Queen Long Marine Ltd - Hylas 47

barca della settimana in versione internescional!

(ossia: volendo scrivere qs su questa barca spettacolare ho scoperto che c'è già chi sul suo blog ha pubblicato tutto il possibile e l'inimmaginabile, in lingua inglese, quindi stavolta per lo meno, bovinamente e pedissequamente mi piego alla dura legge del cross-post!! ..limitandomi solo ad aggiungere un pò di materiale fotografico in fondo...............)

Una breve storia del marchio Hylas...

(direct from http://www.jordanyachts.com/)

In the late 1970′s, Joseph Huang opened the Queen Long yard in Taiwan. Jack Kelly contracted them to build the Kelly Peterson 44/46. In 1981 building on their success with Kelly Yachts, Mr. Huang approached Sparkman & Stephens to design a 47′ sailboat. He left the design completely up to S&S. When Bill Stevens heard about the S&S 47 design, he ordered as many as he could and slapped his name on the boat, the Stevens 47. Bill Stevens ran Stevens Yacht Charters and had been buying Peterson 44′s from Queen Long. Many people confuse her as named after Rod Stephens of S&S, but the correct spelling is the Stevens 47. She was well built and designed, fast with a skeg rudder/fin keel, and roomy with three staterooms. And although a financial success as one, she was much more than a charter boat.
In 1984, building on his success, Mr. Huang asked German Frers to design the Hylas 42 and the Hylas 44. He coupled these designs with the successful Stevens 47, branding them “Hylas” after the Greek mythological youth who accompanied Hercules on the cruise of the Argonuats. “This daring youth symbolizes our fine yachts,” goes a vintage Hylas brochure. The Hylas 44 became popular for chartering. In response to feedback, Queen Long modified her. After the first thirteen hulls, Queen Long enlarged the cockpit. The enlarged cockpit provided more comfortable cockpit room for Caribbean cruising.

In the mid to late 1980′s, Bill Stevens of Stevens Yacht Charters experienced financial difficulties. Queen Long had built approximately 56 Stevens up to this point. Dick Jachney of Caribbean Yacht Charters (CYC) jumped in where Stevens left off. CYC became the most powerful Queen Long buyer. They used the Hylas 44 and Stevens 47 and based out of St. Thomas in the British Virgin Islands. With Stevens gone, they rebranded the 47 as the Hylas 47. Mr. Jachney could have chosen any yard in the world. He chose Queen Long Marine for its integrity, skill and flexibility.
Dick Jachney formed a mutually lucrative business relationship with Joseph Huang of Queen Long. CYC maintained an ever enlarging fleet of Hylas 44 and 47 yachts. Mr. Jachney smartly induced prospective Hylas buyers to allow CYC to charter and split the cost of their new Hylas. Doing so, owners significantly saved on their purchase of a 44 or 47. After a couple years, they freely owned their Hylas. You can tell if a Hylas 44 or 47 of this era was independly or CYC bought by looking at the side of the cockpit. If she has a Hylas logo, then an independent broker sold her. Otherwise, she probably was in charter with CYC.

In 1990 to battle the new 10% US luxury tax, Dick Jachney and Joseph Huang joined forces. Mr. Jachney became the sole US importer of Hylas yachts, the president and founder of Hylas Yachts USA. Along with Mr. Huang, he was motivated to increase demand for Hylas yachts. Quickly, Mr. Jachney dropped production of the 42, never a viable chartering yacht. In 1991, he along with Tony Seibert of Explorer Yachts extended the Hylas 47 with a sugar scoop stern to become the Hylas 49, the new flagship of the Hylas line. They introduced her at the Annapolis Show in 1992. Later in 1992, they did the same with the 44 Hylas adding a sugar scoop stern for her to become the 45.5 Hylas. Finally in the same year, Hylas added a 51 Frers design.
In the early 1990′s, while these changes went on, a young Fort Lauderale yacht broker, Rob Jordan, was paying ever more attention to the relatively unknown Hylas brand. While successful in the Caribbean chartering, Hylas did not have an established cache in the mainstream US market. The used Hylas market was nearly non-existant. First hand, Mr. Jordan had seen the Queen Long quality and Frers beauty of these fine yachts. With CYC based in the BVI’s, naturally the boats perculated to Fort Lauderdale, the geographic jumping point for Caribbean cruising.
In 1993, as Rob Jordan started his own brokerage, Jordan Yacht & Ship Co., pressure was building behind the Hylas brand. The Hylas name was about to explode onto the used market. Because Hylas extended the 44 and 47 to the 45.5 and 49, many owners of the now out of date models wanted to trade up. These owners, wishing to trade up, found themselves in unknown territory. They needed to sell their used, beloved Hylas. Rob Jordan stepped up, filling this niche. Jordan Yachts became a dealer of new Hylas Yachts but, more importantly, a goto brokerage of used Hylas yachts.

