Hi all, I came across this boat recently on social media and contacted the builder. Lachlan built this boat and several others for cruising in the Whitsunday area in Australia. With his permission I am posting it here as it is both a nice looking example of the 480 , but also has a few interesting features. As you can see it has a single mast setup which is based on the Laser sailing dinghy using mast, boom and sail from that design. I expected with a sail plan like that, being only around 7m2 it would be grossly underpowered but he says with the strong winds typical in his area he frequently sailed around 10 knots. The Duo 480 sail area is specified around the 17 m2 area which is what my own 480 has, and I have sat on 10 knots or better for long runs at a time. So to learn about similar speeds obtained with a much smaller sail area is a testimony to the hull speed potential of this design of Bernd's.?
The sail furls around the unstayed mast similar to the bi plane rig set up that is "standard". Other interesting features include the anchor handling at the front over a solid platform in place of a trampoline and twin rudders that are "borrowed" from some model of beach catamaran. Lachlan has since sold the boat? . Regards, Bryan
bryanandmarycox