New Listing – 1998 Fantasi 44 Pilothouse

Grabau International is delighted to announce the listing of the 1998 Fantasi 44 Pilothouse ‘DAWDLE’.

The original Fantasi 44 Pilot House. A boat that started a legend and a build run of 21 boats between 1998 and 2012. DAWDLE has had just two British owners since new and has just benefitted from a comprehensive 2019/20 refit.

FURTHER BROKER’S COMMENTS:

Originally launched in 1998, DAWDLE is hull no.1 of the Gabriel Heyman designed Fantasi 44 Pilot House from Jaccobsson’s in Sweden.

Her aft cockpit design features a sleek pilot saloon profile that allows excellent all-round visibility from the lower chart table. An electronic throttle control and autopilot repeater control allows watches to be kept from below decks when passage-making. DAWDLE has been configured for effortless short-handed sailing and benefits from in-mast furling, tandem furling foresails with self-tacking jib, hydraulic push-button reefing from the cockpit and a powerful bowthruster for close-quarters manoeuvring.

Below decks, her comfortable and beautifully appointed teak-finished two cabin, two heads layout offers plentiful living space for a short-handed crew with a large upper saloon, lower dinette and fantastic lower galley. Servicing these areas are a plethora of ‘blue water’ essentials including newly-installed generator, washing machine and both fridge and freezer compressors.

The Fantasi 44 really is a very very special yacht and one which would simply not be financially viable to build today. Most are still in original ownership as there are few yachts out there that offer an improvement.

DAWDLE’s specification and refit highlights include:-
• Full hull restoration including epoxy system and Coppercoat
• Overhauled teak deck
• Upgraded electronics including Raymarine radar/plotters
• New electronic gear/throttle controls at upper and lower helms (with pilot control at lower helm)
• New batteries
• New generator
• New battery chargers
• New sails plus unused cruising chute
• Professionally inspected standing rigging
• Overhauled hydraulic furling for mainsail and genoa
• Self-tacking jib
• Electric primary winches
• New wind generator
• Bowthruster
• Refitted deck saloon windows and replaced deckhead hatch perspexes
• New upholstery
• Upgraded refrigeration and freezer
• Hydronic diesel fired cabin heating system
• New sprayhood and bimini with stainless steel frames
• Alloy-bottomed RIB with 15hp 2-stroke outboard engine

UK-flagged, UK VAT paid and located in the EU at the end of 2020, DAWDLE is available for sale with EU Union status (if sold in Europe), or UK VAT-paid status (if delivered back to the UK for sale closure). Please contact us for further details.

** NOTE – DAWDLE is available for delivery and handover 1st September 2021 in Sant Carles **
** NOTE – Preliminary photographs provided – more photographs to follow in early July **

OWNER’S COMMENTS:

I purchased Dawdle in June 2018 and sailed her from Peterhead to Chatham in Kent for a professional refit. It was clear that with a 20-year-old boat my objective was to upgrade and replace many of the mechanical systems onboard so that I could be certain of its operation on long voyages where spares may not be available. I also wanted to make sure that the hull steering gear and propellor were all in good sound condition and the rig was working well.

Following many hundreds of hours of work refitting the boat, in 2019 we sailed and cruised the southwest coast from Dover to Falmouth returning to Chatham marina in the autumn to overwinter. In 2020 we left Chatham in March intending to sail to the Mediterranean. The pandemic put pay to this, and the boat was sailed to the Hamble. In July 2020 after lifting and hull inspection and we departed Weymouth and sailed across Biscay stopping off at la Coruna Gibraltar and Ibiza during the course of voyages DAWDLE has handled sustained 55kts of wind, moderate to rough seas, and has always handled them admirably In all respects the boat sails very well.

DAWDLE remained in Ibiza for the summer from July until September. When I sailed north at the end of September, I was concerned that it looked like travel would become difficult, so DAWDLE was winterised at the excellent MDL marina in Sant Carles and I returned to the UK. The remaining ‘to do list’ is now pretty small and includes some sprucing up of the varnish around the companionway and replacement of some drawer catches that failed to appreciate 55kts of wind in Biscay. Included with the boat are a wealth of duplicated spares onboard for self-sufficiency and to ensure that DAWDLE’s new custodians have a ‘turn key’ boat to sail off on new adventures.

DESIGNER’S COMMENTS:

A true pilothouse yacht, the Fantasi 44 offers an unobstructed view from the upstairs seating. This is a lovely place to hide from the sun or enjoy a book while listening to the rain, or for the watch-keeper.

