Chris Price is your Steel Boat
Editor.
In the next issue, we’ll focus on construction systems for steel
boats, and
present the first instalment of a series on coatings (that’s paint to us old
timers).
Let’s take a look now at Armando Castro’s steel Lavranos
37 design yacht:
(To see the full-sized version of Chris's photographs, click on the
thumbnail versions)
S/Y 'ESPIRITO DOS AÇORES'
On a warm and sunny autumn day in Horta, in the Azores, it's easy to feel there's no better place in the
world. Looking across to the spectacular mountain on the next island, Pico, you might think you were in
paradise. The green hills of Faial behind, and the sun sparkling on the crystal clear
water, convince you that wind and wave are always friendly here.
But you’d be wrong. Tomorrow, or the day after, the next Force 9 will come howling
through, and the sea will heap up on the rocks around the islands. With only three marinas in the whole island
group, and the majority of the harbours little more than a gap in the
rocks, this is no place to be caught out in a lightweight coastal cruiser.
That’s the main reason why experienced local charter skipper and racer Armando Castro sold his previous
boat, a French-built 13.5 metre, 44-footer. “These boats are beautiful, and very
fast,” said Armando, “But with the big waves we get here, sailing
offshore, the doors would jam shut
(as the boat rocked) and this sort of thing. This is no good, as my charterers must feel
safe, whatever the weather.” Something a little less fragile was obviously on the
cards and then Briton Ian Carter came through the islands with his steel Lavranos
37 design yacht.
Carter had been planning a trip way down south, via Brazil perhaps, and even to
Antarctica, but the magic of the Azorean islands worked it’s spell on
him, and pretty soon he was hooked. In fact it was hook, line, and sinker – he sailed
home, sold his
house and moved to Horta. This entailed loading most of his possessions, including his
motorbike, onto the Lavranos and sailing back – so it must be a good load
carrier. He bought a house and renovated it, and started in the fishing
business.
At about this time in ’96 Armando was thinking of selling his Feeling 44. He met Ian and was impressed by the workmanship of the
boat,
built by Ian Carter himself. Apparently the standard of construction in the renovated house was just as
impressive, and tentative enquiries were made about the purchase of the
boat. But it looked as though the owner and builder of the boat, not
surprisingly, wouldn’t part with it, and no progress was made.
Then Ian decided to go full-time into the big game fishing business and bought a sportfishing
boat. Two boats is one too many for most people, so the yacht had to go. Tough for
Ian, good luck for Armando!
 “Ian is a very capable man and I had no worries about buying this boat”, Armando
said.
The standard of construction and fit-out is excellent, so we have to agree on that
point. The Lavranos is an interesting design, by an extremely capable
designer.
Some people in Europe will not, perhaps, have heard of Angelo Lavranos who, by any
standards, is one of the world’s top naval architects.
Trained in England and America (with Sparkman and Stevens), he started his
own business in America, later moving to South Africa where, at the time, the
sailing, racing, and boatbuilding scenes were very busy. Many fine boats were designed and built
there. Lavranos invented the ‘aircraft carrier’ style of BOC racer which swept the
board,
one which the French picked up and have done so well with. Lavranos recently moved to New Zealand
where, no doubt, he will be just as successful.
The 37 stands out in a crowd with its unusual tumblehome top strake design. An aft cockpit and flush deck provide plenty of space
inside, as you can see in
the photographs
on the next pages. Some of the features which particularly impressed us were the spacious nav
station, the large quarter cabins, and fine access to the engine and
sterngear. A sensible doghouse and versatile cutter rig give a purposeful air to the
boat, which was originally designed as a 35-footer, and extended by the design office to 37 feet (11.3
metres).
Extending a boat in this way, especially on the drawing board, is a particularly effective and efficient
operation. It
always results in a boat that is faster, has more space inside, more
stability, is more sail and fuel efficient, and generally better all round – despite the additional
weight.
How many times have you thought: “If only these bunks were six inches longer”, or “Why couldn’t they have given us just a bit more room to get to the
stern gear?” The poor old designer usually tries to cram everything into a hull that’s a fraction too short for everything the customer wants in
it.
A length increase of around ten per cent fixes all the problems, and gives a lot of extra benefits. This sort of operation is often performed on ships to improve their load carrying ability, and results in more speed at the same engine power, or greater fuel economy, despite additional displacement.
This is not too difficult to do on an existing steel vessel but is obviously
more easily done if planned for before building starts.
Read on...
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