Overview
The Ovni 41 is an aluminum cutter designed by Philippe Briand and built by Alubat in France, built from 1986 to 1991. It belongs to the Ovni line of welded aluminum cruisers with a lifting keel or centerboard, a range John Neal rates 5 of 5 in his Boats to Consider for Ocean Cruising.
Design and Construction
The hull is 42.65 ft overall on a 33.79 ft waterline, with 14.11 ft of beam. Draft is 2.62 ft with the keel up and 8.20 ft down, so the boat can take the ground or enter shallow anchorages that a fixed deep keel would not. Displacement is 18,739 lb with 7,937 lb of ballast, a ballast ratio of 42.4 percent. The cutter rig carries a reported 926 sq ft of sail. Listed power is a 40 hp diesel.
Buyers Notes
Neal describes Alubat as a builder of simple and innovative lifting-keel aluminum cruising boats, and rates the whole 36 to 58 foot range 5 of 5. That is a rating of the yard’s range, not a survey of this model. On an aluminum boat the usual checks apply: condition of the paint system, anodes and signs of stray-current corrosion, and the working order of the keel or board lifting gear.
