Beam/quartering seas with 35TE Flybridge

[tconnelly254]

Hi all,

I made my 4th outing this past weekend on my new to me, 35TE Flybridge.

I was hit with quartering seas, modest at 2-3 ft, coming on the starboard side.

These conditions, in my previous boat (27' Sea Ray, a significantly less seaworthy boat by most standards) were very manageable, but in my Albin yesterday, it was actually pretty terrifying to experience the roll from the flybridge.

Now, this is my first flybridge boat, so I'm wondering if this is just a level of discomfort I need to deal with in general on flybridge boats? Is the keel a factor here?

What I ended up doing is tacking into the seas (broad), then pivoting towards port so we had following seas. It was unpleasant all around, even with throttle management and adjusting the trim tabs at various points.

Can anybody with this model boat offer some advice? It's pretty discouraging, to be honest -- boats way smaller than mine were handling the seas just fine. I guess I just need more experience at the helm of this boat!

[loganmj]

I don't have a flybridge on my 35TE and I have been in similar and larger waves on both quarters, up and down wind and while the boat does rock, I don't find it unsettling at all, but we are a lot closer to the water inside the cabin than you are on your FB. Yesterday we had seas on the Stbd quarter and I thought to myself it would have been quite a ride if we had a flybridge! I have noticed that the keel in combo with large rudders tend to keep the boat headed in the direction it wants to go due to wave action (which isn't always straight). In addition to just feeling like it is rocking more because you are farther off the water, the more weight you have up high (on FB) will tend to make the boat lean over more. Do you have a steering station inside? If so try that next time and see how it feels.

[ESpiegel]

I have similar questions regarding my new to me 31TE. Last week we were offshore Washington state and had 6-10 foot following seas off the port corner. I was trying to keep on plane at about 13 knots, but an exceptionally large wave had me going sideways on its face. I had two family members in deck chairs that went tumbling across the deck. I felt pretty bad. I ended up slowing down to about 10 knots and just letting the waves roll past me. Previous boat I would be doing 20+ knots in those conditions with no issues. I’m still having go-fast withdrawals....
What’s the correct way to navigate the big Albins in these conditions?

[loganmj]

My previous boat was an old 27' SeaSport repowered with twin outboards so it was quite a lot quicker, and had a fairly shallow V hull towards the stern and no keel so I was always changing angle of attack on the waves to smooth out the ride, but the boat was a lot more nimble. For how to handle 6-10 ft following seas on the quarter? I haven't been in those sort of conditions yet but we can get some pretty steep but smaller 3-5' waves that can be confused at times, I tend to steer bow down wind/waves if an unusally large wave sneaks up on me or a big 'hole' opens up such that the boat might alter course such that a wave will hit us broadside. I haven't been in rough conditions yet in my 35TE where I wished I was in my old boat over the Albin! Its twice the displacement, deeper V, wider, and has a nice low CG. I do slow down too (10-14 kts) when it is really choppy, but that is usually when we are headed into the wind, or for situations where the wind is against a few knot current and the waves really stack up.

[tconnelly254]

6-10 footers, oh my goodness. If I was doing what I was doing in 3 footers, in 6 footers, I'd have been in trouble.

LoganMJ, no, I don't have a lower helm unfortunately.

I think I'm doing the wrong thing with the tabs. The roll was awful! In a quartering sea coming on my starboard, I'm guessing I should have my port tab all the way up, and starboard tab down (slightly)?

Would love to hear from someone here who has a flybridge model, on their experience.

[Norseman]

Never been on an Albin 35, but I assume it is the same designer and basically the same hull/form/shape except scaled up from the 28TE/31?
Done a solo crossing from Florida to the Bahamas and back on the 28TE, good ride, in fact very good ride for the size, all good,
Also crossed to the Bahamas on my previous boat, a Glacier Bay 2770.
Going East in 2-3’ seas we had to slow to 15 knots, even then seatbelts should be mandatory.
Coming back in following quarter 5-6‘ seas the boat rolled up to 30 degrees. (I have an angle-o-meter on all my boats)
The Glacier Bays are kind of known for good rides in rough seas.
Not in my book, the Albin 28TE is heads and shoulders over and above the cat.
Hence I am surprised the 35 is rolling and disappointing..

[tconnelly254]

I think there are some significant differences/factors: Mine is a flybridge model, with a hardtop, so far more top heavy than a 28TE would be. Also, I have twins, so do not have the full keel.

[rcwhite]

My first thought would be too much tab. Pull back the tabs and adjust the
throttle. I admit, I will stubbornly use the tabs for the increased efficiency and occasionally
dive into a trough as a result but it isn't uncommon for us to be out in 3-5 or more and
haven't had any concerns. Sometimes we have to adjust but will run around 19k (slower pushing into the weather) if we are looking to make time. Being on the flybridge, there will be more movement.
with the helm seats on posts exaggerating this, which takes some getting used to.

Regarding your thoughts on the tabs, with a sea on the starboard quarter,
setting starboard bow down (port tab down) and port bow up (stbd tab up)
would cut back on diving into the trough.. Obviously adjusting how much for conditions..

The 35 generally tracks well and we have been out in a variety of conditions. The AP
has always been able to maintain regardless of if we were running slow or trying to make distance.
In open water, we will sit ahead of the console with the bench being more comfortable than
the helm seats for extended periods in weather.

While the 28 & 35 share the TE designation, they definitely do not handle the same. The 28 having
a skeg rather than the full keeled 35 seems more suited to planing. The 28 has a softer (wetter) ride but is a great all around boat. The 35 is dryer but will pound a bit more easily. For extended
traveling the 35 is far more comfortable not surprisingly.

When we purchased ours after having a 28, I was a bit concerned prior to the maiden voyage
from MD to ME having just a flybridge. I had visions of water coming up over the bridge in weather
like it does on the 28 as well as being tossed around too much but found the boat to be generally
dry and stable. Since then we have put 1500 hours on the 35 traveling the east coast, not always in
the best weather and have been pleased with the boat.

Boats handle differently in the same conditions. It can take a little time to
learn what works best for your particular boat.

[loganmj]

rcwhite -
Great info. Our previous boat pounded bad and had its own peculiar personality (some good, some bad) so I did a lot of research on this forum before committing to our 35TE. While there were a lot of posts about how the 28's cut thru the chop but were wet rides, there wasn't as much on the 35's. Once we got the boat we found it was not much more wet than our previous boat. It was better about pounding thru chop but you get to a point where it still will pound.

Your comparison between the 28 and the 35 is valuable, thanks for stating it!

Still no regrets on the step up to the 35TE. I'm still working thru a backlog of deferred maintenance items (in my view), but overall, no regrets.