General Concept
The idea behind the Greatheart 60 is to create a true pelagic
vessel; one that can spend long periods of time between ports of call.
Optimized as a habitat for ocean travel, the 60 foot Greatheart has a hull
form similar to others in the Gulliver and Greatheart design series.
This family of hulls have been derived from seaworthy Pacific Northwest
fishing vessel types, except that the Greatheart / Gulliver series are much
more refined for service as yachts, primarily for the sake of efficiency and
ease of motion.
Hull construction is all aluminum for the sake of ruggedness and peace of
mind, while still having low maintenance requirements. Particulars are:
- Waterline length:
50.4 feet light, 52.5 feet loaded
- Beam: 14.5 feet
- Draft: 5.6 feet
- Displacement 57,000 lb. light, 73,000 lb.
loaded.
If built in steel, the beam and hull body depth would necessarily be
increased in order to carry the added weight of structure. In steel,
beam will be on the order of 16.9 feet, and displacement will vary between 72k lb and 88k
lb, depending on equipment choices.
Power
The
Greatheart 60 was created to take maximum advantage of the many
excellent 6 cylinder diesel engines now available with around 150
horsepower such as the capable John Deere 6086, the Lugger 6 cylinder
Turbo, or the Caterpillar 6 cylinder Turbo. Any of these engines
are well suited to the power requirements of the GH 60. The JD or
Lugger will provide a bit of weight savings over the CAT engines yet
will provide nearly the same horsepower.
The
gear will be a Sabb HVP 85 E for controllable pitch, or if fixed pitch
is preferred a standard Twin Disc gear would be used
instead. The Sabb gear is designed to provide both gear
reduction and pitch control. The wheel is a 40 inch diameter
three blade Controllable Pitch Propeller
by Helseth, of Norway. Along with the sail rig, the CP propeller will
contribute to maximum efficiency under power, in particular while
motor-sailing. One can choose a suitable engine rpm and just
feather the propeller to provide just the right boost to boat speed.
With a CP propeller, boat speed can be dead slow, or just a bit more to troll
for salmon, or quite a bit faster for tuna...
The propeller always turns the same direction, so maneuvers are made
simpler because there is no requirement to stop the propeller. One can
just feather the blades around to reverse, etc.
The Rig & Keels
Sails are provided as emergency get-home power, as roll
dampening devices, and for the possibility of motor-sailing during passages.
Motor sailing provides a synergy that has to be experienced to be appreciated... With
this combination, the range of the vessel is vastly increased. When
the wind favors there is the very welcome potential to spend long periods
without the engine running at all.
The Greatheart 60 has been shown with a gaff ketch rig, as
above, and also a Chinese junk rig as shown below.
The Chinese junk rig is an excellent choice with many significant
advantages, and at least to my own eye the Junk sails seem to look 'right' for the boat.
Please see the web page on the Junk Rig
for more information on the various reasons one might favor this
rig. Another example of what is possible with the rig can be seen
on our Ironheart 64 design - a bit more sail area and a gaff schooner
rig. Nice...!
With either rig, the spars are all aluminum pipe for lightness, strength,
and ease of maintenance. With a graceful taper at the top, to the casual observer the spars are usually taken to be wood.
Twin keels of a conservative size are provided for the sake of
sitting upright when aground, to carry a small quantity of ballast, to
provide enhanced roll attenuation, and to allow an element of windward
performance under get-home sail power.
Interior
Aft is the owner's stateroom, with an island berth on
center, a pull-out mini desk on each side of the berth, a private head /
shower, hanging locker, and entertainment center.
Stepping up into the Pilot House, we find a double seat to
port facing forward. A table and fold-up leaf is just forward of the
double seat. A large pilot berth is located right aft, above the aft
cabin. A navigator's station is forward to port, and a helm is located
on center with full instrumentation. This layout is intentionally fairly open and un-crowded.
If we go forward, a winding staircase leads below to a large
galley and wrap-around dinette table. This is the primary social area
so the seating has been made quite large. With sleeping for eight
(including the 'small double' in the pilot house) there does need to be
plenty of seating!
Just
forward of the galley (to starb'd) is a head compartment with a bath
tub / shower and is equipped with a flip-down teak slat seat. Opposite
the head is a 'bunk room' intended for children or crew. It
contains a night stand, two single berths, a hanging locker and small
bureau / entertainment center.
The forward stateroom is for honored guests and features an island berth
right forward, accessible from both sides. There is ample storage
within two hanging lockers and a very large storage area below the berth.
Summary
Whether the sailing rig were to be as a gaff ketch or gaff schooner or
Chinese junk
the Greatheart 60 profile is already rather 'sail boat like' in terms
of the keel and rig, yet quite 'power boat like' in terms of the pilot
house. Altogether a fine ocean traveling habitat for an extended
family or for specialty adventure charters.
Design Genesis
Several of our designs share the
same essential source hull type, in this case
derived from the North Pacific
fishing trawlers which operate in all
weathers in the Gulf of Alaska, a place where the
ocean is... well, not so nice. We
refined the fishing trawler hull type to create
a more yacht-like shape and that became the
"Greatheart / Gulliver" series. See
the following links for vessels in the Greatheart series...
Greatheart
36 |
Gulliver 46 |
Greatheart 48 | Greatheart 54 |
Greatheart 60 |
Swallow's Nest 60
We then modified
the hull to create the "Vagabond"
series which makes use of a proportionately longer waterline
and a more upright stem and transom. Combined, this reduces the
overhangs and increases the WL length to gain more interior space with
less overall hull length. Check out the following links for boats in the Vagabond series...
Vagrant 49 |
Vagabond 50 |
Voyager 52
| Valdemar 53
For more information on this or other designs, please
inquire
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