But first of all, Fantasi 44 is a proper sailboat. The freeboard is lower than usual. The keel has a longish fin with the lead positioned very low, in a pronounced bulb. Therefore, in spite of the yacht being of moderate displacement, she has turned out just as stiff and powerful as you would expect from a ‘blue water cruiser’.
The result is a modern yacht with a slender, easily-driven hull shape. This has paid off: Fantasi 44 slices softly through waves, without pitching. Her long waterline gives good speed potential.

(This talk about performance is not just words. The Pilothouse version of Fantasi 44 is in itself 1000 kgs heavier than the Classic and Dawdle, F 44 Pilothouse #1, in particular does carry some extra weight. She has a 600 kg Selden rig with a roller-furling mainsail. She was crewed by three people in their sixties on her first September trip across the North Sea. Still, they averaged 7,4 knots in 24 hours – close-hauled! This is probably a knot more than you would normally expect for a 14-ton, 44’ Pilothouse cruising yacht in such conditions! We attribute her performance to the efficient hull shape and weight distribution.)

On Deck:

Most Fantasi 44:s have twin-headstay rigs, the inner forestay carrying a near-masthead self-tacking jib. Together with the swept spreaders, this gives good fore-and-aft support of the rig, without need for runners.

The 44’s rig and decks are kept as clean and simple as possible. The mainsail and the control lines can be run concealed to the electric main winches on the cockpit coamings. The only lines on deck which we have not managed to get rid of are the genoa sheets!

The cockpit seating is unusually comfortable. The helmsman’s seat, aft deck and central part of transom fold out in one piece, opening the cockpit aft and forming a boarding platform.

Below Decks:

Maybe downstairs is a misleading term. With this boat, it is more a matter of going ‘in’ or going ‘out’. Being inside does definitely not give the impression of being downstairs.

When designing the Fantasi 44, I had no problems trying to imagine what she would be like inside the pilothouse, at anchor or in port. I could also imagine myself in the navigator’s seat during a watch, motoring along the coast on a cold November day.

What I failed to realise was the beauty of this layout at sea, under sail. With her toughened, double-glazed windows, and through her stiff GRP sandwich construction, she has turned out whisper silent down below also under sail. So what you have is an airy, secure, warm, dry & silent place to stay – in a cruising yacht with an unusually easy motion!

This also turns out to be a perfect layout for the watch-keeper, allowing not just the off-watch but in fact everybody to move about freely in the boat, making coffee, reading, working or listening to music. All you need to do is remind yourself to look out every five minutes or so.

The downstairs port-side galley is laid out with ample work surfaces surrounding the cook. This also means that everything is at hand and there is good support for offshore use. Being open towards the upstairs seating and the pilothouse front windows above, there is a tremendous sense of space.

Opposite the galley is a choice of two armchairs or a sofa with a table which folds out of the backrest. There is room for a TV/VCR, books and a hi-fi system. This is a more private place to relax but still light and airy.

The aft stateroom spans the beam of the yacht, has more than 1.96m standing headroom, a bureau, lockers and shelves. It has an asymmetric cabintop. The main entrance from the cockpit is thus offset to starboard and pushed a little forward.

Gabriel Hayman

MANUFACTURER HISTORY:

Fantasi Yachts are based in Uddevalla, Sweden, in the centre of an area famous for yacht construction, with the likes of Hallberg Rassy, Najad, Sweden Yachts, and Regina as close neighbours.

Founded in 1942, Fantasi Yachts have built over 350 boats in varying sizes from dinghies all the way up to 80ft one-off yachts. From the very beginning, the yard has also placed particular attention to ongoing boat maintenance, service and repairs, which has now become the core of the current business.

Beginning with the Fantasi 30, first launched in the 1960’s, and then followed by the legendary Fantasi 37, launched in 1974 and with over 80 built up until 1997, the ultimate incarnation of the Fantasi Yachts line was the Fantasi 44, launched in the mid 1990’s and with 21 boats delivered by the time the yard moved away from new yacht construction in 2007.

Fantasi Yachts has now passed into the second-generation family operation with the focus now on yacht service and repair as well as operation of a 250 berth marina in Kallviken. The same passion for genuine craftsmanship however remains firmly intact.

1998 Fantasi 44 Pilothouse – ‘DAWDLE’ – Asking £225,000 VAT paid – full details here

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