Author: Hardy

WHAT A WEEK !

H42

479

Hardy 50DS prelim prof

 Hardy are excited to announce TWO signed contracts in the same week!  The first being for a new Hardy 42, the 29th hull of this popular model, going to an existing Hardy owner, and the second is for the latest model to the fleet, the Hardy 52DS with flybridge which was agreed on a handshake at the recent London On Water Show.  This will be the 1st of the new model and will be on the water next Spring.

2018 is proving to be an excellent year for Hardy, keep watching this page for updates as the yachts move into production!

ROBIN RETIRES

robin-1
Having been with Gunfleet since 2014 the time has come for Robin to fully enjoy the fruits of his labours after dedicating his whole career life to the yachting industry.

Initially with Berthon International where he was Director for many years before moving to Oyster Marine as Director and heading up the USA office, eventually returning to their UK Head Office in Ipswich for a few years before changing his boat-show shirts for Gunfleet & Hardy under the umbrella of the Windboats Group.

With plans for plenty of time in the garden, a holiday to the Spanish Islands, and no doubt a long list of DIY jobs around the house from Mrs Campbell, we wish Robin all the very best for the future and thank him for his dedicated commitment to the industry throughout his career.

There will be one last chance to see him at the London On Water Show 10-12th May where you will find him on the Gunfleet & Hardy stand.

 

NEW MEMBER OF THE MANAGEMENT TEAM

Julian

With the upcoming retirement of our internationally respected Sales Manager, Robin Campbell, we would like to take this opportunity to welcome Julian Weatherill who joins us to take on the role of Head of Sales & Marketing

Julian has a wealth of sailing knowledge with over 80,000 miles under his belt – so you are in good hands!  His early career started out in banking but he soon moved into the yachting industry, initially skippering 60-100ft luxury yachts world-wide for 8 years cruising far away destinations such as Alaska and South Pacific, before moving ashore to Suffolk as Client Project Manager for Oyster, delivering 11 years of first hand advice to owners for the specification of their new yacht.

We are pleased to have Julian aboard and hope you take the opportunity to meet with him at the upcoming shows to discuss your next yacht.

London on Water Show, May 10th – 12th 2018
Southampton Boat Show, September 14th – 23rd 2018

LONDON ON WATER 2018

london-on-water

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hardy-42-sea-going-boat

 

 

 

We look forward to welcoming you aboard the Hardy 40DS during the show, which opens Thursday 10th May and runs through to Saturday 12th, 11am – 7pm daily at St. Katherine Docks next to Tower Bridge.

Our 40DS is an example of our 32-65ft range and offers contemporary and stylish accommodation combined with first-class engineering for all-weather sea and inland cruising, to suit your every boating desire!

If you are planning a visit to the show, it would be great to know in advance either by email to sales@windboats.co.uk  or call us on +44 (0)7803 301851.

More information about the show can be found at www.londononwater.com

HARDY 65 – MOTORBOAT & YACHTING MAGAZINE

What a Test!!!

Those who visited the Southampton Boat Show would have seen the wonderful Hardy 65/02 MARESIA, with her purposeful  Hardy traditional exterior and exquisite designer interior that seems to wow all who step aboard.

One of those visitors was Jack Haines of Motorboat and Yachting who, after and extensive tour asked if we could accommodate an extended boat test. As it happened, MARESIA was due back in Ipswich for a few extra bits and pieces and, after some starts and stops on planning, it was agreed to use the delivery trip back to MARESIA’S home port of Jersey, to carry out their test.

As we all know, the cold weather has been quite extensive so eventually we thought we found a window for both weather and everyone’s availability around the Monday 19th March. The plan was to meet the MBY team in Gosport on the Sunday night for a crossing on the Monday.

As these things often go, the weather was not looking that great, so we set of from Ipswich on Friday 17th with the idea of clearing the North Sea and Kent coast where the forecast was for F7s and 8s building from the north. We’d then have an easier leg along the south coast to Gosport.

Crossing the Thames estuary at around 18:00 in calm seas, the latest forecast was telling us of F7s, 8s occasional 9s and snow, imminent! Ooooh! Our initial thoughts were to look at Ramsgate or Dover, but upon checking out the detailed weather maps we could see ourselves getting stuck for days if we stopped, but, if we pushed on overnight, we’d  probably stay ahead of all the nasty stuff before arriving in Gosport. The decision was made, throttles down and Portsmouth Harbour bound.  It was the right decision. The seas were generally calm and winds about 17-20 knots. 2300rpm and 21-22knots boat speed. We arrived at Gosport Premier Marina at 02.30. With our berth pre-booked we tied up just as the strong and very cold winds came in. Phew!

Our MBY guests were not due until Sunday night, so Saturday and Sunday was spent watching the weather get worse with ever stronger and cold winds. Waking up on Sunday was amazing, a white marina and about 6” of snow everywhere. It going to be an interesting test!!

Jack and photographer Richard arrived late Sunday to a forecast mid channel of F7s and 8s with 3.5m seas and wind gusts on the other side (Channel Islands) possibly over 50 knots. Was it correct to continue we asked ourselves? For sure this is what Hardys are all about,  but the purpose of the exercise was to show MBY how she performs and handles in as wide a spectrum of situations as possible. In such extreme conditions aerial photography with a drone would be out of the question and in seamanship terms, why risk a cross-channel passage with such a bad forecast. All sensible and valid reasons to change the plan.

So it was decided that, with the northerly strong winds forecast, the Solent would give us plenty of sea-action and, if dropped off on the end of Yarmouth Pier, Richard might be able to launch his drone and/or we could get some wonderful full-chat fly-pasts of MARESIA doing, what she does best.

