PROSPERO

Prospero was the seventh Huzar 30 to be built by EM Yachts of Poland. Although I could have taken delivery in Southampton, I decided to collect her in Gdansk and explore some of the Baltic before bringing her back to England.

I took her over in July, in the harbour of Gorki Zachodnie. There we spent a few days getting the feel of the boat. I must say that EM Yachts did a good job - the workmanship and finish look, to me, to be excellent. The woodwork down below is very solid and is not laminated ply, but solid wood. The builders have also been extremely helpful with my questions - some of which have been very esoteric!

It is a tribute to the designers that there is almost nothing I would change. It is exactly what I wanted. Not too big to handle by myself, yet big enough to be comfortable, and to live aboard for extended periods. There is a double cabin forward, and a double to starboard in the stern. To port are the heads, with a loo, hanging space for oilies, and a sink. This can also be used as a shower, and there is a shower area and pump. Hot water is provided either from an electric heater or from the engine when it has been running. The water stays hot in the tank long after the engine has been switched off.

The galley has a Plastimo cooker, running off propane. The cylinder is in a locker at the rear of the cockpit. There is an electric freezer, and the sink has hot and cold running water. All the water in the boat is pump fed.

The engine is a Beta 20 saildrive, fitted beneath the companionway. The steps lift up, with a hinge at the top and a gas strut, to give access. It is fitted with a folding prop. It gives 5 knots at 2000rpm, and seems very economical on diesel.

'Prospero' in Leba

All very good so far, but how does she sail? I was interested to note that Sailing Today did a comparison of 24 boats up to 30 foot - 8 new, and 16 secondhand. The Huzar was one of those in the article, and looking at the facts and figures, it has the largest sail area at 50m². This slightly surprised me, as it is fractional rig with a relatively small jib, but the boom goes back a long way. The main is fully battened, and hoists easily enough. It has lazyjacks with a zipup bag: very handy, but you have to be almost dead head to wind when raising or lowering the sail, otherwise the battens foul on the lazyjacks. Worth it for the sheer convenience, but I haven't yet had to try to take it down in a good blow.

First time out was in very light winds, but she seemed to move well. Then our first sail to another port: Gdynia. The wind was on the nose, and rose in strength over the first few hours, so it was a good F5 or more. Although she'd coped well, she was becoming overpressed, and was starting, gently, to round up. The reefing system is one line, so it all goes back to the cockpit. There are advantages and disadvantages to the system: the advantage is that you just put the line on the winch and turn the handle; the disadvantages are that there is a lot of line to wind in, and you have to wind quite hard.

Gdynia to Hel was in much lighter winds: F2 to 3, with the wind slightly free. With full rig up, I discovered I could leave the helm to itself: the boat would steer quite happily for quite long periods. I found the same on a dead run in light winds - I could leave the helm for long enough to make a cup of coffee or visit the heads.

I fitted an autohelm - essential for singlehanding - and discovered that when going to windward, even in a Force 5, you could put the autohelm to STANDBY, and the boat would steer itself. It's effectively the same as lashing the helm, except that you have a little more control. I think the boat steered itself better that way than if I'd set it to AUTO.

As you can see, I have gone for the tiller option, although a wheel is available. I prefer a tiller - certainly singlehanded. Psychologically, I don't like being behind a wheel. You can also hold the tiller with one hand, and deal with anything else in the cockpit at the same time. But that's my own preference and prejudice. The main is on a traveller: here it is centred. On the wheel version, the main goes to the ring you can see in front of the tiller. The main can be hauled in with either of two ropes: one is on an 8:1 purchase, the other a 4:1.

The photo shows the cockpit off to advantage: there is an enormous amount of room. The width is ideal: you can sit on one side, and brace yourself with your feet against the other in perfect comfort. The open transom is unusual but effective: the two guard wires and the end seat can be detached if you want, although the seat does add enormously to the room for party giving in harbour. Certainly, on the test sail before hand over, we had six of us in the cockpit, and it didn't seem crowded. Now, how many thirty footers can you say that about?

And some more pictures, taken during my cruise round the Baltic.

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