Lyman-Morse 46 Performance Cruiser
10 20 Topic : Yacht Reviews
WoodenBoat Magazine Reviews the Lyman-Morse 46 Performance Cruiser, Tad Roberts
The "Performance Cruiser" is a strong and popular market segment, and as a new entry the Lyman-Morse 46 should be a success based on looks, specifications, and pedigree. The computer renderings show a very good looking and totally up-to-date coastwise cruiser. Designer Kevin Dibley has created a boat to be fast and comfortable in the mixed and unpredictable conditions met during the typical two week summer Cruise, but also about that will be easy to get underway quickly and they sailing club racing situations.
An additional aim is to incorporate modern first design features in a comfortable cruising boat. This means a powerful boat with plenty of beam, a large but not-to-tall rig, some structural structural weight so the boat is quiet and predictable, and up-to-date but not extreme appendages. Immediately obvious is the way the design has pulled both the maximum beam and the rig aft. Traditionally we would expect the mast on the leading edge of the keel to land at about station for; but in the LM46 the mast is back at station 4.3 and the headstay is pulled well aft of the stemhead. The general effect is to minimise the yacht's tendency to trim bow-down but with heeling. The form at the LM46 should produce bow-up trim as the boat heals, keeping the deck and crew dryer and happier than they would otherwise be.
Lyman-Morse is marketing wooden construction in a non-traditional semi-production yacht, and that is newsworthy. To be already-committed, the choice of sheathed wood has been obvious for a long time. Lyman-Morse's stated reasons for choosing wood include sustainability, acoustic and thermal insulation, interior character, and enthusiasm from both customers and employees. To these I would add structural superiority, since no manufactured core material would be so puncture resistant or longitudinally stiff.
It's relatively easy to create about that looks good from forward of the beam. The stern is much more difficult; this is where the designer must balance performance requirements against aesthetic's, and a hull billed as a performance cruiser, the stand quarters need to be beamy and powerful. Smaller transoms always look more graceful. In this case, Dibley has combined slightly more sheer than is usual today, with eight delicately tapered deck line aft. The well rounded sections with the slightly narrow waterline mean the motion will be more forgiving and less jerky than it would be with the nearly rectangular sectional form of most modern designs.
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