We nosed out of Gosport at about 09.30 on Monday to brilliant sunshine and flat calm seas. ”Oh fiddle sticks” we said (or words to that effect) “we need more wind and waves than this”. After another quick look at the weather maps and forecasts we decided to run down the back (south-side) of the Isle of Wight where the wind would fill in and the seas build from the east. Well, we were not wrong! We found 3m seas, very short and dead behind us. Wind around28-33knots. With the engines at about 1950 rpm and we were surfing into the back of the waves ahead of us and touching 26knots.

We certainly found the ‘testing’ conditions we were looking for. She was on autopilot and not once did we feel any loss of control. It was amazing. In fact, sitting inside with the heating on it felt like a mildly choppy day cruising at about 16knots. Not sure what the coastguards thought of us, but we and MARESIA were in our element. I had my slippers on!!

We rounded the Needles just after lunch and heading up wind through the Hurst Narrows for Yarmouth. It was pretty lumpy off the Dolphin Bank but the Hardy 65’s flared bow just cut through it all and sent the ‘big greenies’ flying aft over the top.

We arrived in Yarmouth with the idea of dropping off the photographer, but Yarmouth in a northerly is not great. We nosed our way in but all the landing pontoons were across the wind, so the prospect of having to try and get off (twice) with 33-38knots holding us onto the pontoons, led us to abandon the idea. With a very tight spin-on-a-sixpence right inside Yarmouth we got out of there and headed for Poole.

Once in Poole Harbour the wind eased a bit and with Richard on the breakwater just outside Poole Yacht Club Marina at Hamworthy, he was able to launch the drone. We’ve not seen them yet, but the fly-past shots should be quite dramatic!

All in all we all agreed it was a great test with some great action shots. Yes it would have been nice to get to Guernsey, but at least our friends from MBY experienced a night on board and a whole bunch of varied conditions.

Tuesday’s forecast was less severe with 25-30knots of wind and 2.5m seas from astern. Fresh from the experiences round the back of the Island, we set off to Guernsey to reunite MARESIA with her owners and thence back home to Jersey.

All was great until about 10 miles before the Alderney Race where those pesky 3m+ seas popped up again and the wind increased to about 35knots. The seas of course were a little confused, but yet again the Hardy 65 just took it all in her stride. The tide and seas were with us through the Race.so it was reasonably flat with a long swell – MARESIA was obviously keen to get home because yet again we saw her surfing at 23-24knots.

We arrived in St Peter Port circa 15.00 (a 6hr crossing) in bright sunshine. A quick wash down and she’s ready for her owners’ arrival in the morning. Guernsey to Jersey was a breeze, flat calm, cruising gently at 17knots with a beaming smile from MARESIA’S owner. A lovely end to a very interesting test and delivery home.

We understand that there will be video footage on the MBY website presently, with the written report published soon.

Nick Creed – Commercial Manager, Windboats Marine Ltd

H65 trip 1

H65 3

 

BOOT ’18 DÜSSELDORF

Hardy Motor Yachts will be at ‘boot’ in January, alongside another Windboats Group brand – Gunfleet sailing yachts.  We would be delighted to meet you at the show to tell you more about our 10m to 20m range, and to update you with developments.

boo1602_tm40_Landscape_cmyk

 

The highlight of 2017 has been the delivery of the fabulous new Hardy 65 MARESIA, which has set a totally new bench-mark for Hardy finish and quality. This has resulted in new developments of the Hardy 50, two new versions of which are being finalised now.

If you are planning a visit to the show, it would be great to know in advance either by email to sales@hardymarine.co.uk or call Robin Campbell on +44 (0)7803 301851.

Information about the show may be found at http://www.boat-duesseldorf.com

UK PREMIERE for the NEW HARDY 65 

SBS 2017 TYM LOGO AND DATE RGB

 

Hardy 65 at Southampton Boat Show – Marina Berth M238

Hardy motor yachts, having been in production for over forty years ago and with over 4,000 boats delivered world-wide, are renowned in the UK for their robust quality and outstanding sea-keeping qualities.  The new Hardy 65 takes this to a totally new level, combining the superyacht finish of her custom interior with purposeful yet modern exterior styling, and an outstanding engine room.  The first of this new line, MARESIA, will be exhibited at Show.

We know that she is going to generate a lot of attention, and we want to be sure that all those interested are able to see her.  Viewing will be by appointment only, so please contact us in advance of your visit to arrange a viewing time via email to sales@windboats.co.uk or call Robin Campbell on +44 (0) 1473 694747 or mobile + 44 (0) 7803 301851.

 

 

Hardy 65 press release

Hardy 65 at 20 knots

Owners stateroom 4 Hardy65 (8 of 17)

Hardy motor yachts, having been in production for over forty years ago and with over 4,000 boats delivered worldwide, are renowned in the UK for their robust quality and outstanding sea-keeping qualities.

The new Hardy 65 takes this to a new level, combining the superyacht finish of her custom interior with purposeful yet modern styling. The first of this new line, MARESIA, will be exhibited at the Southampton Boat Show in September.

Hardy 65 at Jersey Boat Show

The stunning new HARDY 65 will have her world premiere at the Barclays Jersey Boat Show – Saturday April 29 to May 1.

Hardy 65

The 65 combines Hardy’s traditional sea-going DNA and rugged construction with contemporary styling and superyacht finish.

Entry to the show is free.   We know that she will draw a lot of attention, so please contact us in advance so that we can reserve a viewing appointment for you.

E: robin.campbell@windboats .co.uk D: +44(0)1473 694674 M: +44(0)7803 301851