Overview
The Hylas 70 is a German Frers design built for Hylas Yachts by Queen Long Marine in Taiwan. It was the Hylas flagship when Cruising World named it 2008’s Full-Size Cruiser of the Year.
Design and Construction
It measures 69 ft 8 in overall on a 61 ft 7 in waterline and displaces 75,190 lb, with 28,980 lb of ballast according to sailboatdata.com. Owners chose a deep keel drawing 9 ft 1 in or a shoal keel at 8 ft 2 in. The masthead sloop carries about 2,400 sq ft. Twin wheels in the center cockpit give the helmsman a clear view and access to the sail controls. The boat Cruising World profiled, Angkor Wat, was the fifth hull of the Hylas 66/70 line, with a centerboard that took draft from just over 8 ft to 11 ft 10 in. Its sail handling ran on hydraulics, with critical systems doubled: two central hydraulic pumps and two pressure-water pumps. The owners found two people could sail her reasonably comfortably but would not take her offshore as a couple alone. The Hylas 70 grew out of the Hylas 66: Angkor Wat’s owners had settled on the 66 until the builder proposed the extended 70 with a redesigned deck. Her mainsail furls into a hydraulically driven Leisure Furl boom rather than the mast, after the owners failed to find anyone who would agree to in-mast furling. The winches, windlasses and furlers are all hydraulic, and the winches cannot be operated remotely, so the operator has to be at the winch to see that it is clear.
Buyers Notes
John Neal rates it 4 of 5 for performance, tankage and storage, and says newer Hylas boats are much better built, with fewer deck leaks, than older ones.
Cruising World’s Quick Look describes the layout as an owner’s cabin aft that is well insulated from the rest of the accommodations, two queen-berth cabins forward that each have a head and share a shower, and a fourth cabin with upper and lower bunks and its own facilities that could house a professional crew. The large machinery space is under the cockpit. On Angkor Wat all five fuel and four water tanks can be dipped for a visual check, and the pale bamboo cabin sole runs through the accommodations. In a light breeze Cruising World’s reviewer found the genoa reluctant to tack through the slot between the headstay and inner forestay; his fix was to furl part of it and unfurl on the new tack, or to use the staysail in a narrow channel.
![2010 Hylas 70 | ROVER - Flagship Bluewater Cruiser [SOLD]](https://img.youtube.com/vi/V5_I0WwlENg/mqdefault.jpg)
![2015 Hylas 70 | INDEPENDENCE - Walkthrough & Yacht Tour [SOLD]](https://img.youtube.com/vi/4F_OXO68C8U/mqdefault.jpg)
