these holidays. I made the prow light, now water, anchor back below the table etc....and it's much, much better

[bryan Dublin]

Hi,
As a new (and first time ) owner of a 32i I am pretty much delighted with the boat. Two small niggles only
1) The size of the gas locker only permits use of the half size camping gaz bottle (the 904 I believe) which is a shame - last years model (which I based my decision on) seemed to have a full size locker accessible from the cockpit
2) Security of the hatch - is possible to lift up my hatch cover, even when fully locked and slide it free. Does anyone have a better solution? is it easy to drill into the glass
Regards
Bryan Dublin