Hylas 46

[molly1]

Just had a test sail on aHylas 46 here in Australia and found the Steen sitting very low in the water. The owner also pointed out he doesn't put water in the 1500 litre stem tank because he doesn't need it thus making me think there is something I don't understand.
Any thoughts?

[Hobiehobie]

Assume you mean "stern" sitting low and 150 liter tank, not 1500! Was the water level up to the bottom of the transom step? How was the painted waterline compared to the actual water line? Maybe the aft berth has many batteries under the bed! No chain in the bow? It would have to be something big to make a noticeable difference in a H46.

[molly1]

Yes I meant stern, but yes to 1500 litres which is what the owner insists it is. Batteries are located slightly astern of mid ship near the keel. 80 metres of 10 chain plus two extra anchors. Under power the stern was about 6 inches under water at 4.5 knots and 4 inches sailing at 6 knots in 14 knots of wind at 60 degrees.
Sails are blown out so the yacht was sliding sideways a fair bit which also may be due to 1.6 metre keel( specs say it is 1.8) Also had to steer half a turn to port to keep sailing in a straight line while on all points of sail from 40 to 100 degrees. Fixed prop may have something to do with it?

[molly1]

Sorry, I failed to address your other questions; waterline looks about right and transom bottom step was well under water

[two-rocks]

Hylas specs list half that water as total of all tanks...
Hylas website images also show a stern sag - interesting?
The wheel half turn to port...was the wheel center marked correctly? A prop will not do that.

[Lee Jerry]

The submerged stern under power is normal or common. At rest, our stern is ~4 in. above the water. This is with stern arch with dinghy and solar panels, motor on pushpit, plus the hydrovane (yeah, a ton of weight , but there isn't currently a lot of other weight on the boat). At WOT, the bottom step is awash (not sure how much). This is due to some squat (bow up / stern down) of all powerboats, and the crest of the bow wave being at the stern. At normal cruise it is not (maybe 1-2" / 50 mm clear). I don't recall what it is under sail.

Our main water tank is 135 USgal / 510 liters, located under the bunk in the aft SR. (The two forward tanks, under salon floor, are 40 gal /150 l and 30 gal / 115 l (or maybe 35 gal?). We use the aft tank as our primary, drawing from it and keeping it "full" as needed. House batteries are under the forward SR bunk, start batteries under salon settees.

We have the standard (deep) draft version at 6'-6" / 2.0 m draft. (Or it's supposed to be; never measured it. ) The shoal version is supposed to be 5'-4" / 1.65 m draft. I have no experience with the latter (in the H46), but it's not unusual for there to be a penalty in pointing ability with them (otherwise we'd all have shoal drafts ).

With respect to the half-turn to port, agree with two-rocks that the wheel is marked wrong. Or, did you look at the condition of the bottom? Maybe there's a clump of growth on one side or something.