Sails

I talked about our new main and jib from North Sails earlier in the blog so I guess we better follow up with some pictures now. 

Here is a picture of the Carbon/Dyneema 3DL main from this summer. It worked wonderfully this year (second season). We had some issues with how the mast curve fit to the mast last season and I thought that we would have to adjust the mast curve.

Thanks to our sailmaker, Martin Angsell at North Sails Stockholm who came out and sailed with us on a very short notice early in the season we found that the mast had too little pre-bend in the lower section and by moving the foot back just a little bit the sail suddenly fit very well. In this very picture it looks like we haven´t pulled the cunningham at all though but don't be fooled. It looks and performs great!

This is a picture of the Dyneema/Aramid jib that is new for this year. Note that even though the luff of the jib looks loose we found that the jib was very sensitive to halyard tension and we had to be careful with too high tension. It is going to be very interesting to see how this jib holds up. It was made new for this year in 3Di and is roughly 10% larger than the old one. We decided to not put it on a furler since that in reality limits the selection of head sails for a cruising boat to one. Given how actively we prefer to sail we needed more flexibility.

The boat is originally designed for being raced with large genoas only but since we normally sail with much less weight on the rail than racing mode we designed the jib to work well already in low wind speeds but we added a reef for it to ensure that we could carry it through a large spectrum of wind. Above 25 to 30 knots we have a smaller heavy wind jib in dacron and below 8-10 knots we still use the one of the many Carbon/Aramid 3DL G1 that came with the boat.

Interior photos of Alma

Here follows some interior photos of Alma. Some of the photos are taken by me and some of them are taken by the previous owner Björn Svending.

The first two photos shows the main cabin. You can see the navigation table that just like in all other boats is used for just about everything except navigation... The electrical switch-board is another example of the high quality installations in this boat. Blue Systems largest switch-board leaves lots of opportunities for the installation to be very structured and easily maintained.

Please also note that both sides of the main cabin has pilot berths above and outboard of the settees. Great for sleeping during longer trips offshore but also great for storage when they aren't needed for sleeping. The backrests of the settees are removable and opens up either a very large single bed with storage behind or a quite cramped double on both sides.

The galley is slightly different than other Luffe 44 galleys. The entry to the starboard aft berths takes the space of the aft kitchen cabinet. Thus the amount of counter-top space is less but the floor space is a little larger. I don´t think that the amount of storage is very different since we have very easy access to the corner cabinet that is poorly utilized in the standard layout.

These two photos are of the forward cabin in front of mast and toilet. You will notice the multiple sets of sturdy frames that was built into the boat at Luffe Yachts since she was originally intended for offshore racing on the North Sea. All Luffe boats are very well built but Alma is exceptional and I feel very comfortable with her in any weather.

Notice the light streaming in from the large deck hatch, 70 x 70 cm! She has three deck hatches in the deck and superstructure and another six that provide light into the aft parts of the boat from the cockpit.

Here you can see the port aft berth behind the navigation table and the hanging locker for sail clothes. Lots of light streaming in from the cockpit.

The two aft berths are equally large and very suitable for two kids each. Two adults also works but it is a little on the tight side. Our kids love this place. It can be hard to get them out even during long slogs to windward when they are hanging out here together and reading.

Last but not least, the toilet. Luffe 44 has the largest toilet I have ever seen on a sailing boat. Lots of space and easy access to all of the installations. Underneath the sink is speed and depth sensors from Nexus as well as sea water and drain from the sink.