During the mid 1990′s, Hylas and Jordan Yacht interests intertwined. Mr. Jachney stopped by the Jordan office along the 17th causeway in a complex known as pink city. Jordan Yachts helped fund and man Hylas exhibits at the Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show. Jordan Yacht brokers/captains delivered yachts from St. Thomas to Fort Lauderdale to put up for sale. One such broker, Sam Lewis, formed a strong relationship with Hylas. Mr. Jachney hired Mr. Lewis as the Fort Lauderdale commissioning agent of new Hylas yachts. When a new one transported in from Taiwan, Mr. Lewis outfitted and finished puting her together. Another broker/captain, John Kretschmer, became Hylas’ head delivery captain and wrote reviews for Sailing magazine. The 49 Hylas “is an excellent cruiser for anyone considering a serious, performance cruising boat, with comfort to spare” writes Mr. Kretschmer in a 1993 Sailing magazine review.
Around this time, Jordan Yachts became involved in an offshoot of Hylas. Tony Seibert of Explorer Yachts, who had been involved in the addition of the sugar scoop stern to the 47 Hylas, had bought the third hull, Loose Shoes, and fine tuned her with improvements to perfect the 49 design. Mr. Seibert partnered with Hylas and Queen Long. These rare Explorer versions have ice cooler lazerettes, a washdown valve forward, and other well thought out touches. Explorer Yachts was involved in the Hans Christian Offshore Explorer series including the HC 475 Explorer.

Around 2000, the owners sold CYC to VIP Charters. They switched to focus on importing new Hylas yachts. They shifted from St. Thomas to charming Marblehead, MA. The Hylas brand was well established coast to coast now. Hylas did not depend on CYC. People clamored for the Hylas line of 46, 49, 54, and 54 RS. In fact, the disappearance of CYC improved the reputation of the Hylas. Chartered boats carry a stigma. The existance of a charter fleet even hurts the resale value of non-chartered yachts of the same make.


By 2004, the secret Hylas brand Rob Jordan admired was worldwide. Jordan Yachts moved to Summerfields, the Hylas commissioning yard. The used market was mature. Hylas was making larger yachts with the 54 and 54 RS, attracting an increasingly sophisticated audience. In 2005, to satiate demand for an ever larger Hylas, they introduced the Frers 66 footer. The design like the 42 and 51 never caught on, and Queen Long dropped production. In 2007, Hylas Yachts USA introduced an extended version of the 66 Frers design, the 70 foot Frers which has become a grand success.
In 2009, with the US economy in a recession, Hylas can barely keep up with demand. Hylas is popular beyond belief, known far and wide for unquestioned build quality and unrivaled design beauty. The matured used market leaves Hylas yachts for sale worldwide from California to Spain to Turkey. Still, a concentration sail in the Caribbean. These yachts really do symbolize the daring of Hylas, the Greek youth. For an in depth look at individual models, please see our Hylas Models Page.

.......l' Hylas 47


Costruttore: Hylas
Designer: Sparkman & Stephens


L.F.T. Lunghezza fuori tutto: 47 ft 0 in
Larghezza: 14 ft 3 in
Lunghezza al galleggiamento: 37 ft 9 in
Pescaggio massimo: 6 ft 0 in
Altezza al ponte superiore: 64 ft 0 in

Ballast: 14,500
Displacement: 32,000
Fuel: 150 gals 3 tanks
Fresh Water: 115 gals 2 tanks
Holding: 40 gals 2 tanks

Accommodation

    * Accom for 6 in 3 cabins, a saloon, galley.
    * All teak interior woodwork including flooring throughout yacht.
    * Galley fully refurbished including new cooker, oven and sink2006.
    * All new cushions, mattress 2007.
    * 2 new hatches above master cabin (aft) and fore cabin new 2009
    *
    * Double aft cabin with a queen size bed – en suite heads
    * V berth cabin forward.
    * Twin cabin to port with 2 single berths (currently used for storage).
    * Two heads in total. 

...link alle brochure originali e foto:

http://www.jordanyachts.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/47-cyc-flyer.pdf

http://www.jordanyachts.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/hylas-brochure-fold-out-47.pdf

The 47 started it all. In the late 1970′s, Queen Long was building Kelly Peterson 46′s for Jack Kelly Yachts and distributing them to Stevens Yacht Charters among others. Queen Long decided to expand and asked Sparkman & Stephens to design for them a new yacht that they owned the rights to. With little guidance, Rod Stephens created a truly breakthrough 47′ design in 1981. Bill Stevens loved the design as a charterboat and bought as many as Queen Long could make. Bill was right, and with her three stateroom layout, she became a popular Caribbean charter yacht. Queen Long built approximately 56 under the Stevens name and another 82 under the Hylas brand when Stevens Charters had financial problems. In 1991, Tony Seifert and Dick Jachney enlarged the cockpit, increased the freeboard by 2″, and added a sugar scoop stern, extending her to become the Hylas 49. The 47′s particularly the Stevens versions are cult boats. John Kretschmer’s review of the Stevens 47 in his Used Boat Notebook has stoked this ravenous demand to unbelievable heights. Please see our Hylas Models Page for information about other Hyli.

