VOYAGER 495
SEVERAL PHOTOS OF THIS BOAT ARE SHOWN ON THE STUDY boat plans ON DOWNLOAD or on USB -

Hi Bruce, I send you in the enclosure photos of our Voyager 495, which sailed to Canary Islands just 6 hours before hurricane Delta. The yacht is only little bit scratched and has torn sail while the neighbouring yacht has broken mast after being torn out of the boat and another fiberglass yachts had broken bow from hitting to the pier. Best regards Miloslav Kolomazník  COMBATRA spol. s r.o.Czech Republic

ANOTHER OF SEVERAL VOYAGER 495'S BEING BUILT WORLD-WIDE:

Norm Facey's Voyager 495 being built in Toronto.  Hi Bruce - yes I sent a greeting card to you the other day - It's just an update shot of the V495 I'm building - got the transom up, and all the aft stringers installed, and was celebrating. In the future I'll e-mail any updates. I am confident I'll be celebrating again (placed the first aft deck plate tonight -  everything lined up! It was wonderful!  HI Bruce - continuing to do well with STEEL OR ALUMINUM PLANS & CUTTING FILES. The bow was amazing - the center bar came out right on the nose, matching exactly the deck scribe line on both hull side plates. To really concentrate to get it ready for our imminent move (and still not quite there yet). Latest photos attached:    - likewise the radius chine plates have started out extremely well too - the upper & lower rolled bow plates fit with very slight edge trimming (just skimming the seam with a very thin blade in a couple of places).   Overall, the STEEL OR ALUMINUM PLANS & CUTTING FILES has worked out incredibly well - I would never have had the patience (nor the skill) to put together a boat this well from scratch.  Norm Facey

Hello Bruce - Hull plating went incredibly well, including the rolled radius chine plates - now have a crew of professional welders busy finish welding all the seams - being extremely careful to step weld, and very much control how much heat we put into the hull at one shot. Attached is latest photo - note that we've left the forward window out, and are ventilating the hull up through the keel opening, and out through the window - hull looks great!  Norm Facey

Designer’s comments:
The Voyager 495 is intended of serious offshore passagemaking and has proven so popular that we decided to re-work the design and make changes that seem so obvious once the first boats are completed. The Voyager 495-2 is a culmination of all we have learnt in the past 33 years of designing similar boats.
 

The Hull:
The Voyager 495-2 features a “Radius chine” hull for steel or aluminum construction. The pre-cut and pre-bent panels supplied to the builder ensure that the finished hull will have a superior finish offered by the round bilge hull form,
 

The Keel:
This design is available with either long or short keel / skeg configuration. We favour our version of the long keel as it offers the most security against damage in the event of grounding.
 

The Sail Plan:
The Voyager 495-2 can be rigged either as a cutter or ketch and the sail plan can easily be handled by a couple of average physical condition.
The Accommodation:
Alternative accommodation boat plans are available to suit different sized crews. There are boat plans to suit a couple or to accommodate a family with 2 or 3 children. The layout can be arranged for charter use. To achieve both adequate headroom and good-sized aft cockpit in the aft area we have combined the ‘poop stern’ with flexible placement of the cockpit. The owner can have a roomy cockpit plus a spacious aft stateroom and still maintain over 2 meters headroom.
 

The Construction:
The Voyager 495-2 is supplied as a pre-cut metal STEEL OR ALUMINUM PLANS & CUTTING FILES for either amateur or professional assembly. Cutting files and assembly boat plans are also available for having this STEEL OR ALUMINUM PLANS & CUTTING FILES cut locally. Construction calculations are in accordance with prevailing Classification society.  The STEEL OR ALUMINUM PLANS & CUTTING FILES contain all the Lloyds approved 'A' grade pre-shot blasted and primed steel to build the hull, decks and superstructure. The Voyager 495-2 STEEL OR ALUMINUM PLANS & CUTTING FILES includes 600 plate parts all accurately cut to size and marked with part number and engraved marking lines to assist in the assembly and location of the part in it's position. 

All framing, stringers, engine beds, 'T' sole bearers, deck beams, deck stringers, exterior plating, plus 3 steel bulkheads and stiffeners is included. Windows and doorways are cut out as required. In the case of radius-chine hulls, the radius plates a rolled to the perfect shape and NO fitting is required. Complete assembly and engineering boat plans supplied. A building jig is supplied with the STEEL OR ALUMINUM PLANS & CUTTING FILES.   Delivery to your building site is included in the price. The cutting method is Plasma / Oxygen, ensuring highest accuracy and smooth edges. Plate parts are cut from Grade A Shipbuilding quality sheets including certificate, coated with factory applied Sigma weld MC welding primer. Openings for windows and doors cut or only marked as per customer's preference.

Bulkheads are in accordance with Classification rules and safety regulations. Cold forming of plate parts where part of the design. Basic engine bearers are integrated in the construction. Setting up jig with the correct shape of the hull plates that can be used as building jig for the entire hull after reinforcement. Extensive assembly and building boat plans are supplied with the STEEL OR ALUMINUM PLANS & CUTTING FILES and include detailed drawings, parts list and welding instructions. Engineering drawings include detailed engine installation drawings, exhaust system and fuel and water tank details.

YachtSmiths Inc.
Mail:  119 Avondale Rd; Dartmouth, N.S.  CANADA   B2V 1H3 
Shop: 2 Maitland St; Dartmouth Cove, Dartmouth, N.S.  CANADA  

Hi Bruce, glad you liked the photos. We do have more, David will send you some soon. As far as the handling of the boat goes, we found the boat very fast under power, with only a 75hp Yanmar diesel we were doing close to 9knots!  

She also handles very nicely in confined spaces under power.  We had her out with the new owner on a day with a 20 knot cross wind in the marina, and you could take your time turning her around in her own length. 

She has a definite feel of control despite the fact that there is no bow thruster. Under sail she is just as fast. 

She handles her rig well and points well.  She can handle a bit of a blow also. The day the photos were taken the wind was gusting to 30 k and the boat sailed like a freight train and seemed to be well balanced.  Regards Brian.

VOYAGER 495 OWNER. (Built from our cutting files and boat plans.)
SEVERAL PHOTOS OF THIS BOAT ARE SHOWN ON THE STUDY boat plans ON DOWNLOAD.

Hi Bruce, So I have decided, I would like to build the new Voyager 655 project. Excuse me my irresolution, but it is so big work and so many time for me. I am sending you two pictures:  We are sailing these weekend, wind was about 25 knots, small waves, FULL SAIL – genoa, JIB and main sail, simply ideal conditions for sailing !!!!  Thank you and best regards from Brno  Karel Navara

FROM BUILDER: Hi Bruce, Just received the drawings and we are impressed by the amount of detail on these.  We have made copies and are studying them. We find these help to understand the assembly process and things go much quicker. Looking forward to receiving the steel.....Brian
See sailing comments below received a few months later !

FROM CUSTOMER:
Regards V495 being built by our Australian distributor for Paul Grainger...."The assistance, direction and patience given by yourself and the staff has been excellent, especially as this is my first (and only, maybe!) yacht build and I am not familiar with the process. There is a sensible approach to work
methods and safe working environment which compliments the professional approach."