Hallberg-Rassy 43

 

Issue: July/August 2005

In a world where stylists play an increasingly important role in yacht design — in Europe they now share the design credits with the naval architect who is reduced to the role of number crunching dogsbody — there is strong pressure to eliminate visual clutter from the decks by getting rid of useless details like toerails and lifelines.

So it makes me feel good to see that the Hallberg-Rassy 43 has a substantial bulwark (gunwale?) running the full length of the hull.

It is also good to see that the prop shaft runs through a skeg — the rudder has a half-depth skeg for support — and the rudder shaft is a stainless steel bar, not a tube. There is a rubbing strake on the topsides, which is capped by a brass strip.

And then there is the HR trademark, the deck drains which funnel water inside the hull moulding to emerge near the waterline. So every time it rains the topsides are not stained by the muck washed from the deck and you do not have to hang over the side by the ankles to polish away the stains. The drains are lined with copper.

These details are reassuring because they suggest that the Swedish builders are untroubled by the dictates of fashion and they will pay similar attention to the fundamentals, like hull lay-up, bolting on the keel properly, not to mention the engineering that holds everything together.

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If you look at the entry list for the ARC (the Atlantic Race Cruise) Hallberg-Rassy is one of the most popular brand names; HR owners like mixing and taking their boats places.

By ignoring fashion (to some extent, at least) the boats stay in production longer, though they are refined during their run. The original 34 lasted 15 years, the 42 lasted 12 years and 500 were built. The 43 shown here is hull No.101. They are built to meet Germanischer Lloyd’s standards.

Construction

German Frers is one of the great artists of yacht design. We will talk about that another time, but he does a great job of drawing a modern hull with traditional influences (or is it a traditional hull with modern influences? The former, I think). The hull is laid-up in a split mould and the halves are joined at the centreline. The deck moulding goes on before the interior is fitted out which means, says importer Peter Hrones, that what goes in can come out again. If there is a serious problem with anything it can be lifted out through the main hatch.

Some centre cockpits can induce a feeling that you might be tipped out if the boat heels too far. This one doesn’t; the cockpit seats are at the same level as the deck so you do not sit much higher than you would in a stern cockpit.

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