I'm sure I saw this Bowman in the Ionian a few years before Covid I can't remember exactly when. Very pretty boat. I almost bought one many years ago but the running costs including the immediate cost of a new teak looked a bit too scary for me at the time.
Nick, Thanks for taking the time to make this video, I really enjoyed it. I was very impressed by how well the Bowman 46 appears to stand up in a blow while still being handy in light airs. I would be curious to know what her ballast/ displacement ratio is? Best, James
+JimJocrusin Ballast 5000kg/displacement 10660kg so just under 50%. Her speed in light airs is due to slippery shape otherwise known as high prismatic coefficient, the only conditions she does not like is upwind when there is a sloppy sea and not much wind. I guess all boats suffer then. In a flat sea and 6knots true wind she can make about 6 knots boat speed with apparent wind on the beam round to about 35 degrees off. I also fitted a feathering prop which made a huge difference, as well as good sails. Nick
+Nick Newington This is a very interesting design that seems to combine many of the qualities that I like. Can you tell me how the bow behaves when short tacking where the boat speed is very low right after a tack? I know that with many boats there is a tendency for the bow to want to blow off until the speed begins to come up a bit. Do you feel that the design has enough rudder during these conditions? James
+JimJocrusin I have never had any problem with the bow falling off whilst tacking. Actually if it is very light I tend to back-wind the genoa just a touch. It comes down to the helming, though my autopilot has a tack mode that is great and does the job fine. One observation I would like to make is that I always use the mizzen until the 1st reef is required, when it is dropped. So in winds below, say 15 knots true, the mizzen is up, so whilst sailing upwind it is sheeted in tight. This holds the bow up when tacking. I am absolutely sure that the rudder is big enough. Remember using the rudder is drag. The only time the bow falls off is manoeuvring under power with no sail up. She will not go astern with the wind on the bow, even with quite a bit of way (perhaps a bigger rudder would help but better to have a balanced higher aspect ratio one). I dry sail her from Leros in Greece and have to back into a little slip for the travel lift, very often the wind is quite strong from the north which is on the bow. It perplexed me this manoeuvre as I always do it alone until I tried keeping the mizzen up sheeted hard. Then she will sit bow to wind whilst I back her in. Once secure I drop the sail. Without blowing my own trumpet too much. She is a great design, sails well, pretty. Built to sail not maximise volume, she really is the complete opposite of a modern floating caravan type.
+Nick Newington , My Loki Yawl is only marginally controllable in reverse and it seems that most of the older boats are as well so I am not surprised that the Bowman does not like to back either. That is a good solution using the mizzen to weather cock the bow, should work great so long as the wind is not changing direction a lot! I use the mizzen on my boat as an "air rudder" to tack at low speeds when manuvering in close quarters or to leave the mooring on the desired tack, the mizzen is a wonderful sail to have and it is sad to see that there are so few new yawls being built. What is the waterline length of your boat? How many were built and over what time frame? Thanks, James
![This 50' DREAM YACHT SOLD For ONE DOLLAR [Full Tour] Learning the Lines](/img/1.gif)
Thanks for leaving the video up. Excellently made. Am contemplating one and this has been a great help :)
I'm sure I saw this Bowman in the Ionian a few years before Covid I can't remember exactly when. Very pretty boat. I almost bought one many years ago but the running costs including the immediate cost of a new teak looked a bit too scary for me at the time.
Nick, Thanks for taking the time to make this video, I really enjoyed it. I was very impressed by how well the Bowman 46 appears to stand up in a blow while still being handy in light airs. I would be curious to know what her ballast/ displacement ratio is? Best, James
+JimJocrusin Ballast 5000kg/displacement 10660kg so just under 50%. Her speed in light airs is due to slippery shape otherwise known as high prismatic coefficient, the only conditions she does not like is upwind when there is a sloppy sea and not much wind. I guess all boats suffer then. In a flat sea and 6knots true wind she can make about 6 knots boat speed with apparent wind on the beam round to about 35 degrees off. I also fitted a feathering prop which made a huge difference, as well as good sails. Nick
+Nick Newington This is a very interesting design that seems to combine many of the qualities that I like. Can you tell me how the bow behaves when short tacking where the boat speed is very low right after a tack? I know that with many boats there is a tendency for the bow to want to blow off until the speed begins to come up a bit. Do you feel that the design has enough rudder during these conditions? James
+JimJocrusin I have never had any problem with the bow falling off whilst tacking. Actually if it is very light I tend to back-wind the genoa just a touch. It comes down to the helming, though my autopilot has a tack mode that is great and does the job fine. One observation I would like to make is that I always use the mizzen until the 1st reef is required, when it is dropped. So in winds below, say 15 knots true, the mizzen is up, so whilst sailing upwind it is sheeted in tight. This holds the bow up when tacking. I am absolutely sure that the rudder is big enough. Remember using the rudder is drag. The only time the bow falls off is manoeuvring under power with no sail up. She will not go astern with the wind on the bow, even with quite a bit of way (perhaps a bigger rudder would help but better to have a balanced higher aspect ratio one). I dry sail her from Leros in Greece and have to back into a little slip for the travel lift, very often the wind is quite strong from the north which is on the bow. It perplexed me this manoeuvre as I always do it alone until I tried keeping the mizzen up sheeted hard. Then she will sit bow to wind whilst I back her in. Once secure I drop the sail. Without blowing my own trumpet too much. She is a great design, sails well, pretty. Built to sail not maximise volume, she really is the complete opposite of a modern floating caravan type.
+Nick Newington , My Loki Yawl is only marginally controllable in reverse and it seems that most of the older boats are as well so I am not surprised that the Bowman does not like to back either. That is a good solution using the mizzen to weather cock the bow, should work great so long as the wind is not changing direction a lot! I use the mizzen on my boat as an "air rudder" to tack at low speeds when manuvering in close quarters or to leave the mooring on the desired tack, the mizzen is a wonderful sail to have and it is sad to see that there are so few new yawls being built. What is the waterline length of your boat? How many were built and over what time frame? Thanks, James
+JimJocrusin 39 ft on waterline. I am not sure how many were built maybe about 50 from 1972-77ish
sold!