Anyone know this yacht?

[tdsail]

Hi All,
I've purchased a 23/24 foot yacht which noone seems to know much about.  I have found out that it is a possible Tornado 720 but I have never seen another one, nor have I been able to find any info on the internet (hours of searching!!)...any help or information on her would be much appreciated!
Link to pictures:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/30858735@N03/2889687806/in/photostream/

Thanks for any help :)

[skylark]

Perhaps a Hurley Silhouette?

http://www.hurleyownersassociation.co.uk/pages/sil.htm

[tdsail]

Nope, I used to have a hurley 20 so know a bit about them, but this one's not it...

[s/v Faith]

Congrats on the new boat.

 

She has some very unique lines, I bet someone from the UK might be able to place her (with the twin keels I am betting she was not made on this side of the pond).

  Have you sailed her yet?  What does the interior look like?  Bet it feels pretty big inside with all that window space... might want to figure out a way to strengthen that before you take it off shore though...

  Definitely won't have any problems finding her in an anchorage, she has a very distinctive look.

[tdsail]

  Have you sailed her yet?  What does the interior look like?  Bet it feels pretty big inside with all that window space... might want to figure out a way to strengthen that before you take it off shore though...

  Definitely won't have any problems finding her in an anchorage, she has a very distinctive look.

Yes she is quite unique, not sure if thats a good thing or a bad thing yet :) For the windows I am thinking of making two stormboards out of marine ply but still need to figure a way to secure them properly (and relatively easy to put on and take off)
As to the inside I intend to live aboard for a while on her but generally she's comfortable with gas cooker, solid fuel heater and separate heads (and not bad for height even tho i'm 6'7) :)

[dnice]

Nice looking boat, congrats.

Maybe shoot an email to this guy

He's been producing a twin keelers news letter for a few years no...couldn't hurt.

[tdsail]

Thanks for that I will send the email shortly.  I intend to make her offshore ready and would like to do the JC2010 (crossing the atlantic from UK to US)...I guess all depends on her sailing ability, the previous owner did mention that she's a great all rounder but not particularly fast (she's quite heavy)....i've still got a few things to go and will hopefully re-launch her very soon...

[AdriftAtSea]

The Twin keels make it far more likely to be a British design, than anything in the US... The US rarely uses twin keels as most marinas don't dry out here, and there's little need for the boat to be able to take to the ground, as they do in the UK.

[David_Old_Jersey]

Doesn't look immediately recognisable to me (of course simply being the other side of World doesn't make me an expert on all things over here  :P)........but just to confuse things further - my first reaction was "she looks French"  :-*

Beneteau (and others) made a squillion small boats like this designed for max space, with a certain practical style (?!) and requiring little by the way of TLC and easy to berth in all kinds of mud.........sort of like this:-





(this is a Beneteau Piranha - so you can scratch that off your list!)

[tdsail]

Yes someone mentioned that it may also be french given her lines...i did look through the beneteau range and did not find anything matching...i guess this will be a long term quest :)  what i do like about her is that the cockpit is fairly small (so reasonably safe in rough weather) and there is a fair bit of space below...the only danger so far I can see are the windows but i do intend to make/fit storm boards...

[tdsail]

hi All,

I have posted in the main section not realising that there is a dedicted boat section (sorry new here)...I have finally managed to find my ideal boat (given the budget which is very small:) ) and so I have obtained a Tornado 720 (7.2m loa) twin keel yacht.  Now the problem is that I don't know if this design name is right or not and trying to find any history and/or information about her...someone did mention that it may be british (and possibly build by lytton boat builders but they closed in the late 80s) or french...anyhow any information would be much appreciated as would any suggestions..
One thing to say that with the exceptionof large windows (which are nice but def be covered by storm boards) she is very strongly built (at least a 1 inch thick hull), given her shape probably in the 80s and I intend to cross the atlantic with her to visit your find country in 2010...here's a pic of her just before I got her (now the hull is painted nice deep red)...

[skylark]

http://www.seawych.org/

[skylark]

If I were taking a boat with those ports on open water, I would consider removing the plexiglass and replacing it with plywood.    Given the curve of the cabin side, it might be best to use two layers of 1/4" rather than one layer, epoxy laminating the two layers.  Then it would be easy to add a more modest port or two.

[AdriftAtSea]

That may not be a single port.  My friend's boat has a similar looking port but it is actually three separate ports with a single piece of plexiglass covering all three. I'd bet that if you look inside the boat there are one or two pukkars along that  port.

[tdsail]

That may not be a single port.  My friend's boat has a similar looking port but it is actually three separate ports with a single piece of plexiglass covering all three. I'd bet that if you look inside the boat there are one or two pukkars along that  port.

Yes you are right....I'm thinking of non-perm storm boards for these 'lovely' windows...what say you?

[skylark]

Do they leak at all?  What is the thickness of the plexiglass? How old is the glass, is there a chance it might be brittle?

Without having seen it (!), I would replace with plywood because all ports leak eventually and plexiglass gets old and brittle in the sun.  Also I think the boat would look good with a round port or two but thats just my opinion.  Storm shutters are an option but they don't protect against leaks.  In this case I would just fix the problem and never mind with storm shutters.

By the way, is it a Sea Wytch?  Looks like it to me.

[AdriftAtSea]

I'd just replace the glazing with new, thicker glazing, preferably LEXAN. 3/8" lexan is probably as heavy as you'd need, since anything that can break 3/8" lexan is going to turn the boat into splinters more likely than not. :)   The problem with storm boards is that they're a PITA to install, create more possible leak points and add unnecessary weight and complexity to the system.

Yes you are right....I'm thinking of non-perm storm boards for these 'lovely' windows...what say you?

[tdsail]

By the way, is it a Sea Wytch?  Looks like it to me.

Nope not a seawytch....looks similar but seawych is smaller...my yacht's loa is 7.2m

[hearsejr]

 does it look like the one here?
http://longisland.craigslist.org/boa/910888282.html

  24' 1970 Twin Keel Tylercraft

 

[hearsejr]

 this guy named Bill might can help...his email is sailor4you(at)hotmail.com replace the (at) with @

  Bill