Hylas 46

discusses

The broker says the standing rigging on this 2009 boat was replaced in 2024, the genoa and staysail are new in 2023 and the mainsail is from 2017, and calls the running rigging "in great shape."

discusses

The broker says Hylas is "award-winning for the wiring, the quality, the labeling, everything, and the color coding," and that the switch panel looks like it is brand new.

warns⚙ vented loops⚙ plumbing

Inspection tip from the broker: on boats this age he normally sees salt corrosion at the vented loops in the mechanical closet because they clog with sediment. This boat has none, which he puts down to its first ten years on a freshwater lake in Louisiana.

discusses⚙ engine

The broker describes the engine as the original Yanmar 4JH4TE, 75 horsepower, with about 1,200 hours, and the generator with less than 350 hours. He reports zero oil drips under the engine and a very dry bilge.

warns⚙ engine⚙ turbocharger⚙ engine mounts

Inspection tip from the broker: at this age he usually finds a lot of rust on the turbo and a badly corroded engine mount under the water pump. On this engine the turbo has very minimal rust, and the engine mount looks less than a year old, though he says it is actually older than that.

discusses

The presenter describes a listed Hylas 46 (hull 52, launched 2004 as Fetching Light, later renamed Southern Cross) as one of the most capable and proven bluewater sailboats ever built. Factory modifications for Pacific cruising included a 7 1/2 ft titanium bowsprit, a repositioned inner forestay, an enlarged staysail and sail locker, and a cockpit-controlled code zero. The second owners made an 8-year circumnavigation.

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Quoted figures for the listed boat: 46 ft overall, 13.75 ft beam, 6 1/2 ft draft, about 28,000 lb displacement, a Yanmar 4JH, 169 gallons of diesel and 135 of fresh water. The presenter gives a sail area to displacement ratio of 20.49 for the stock boat, a ballast ratio of 44% and a capsize screening value of 1.82, calling them excellent specs for an ocean crossing cruiser.

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The presenter notes that the 46 is a German Frers design with a fine entry, wide midship beam carried aft, a fin keel and a deep semi-elliptical spade rudder balanced off a partial skeg. He quotes Bob Perry: "You can trust that German Frers would not give you a slug. This boat has the numbers and the pedigree to give it good performance." His one aesthetic complaint is that it looks "a little too stacked up around the cockpit."

recommends

The presenter calls the listed boat fully equipped for immediate offshore sailing, with systems tested around the world, and says "Hylas 46s are definitely something that you can go around the world on." The asking price mentioned is just north of $400,000, listed with Dave Walters Yachts.

discusses

The broker says this 2004 boat is "literally one of a kind" among the 75 Hylas 46 hulls built, with a custom factory sail plan including a titanium bowsprit for a code zero (sales claim).

discusses

The broker describes a factory change to the sail plan: the staysail moved forward and higher, giving a working jib and staysail setup, and the freed deck space makes room for a sail locker, which he says other 46s do not have, with the tender stowed on the bow (sales claim).

repairs⚙ engine⚙ repower

The broker says the boat has a new Yanmar 4JH 110 in place of the 75 horsepower engine most of these boats came with. He points out three alternators, and an impeller reached from the front of the housing, where on the older engines it sat behind the engine mount (sales claim).

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The broker says about 90% of Hylas 46 owners cruise to the Caribbean or across to the Mediterranean, and that this boat is configured to go further (sales claim).

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The presenter says the Hylas 46 was first built in 1995, designed by German Frers and built in Taiwan, and singles out the "skeg hung rudder," the "lead filled keel" and the bow thruster. The boat toured is a 2004 hull named Capers.

repairs⚙ engine⚙ engine mounts⚙ exhaust riser

Owner Jim says the boat "wasn't in real good shape" when he bought it in the British Virgin Islands: worn steps, a battery leak, bent transom rails, and he believes a past engine riser failure put salt water on the engine, leaving significant rust, so he changed the engine mounts.

repairs⚙ keel bolts

Jim says a surveyor suggested checking the keel bolts. He tightened them last year, which meant lifting the engine, because three or four keel bolts sit underneath it. He knows of no Hylas that has lost its keel.

repairs⚙ bow thruster wiring

Jim says the wiring to the bow thruster motor, reached through the forward head area, "started corroding" and he ran new wire from the point where sound wire was found.

discusses

Jim says that at anchor he wishes the cockpit had a little more room, and that his previous 43-foot boat was roomier there. He suggests a slightly smaller aft cabin headroom could have given the cockpit more space.

warns⚙ deck core

Standing on the foredeck, Jim says he heard complaints from other 46 owners that "the core sometimes got a little soft" there, so he had his guy in Trinidad remove it and put in solid fiberglass.

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Broker's tour of a 2009 boat. Of the engine room he says "one of the great things Hylas are renowned for is the mechanical access". He shows twin filters with a vacuum gauge and water sensors so filters can be changed on the go, a generator fuel filter, and the engine (about 1,400 hours), where the turbocharger and exhaust elbow show "no rust, no corrosion". His sales claim: the owner is fastidious and "a lot of the original hose has been replaced".

discusses

Broker on this boat's rig: a mast with electric furling and a carbon fiber whisker pole. The boat is not fitted with a staysail, but "all the attachment points are there for it", with a deck attachment point and the hardware already on the mast, so an inner forestay could be added with Dyneema or a fixed furler.

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Broker points out the raised forward Pullman berth, which hinges up for storage. He says later Hylas often had a washer dryer there, this boat does not, but one could be fitted. He also shows vacuum flush heads with electric macerator pumps, and says many older Hylas did not have macerators and used a manual dump with a hand pump.