A Word About s/v Sea Wings

Overview

Sea Wings is a1998 Beneteau Oceanis 461 which was built in Beneteau’s US facility in Marion, SC. She went from bucket (of resin) to a boat in July 1998. This is one of Beneteau’s most popular designs and was awarded the ‘1997 Cruising Yacht of the Year’ award in its introductory year. It was in production from 1997 until 2001 and was replaced in 2002 by the Beneteau 473.

One of the major attractions for us was the fact that the hull was designed by Bruce Farr who also designed our last boat Blue Moon, a 1985 Laser 28. We have always been Farr fans and love the way his boats sail, being lightweight and easily driven. Sea Wings is a two cabin, two head model, sometimes called an ‘owners layout’. The 461 was also manufactured in 3cabin/2 head, 3 cabin/3 head, and 4 cabin/2 head layouts, the larger accommodation models largely ending up in the charter trade.

Sea Wings was delivered in the standard US format with roller furling headsail and mainsail and a beautiful bulb/wing shoal draft keel. The majority of French built boats were specified with non furling main and deep draft keel.

History

The boat was purchased in late 1998 and the original owner sailed it on the Chesapeake Bay until 2002. His intention was to join the 2002 Caribbean Rally which runs nonstop from Hampton Roads, VA at the mouth of the Chesapeake to St. Thomas in the US Virgins. Their plan was to use this event which started on November 3, 2002 to kick off a circumnavigation which they planned to accomplish by 2008.

Unfortunately, that event was hit by a storm just 4 days after the start that packed 50 knot winds and over 20 foot seas for two days. They finished the event but it had been such an ordeal for the couple (no other crew were on board) that on arrival in St Thomas they moved into a marina and essentially did not sail the boat again until they moved off in the spring of 2003 and had the boat moved to Ft. Lauderdale where we purchased it in July 2004. As the boat had been prepared for a circumnavigation, it came very well equipped and was virtually new having only 600 hours on the Yanmar engine.

We only just recently learned the whole history of the boat and feel badly for the original owners who had their dreams dashed by a storm at the very beginning of their journey.

Specifications

Hull Designer: Bruce Farr

Interior/Styling: Armel Briand

LOA 46’-7”

LOD 45’-11”

LWL 39’-1”

BMax 13’-11”

WD 5’-9”” (6’-0” measured)

AD 59’-1”

Disp 20,944 lbs

Ballest 7,496 lbs

SA 947 sf

I 54.53”

J 15.95”

P 46.66”

E 17.06”

Fuel Cap 103 gal

Water Cap 218 gal

Aux Yanmar 4JH2—HTE turbo w/intercooler

HP 76 hp

Prop 20” MaxProp VP

Inventory

Sails

150% TriRadial Dacron Genoa 2007 Neil Pryde

120% Crosscut Dacron Genoa 2008 Neil Pryde

TriRadial Dacron Vertical Batten Main Neil Pryde

Storm Jib Crosscut Dacron 2002 Quantum

Storm Trysail Crosscut Dacron 2002 Quantum

Electronics

Furuno NavNet 2 10.4” Radar/Chartplotter using C-Map NT-Max

Furuno GP-32 GPS

Raymarine 6002 Gyro ‘Smart Pilot’ Autopilot

Raymarine 6000 Autopilot backup

Raymarine ST60 Depth and Tridata

Brookhouse Multiplexer

Electric

Trojan 6 volt house bank, 675 amp hours

Separate 12 volt starter battery

Freedon/Hart 2500 Inverter/charger

Freedon/Heart Link 2000 Controller

Xantrex Battery Combiner

(2) Kyrocera 130w Solar Panels

FourWinds II wind generator

Safety

Switlik MD-8 6man offshore liferaft

MOM auto deploy man overboard system

LifeSling

Ground Tackle

Lewmar Delta 65 lb w/ 250 ft 3/8” BBB chain

Lewmar Delta 35 lb w/150 ft 3/8” BBB chain w/3/4” rode

Fortress FX-37 w/ 75 ft 3/8” BBB chain w/ ¾” rode

Lewmar/Horizon 1500 Windlass

Communications and Entertainment

ICOM IC-M710 SSB radio

Pactor Modem

Standard Horizon Intrepid VHF w/RAM mic

Standard Horizon HX350S VHF handheld

Built in Digital Home Theater w/ Clarion decoder, Infinity Kappa speakers,

Sherwood 600 watt/6 channel amp

Engenius Ethernet bridge w/ external high gain antenna (WiFi)

Lenovo ThinkPad R61 DuoCore w/ USB TV tuner (primary)

with Apple Bluetooth keyboard and mouse

IBM ThinkPad T41 (backup)

Glomex high gain TV (masthead)

FujiPlus 19” flatscreen monitor

Other

Spectra Catalina 4000 watermaker w/computer control 16 gph

Cruiseair Air Conditioning

As Sea Wings was relatively new when we bought her and prepared for a circumnavigation, most of our efforts in preparing her for cruising were spent on preventative maintenance of existing systems instead of major changes. We did make some changes to the charging system to make it more idiot proof, added the solar panels, installed a feathering prop, upgraded the radar/chartplotter and autopilot, installed a TV antenna and tuner, installed a whisker pole launcher on the mast and installed a central computer system and home theater system. Other than that it was all checking/repairing/replacing what was already there.

If you are planning to go cruising and buy a boat with ‘everything you need’ already on board and only have to do PM or upgrades, do not think that this can necessarily be done quickly or cheaply. We did not have to add much at all, but just by replacing sails, adding solar panels, upgrading electronics and some canvas work, it ran into tens of thousands of dollars. Be prepared.

But we are mostly done now, only fixing the stuff that breaks or needs attention (still most of our time). It has been a lot of work but we are now looking forward to the cruising and less of the preparation. Best part of the whole process? We used Pettit Vivid anti fouling paint so we could paint dolphins on the bottom that come out of the water when we are heeled over. This stuff actually works pretty well and you can paint anything you want on the bottom and it is all antifouling. Great stuff.