Valdolese is a Beneteau 461, a fast, light displacement, 46' blue water ocean cruiser. Designed by leading naval architect Bruce Farr, she will be a stylish addition to the Sail Trek fleet, and will allow us to add a huge amount of scope to our sailing courses.
Valdolese is an ex-charter vessel and was acquired from Sunsail on Tortola, in the British Virgin Islands. 12 months of research went into finding her. It was an extensive and inexact process, as there is no such thing as a perfect vessel, just a series of compromises to enable us to find a vessel suitable for our requirements.
Acquisition is one thing, we now need to refit and bring her home. She will undergo a refit and shake-down cruising before setting out for Australia, via the Panama Canal. Over the next few weeks, I'll document the process on this web site, to give an idea of what was involved.
The trip home is expected to take 80 days and cover 10,000 nautical miles.
Once back, it's off to the Whitsundays for Hamilton Island Race Week!
Sail Trek is in the process of becoming a partner school of International YachtMaster Training, authors of sailing courses with worldwide accreditation.
Specifications
| Kind of Vessel | Sloop/ cutter rigged, auxiliary powered GRP sailing vessel |
| Builder | Beneteau, St. Hilaire de Riez, France |
| Designer | Bruce Farr |
| Model | Oceanis 461 / Four-cabin version. Series Number: 129. Built under survey by BUREAU VERITAS - Approval Number: 6631/6444/A0/0-1 |
| LOA | 14.20m / 45ft. 11in. |
| Built | 1998 |
| Draft | 1.75m / 5ft. 8in |
| Beam | 4.25m / 13ft. 6in. |
| Displacement | 9500kg / 20900 lbs |
| Water | 800 litres (plus 80 ltr/ hr water maker) |
| Fuel | 170 litres (plus 400 litres in turtlepacs) |
| Sails | 2 x Sets - Mains (2 x reefs) and 130% roller furling Genoas. 1 x Asymmetrical Spinnaker and dousing sock. 1 x storm jib, 1 x storm main with twin parallel mast tracks. 1 x stay sail. Lazy jacks. |
| Power | Yanmar 4JH3E 56HP |
| Registration | Australian Registered Vessel O.N. 858088 |
| Call sign | VMQ9096 |
| Iridium satellite phone | 8816-3157-2918 |
| MMSI | 503109100 |
| Sail number | ST461 |