First Impressions
The 47 is classic Sparman & Stephens, the only Hylas of their design along with her 49-foot sistership. Her rocket ship stern, sleek sheer, and high chin bow give her a nice look. Her cabin trunk is low with a smallish cockpit. The freeboard is average with a deep forefoot and long fin keel underneath. It is her carefully crafted underbody that makes this smooth sailing world cruiser. Compared to the Frers Hylas models, she is more offshorable with a fuller keel.

Construction
Hylas 47′s are built by Queen Long and reserve a good reputation in their ability to be strong and well built. For example, she has nine fore and aft stringers for strength, stainless steel water and fuel tanks, a stainless I-beam supported by four floors for the mast step, 12 transverse floor timbers, and a one piece hull with 47% ballast to weight ratio. Different from all other Hyli, she has an encapsulated, internal lead ballast keel of only 6′ draft. There are not shoal/deep versions. All 47/49′s have a 6-foot draft. Stevens are generally heavier built than Hyli but as one owner added, “Not to say that Hylas cheapened the boat.” The Stevens especially have a beefier rig than the Hyli. The hulls are laminated fiberglass hull built from a one piece mold to provide a strong seamless monolithic structure. The deck is Airex cored and hand laminated with solid glass in mast area and around all through-bolted areas. The interior of the hull is sealed with epoxy. The hull-deck joint is an inner flange secured by 5200, bolted through, and tabbed from below.

What To Look For
The key is whether she is a Stevens or Hylas. The Stevens have beefier rigs and higher quality fittings, but the Hyli are newer yachts. Some Stevens have port and starboard berths aft instead of a centerline queen. This layout is less attractive on the used market. Many have been refit at Bennett Brothers who is associated with Bill Stevens’ originally charter operation. Because of this refitting, there is good part support. These refitted 47′s command high values on the brokerage market and usually are loaded with all the latest equipment.


On Deck
In John’s review he is hard on the 47′s cockpit, and I agree that the cockpit is smallish with low uncomfortable combings. This is one of Tony Seifert’s best changes on the 49. The low-profile cabin trunk especially forward is easy to walk around. She has a molded contrasting non-skid on deck that is wearing thin these days.

Down Below
The 47 started it all with her showcase of light teak and open accommodations. The interior is all teak including bulkheads and trim with a solid 1/2″ teak sole and solid teak doors. The arrangement plan includes three staterooms with owners aft and guests forward. Starting forward, the V-berth features a large double berth with hanging locker. Forwardmost, you can access the chainlocker from below. Just aft of the V-berth, the starboard walk-through provides access to the second guest stateroom to port. Across is the forward head with separate vanity and shower stall. Next aft is the full width main salon, open to the port side galley and starboard side navigation station. I agree with John’s criticism of the small navigation station. But for a 47-foot three stateroom yacht, you have to skimp somewhere. The navigation station is tight and annoying in front of the breaker panel. Underneath is a step up filled with batteries leaving you with minimal headroom. From the saloon there is a step down aft, but the 47 is not the best about headroom. The 49 added another 2-feet of freeboard. A dual passageway walk-through to the master stateroom has proven to be immensely popular and convenient. Along the port passageway is a nice galley with usually formica counter tops and teak trim. For ventilation and accessability, there are six anodized aluminum deck hatches and two lazarette hatches.


Engine
Engines vary and include Westerbeke and Universal models until Hylas settled on the Perkins and finally Yanmar 62 HP. The access is under the stainless steel sinks in the galley. Access is okay from both sides and via the companionway. There is room further back for a generator usually raised with stainless supports.

Underway
The 47′s greatest strength is her sailing capabilities. Rod Stephens, the primary designer, says, “I knew the Hylas 47 was going to be fast when we designed it…and yet for all her proven speed she is a true cruising boat with accommodations that offer all the amenities and then some. Quite an accomplishment, I’d say.” John talks about averaging 143 miles a day delivering 47′s. He says, “From all the nit-picking I’ve done about certain features, I can lavish an equal amount of praise on the boat’s overall performance.”

Conclusion
Hylas 47′s resale for $150,000 to $250,000. Rob says in John’s review, “You can find a Hylas or Stevens 47 in good condition for under $200,000. It is difficult to find a 49 under $300,000.” These prices are still about the same today as the Stevens/Hylas 47 continues to be an attractive alternative.

altre foto....