01 Mar
It’s been a busy month for Windcraft’s commissioning teams in Australia and New Zealand.
With the first Hanse 510 being commissioned as well two Hanse 460s, yacht spotters, (and let’s face it we all love to check-out a new design), have had a number of new boats to pique their interest at Windcraft’s Sydney headquarters on Pittwater.
Hanse 510
Hanse 460
The first Hanse 510 delivered to Australia/NZ has been undergoing commissioning and you can’t miss her distinctive grey hull and powerful lines from French naval architects Berrett-Racoupeau.
The Hanse 510, which had its world premiere at the Barcelona Boat Show last year has just been named winner of SAIL magazine’s coveted Top 10 Best Boats 2024.
According to Wendy Mitman Clark SAIL’s Editor-in-Chief, the 510 assuredly fulfills “the mission of this bigger sister to the highly successful Hanse 460—fast, comfortable cruising, easy sailing, and in this case, more than a little bit of luxury.”
At the heart of the 510’s design is creating as much volume as possible for accommodation and relaxation spaces, and improving sailing characteristics, particularly in light airs. To achieve this, the beam has been carried all the way aft, as well as gaining fuller bow sections, but the waterline has remained narrow thanks to hull chines, with a marked flare in the forward sections above the waterline.
And during the test sail with SAIL magazine the 510 returned some pretty impressive numbers – 6.2 knots in about 10 knots true at 78 AWA, then to over 8 knots in a 13-knot puff.
The owners of the new 510 in Sydney are looking forward to getting to know their boat and have it perfectly configured for cruising with a long list of options and a huge cabin in the bow, separate heads and shower compartments. In the standard layout there are two cabins aft but there are many variations; if you add in the crew cabin and the double cabins forward, and the bunk cabin midships starboard you’ve got a boat with six cabins and 11 berths, or even more if you use the saloon.
Other options include adding a third head, a nav station that can double as a home office space, Hanse’s response to the growing trend of working remotely from your boat. (We’ll go more into at another time with a look at Starlink and other options for delivering high-speed internet on the water).
Meanwhile, the Hanse 460 handed over in Bayview is already being enjoyed by the local family who’ve purchased it. On her maiden sail Boatie McFloatie proved a delight to handle and accelerated quickly in the puffs. We wish David, Sarah, Emily and Sam many happy hours exploring Pittwater and beyond. No doubt there will be some memorable days spent cooling off on the swim platform followed by al fresco lunch under the full-shaded T-top.
Boat spotters in Auckland would have excitedly noted the first Hanse 460 with a T-top to be delivered to New Zealand being commissioned. Salt (hull #164) brings to five the number of award-wining 460s (European Yacht of the Year 2022 in the Family Cruiser category), now in New Zealand waters. Salt’s owners who previously had a Hanse 455 plan to drop anchor in some of New Zealand’s world-class cruising grounds and we wish them fair winds on their adventures.
There will be opportunities to view the Hanse 460 and a Moody DS41 at the Auckland Boat Show 14-17th March. Contact us at info@windcraftyachts.com to book a time. There is also a special event in Sydney planned where the Hanse 510 will be available for pre-booked inspections. Check-in on Windcraft social media to find out more about both these events.
Find more information on the Hanse 460 and Hanse 510 here: windcraftyachts.com/hanse
