There are 25-30 regatta competing vessels in Romania at the moment. They can be divided into there categories depending on speed and size. The smallest vessels, measuring 20-25 feet in length, belong to the Cruise 2 category while the bigger yet slower boats fully equipped for living belong to the Cruiser 1 category. This leaves the fastest boats to the Racer category, boats that in an overall ranking are most likely to win even if there is no rule of thumb that says it does.
by Iulia Fulicea
Simina is a performance cruiser that in Romania can be classified as a racer. With a very young crew whose age averages 27, Simina has been winning most races in the general and its own categories for several years now.
When we decided to buy Simina, like any future owners, we didn’t know very well what we wanted. On the one hand we wanted a fast boat that would allow us to participate in regattas, on the other we wanted a big house on water and as such, a boat equipped with everything one needs to live in for a season.
We started looking almost a year before we decided to buy. We went to the Salon Nautique International de Paris, we took with most several brochures and we spoke of the big commercial boat dealers. Then, we searched long and hard over the internet looking for the boat of our dreams.
After analyzing the situation and looking at comparatives, we narrowed it down to two types of boats: the Slovenian Elan 410 designed by Rob Humphrey and the Hanse 400.
We got a very good price offer for the Hanse but as we wanted a boat that could race too, after looking at the polar diagram study we discovered that the Elan 410 was faster.
On top of that, the Elan had a more modern interior design with lightcoloured finishes, a combination of beech and beige upholstery, with minimalist lines and a more beautiful design of spaces.
Since this boat had a performance package that contained the mast, outrigger and a carbon helm, it seemed at that time an ideal compromise between a cruise and a competition boat.
The Elan has 3 bedrooms, two bathrooms,a living area with a kitchenette and the storage areas are very practical. We chose to buy a new boat because at that time we didn't know what to look after in a used boat.
The risk that the boat might have crashed and damaged the keel or the hull was too big. We purchased the boat from Venid Yacht, a Bulgarian dealer. Of course I made a lot of bad decisions at first, starting with the Victory Sails that I ordered from Spectra.
They were very rigid, suitable for very strong winds and for cruising, and not for racing. I also ordered a genoa, a front sail that runs in front of the forestay, which was a good option if we wanted to go cruising with it but not for regattas.
Before we settled on the three spinnakers we use today, we had to change other three. Finally, I ordered a set of Carbon Tecnora 3DL sails from North Sails which we are very satisfied with.
Another useless investment was the spray-top, namely the anti-wind canopy - very useful if you go for a sail but for regattas it’s a decelerating factor and goes against the wind.
Step by step Simina was stripped of all the unnecessary parts, becoming lighter by about a ton and faster for racing. The clews the boat originally had were replaced with much lighter dyneema clews from Gottifredi Maffioli.
In spite of all these things, in comparison with a pure breed racer, the boat is pretty heavy weighing in at 8 tons.We live on the boat every time we set sail but we are very careful not to carry extra weight.
We empty the water tanks, then take our luggage to the car and we keep just enough fuel to dock. If we were to do this again, we would probably give up the second bathroom and obviously, we wouldn’t spend all that needless money on all those sails.
As a piece of advice, if you want to buy a boat,think beforehand what you are going to use it for. Personally, I think buying a cruiser in Romania makes sense only if you are going to travel with it outside the country, to go for a sail to Bulgaria, Turkey or Greece. Another potential option is to sail the boat through the Danube Delta, that is if the boat is small enough in size.
For us, the Elan 410 was what we wanted but as each has their own ideas about how they will use ityg, it would be ideal for you to know exactly what you are going to do with it and where you will take it before you buy it.
Fair winds!
