This beautiful yacht draws comment and admiration at home and abroad, she has a very sea kindly sea motion with a good sailing performance. The deep cockpit gives a great feeling of security and the flat decks are a joy to work on, although all lines are lead aft to the cockpit for ease of use. The hull is immensely strong due to her construction method. The hull is totally dry and condensation free, she is a pleasure to sail. 

The Amber 40 is an interesting and enjoyable blend of periods, not a haphazard mish-mash but an attempt to get the traditions of one to work for the other so that the whole is greater than the sum of the parts.

We wanted to produce a dignified yacht that made sense to both head and heart. We were eager to capture the mood of the past without having to accept some of the penalties – performance, for example.

We also wanted to offer an accommodation arrangement that compared favourably with today’s cruising yachts, in which we believe the Amber 40 succeeds. The underwater configuration and displacement is moderate by modern standards, ideal for a blue water cruising yacht.

For the hull lines we spoke with Rob Humphreys, having worked with him in the past on plugs and hull design. Rob was the obvious choice as he has a reputation second to none for delivering well-mannered hulls with a good turn of speed. The brief was to design a hull with good performance and reasonable draught that would track well and have a well-protected rudder that was light to steer. The result developed from years of race winning designs, and she has a family resemblance to his recent work on cruising hulls, and in his own words, “Seldom will grace have moved so fast”.

The current Amber has been designed with the requirements of all the family in mind, who all want space and privacy. No one wants to sleep in the saloon so we have suggested a six berth layout with a light airy interior with the charm of birds eye maple combined with black walnut in an art-deco style. 

RCD Status: The yacht conforms with the essential safety requirements of Directive 94/25EC (Recreational Craft Directive) and is categorised A – “Ocean” (or Cat B – whichever is appropriate)

Hull, Deck & Superstructure Construction:

·         Stripped plank west epoxy composite hull finished in two pack to owners choice.

·         Externally sheathed with 2 x 600sqm biaxial cloth and 1 x 300 sqm twirl to minimize print through, internal laminate 3000g sqm below waterline tapering at 100mm intervals. All external surfaces filled with epoxy and sprayed with Awlgrip 2 pack in flag blue (G 5002).

·         Superstructure ply and epoxy composite with GRP sub mouldings.

Keel & Rudder:

·         Rudder composite epoxy 80mm stainless steel stock, full skeg and bearing.

·         Keel cast iron through bolted on 11 x 22mm stainless steel bolts (4,200kg).

·         Shaft mounted Prop- Protector rope cutter.

Engine & Gearboxes:

·         56 Hp Yanmar 4JH3E 80amp alternator.

·         Gearbox 2.63 – 1 reduction 7 degree down angle.

Maintenance & Performance:

·         Engine hours – 515 as of of 13/08/15.

·         Engine last serviced: 01/05/2015.

·         Cruising speed – approx 5.5 knots @ 2000 rpm.

·         Maximum speed – approx 6.5 knots @ 29 00rpm.

·         Fuel consumption at cruising speed – approx 2.1 litres per hour.

·         Range @ cruising speed – approx 680 Nm.

Propulsion & Steering:

·         20” feathering max-prop.

·         Steering Whitlock Cobra.

·         Side power SE 80/185 12v bow thruster. 

Voltage Systems:

·         12vDC domestic system with 240v ring main from shore power.

Battery Banks:

·         4 x 105AH calcium/lead sealed batteries.

Battery Chargers:

·         40 AH Dolphin battery charger.

Shore Power:

·         240v shore power connection.

Other Electrical:

·         Charging via x-split diode driftgate.

·         Inverter 150 watt Sinergex. 

Fresh Water & Water Heating System:

·         Fresh water heated via water calorifier 30L Isotemp.

Bilge Pumps:

·         1 x 12v automatic bilge pump.

·         1 x manual bilge pump.

Grey & Black Water:

·         1 x grey water tank with pump out system.

·         1 x black water holding tanks.

Fuel:

·         240L 4mm aluminium fuel tank.

Fresh water:

·         290L 4mm aluminium main water tank.

·         160L reserve 4mm aluminium water tank.

In cockpit:

·         Raymarine ST680 Autopilot, type 2 linear drive.

·         Raymarine ST60 Depth, ST60 Speed and ST60 Wind Speed Instruments at helm position.  

At chart table:

·         Raymarine E80 Multi-function display.

·         Garman GPS interfaced weather fax.

·         Raymarine AIS 500 Class B Transceiver.

Communications Equipment:

·         Raymarine 55 DSC VHF with cockpit mic and speaker.

·         Icom handheld VHF.

Galley:

·         Four burner gimballed cooker and grill.

·         1 ½ stainless steel sinks with pressurised hot and cold water through carbon filter.

·         Shelved stowage throughout.

·         Solar power ventilation.

Heads/Showers:

·         Avonite top with hot and cold water supply and separate thermostatic shower.

·         Teak grating throughout.

·         Tecma Electric quite flush toilet and holding tank.

·         Grey water tank for shower waste. (Also used for fridge drain etc.).

·         Opening port to aid ventilation.

Heating & Ventilation:

·         Air heater supplied via a diesel Webasto.

·         Solar power ventilation throughout.

·         Port holes throughout deck to aid with ventilation.

Entertainment:

·         Panasonic stereo in Saloon with CD stacker.

·         Marine master TV/FM/AM Antenna mounted at mast top.

Lighting:

·         12v lighting throughout. 

Summary of Accommodation:

·         Double berth owners cabin up forward.

·         Two single berths to the starboard side just aft of the owner’s cabin.

·         Double berth aft cabin, just aft of navigation station.

Description of layout from forwards:

Forward Cabin:

·         Double forward berth with ample storage space.

·         Writing desk and sitting area to port with hanging locker.

·         Shelved stowage to starboard and further stowage underneath main bunk.

·         Warm heater outlet underneath the bunk.

Starboard Guest Cabin:

·         Two Single bunks with lee clothes.

·         Hanging locker forward with warm heater outlet. 

·         Mirrored door with first aid box.

Main Saloon:

·         Curved seating to starboard with stowage space beneath.

·         Custom made stowage for crockery, etc in upper lockers.

·         Warm air heater outlet, opening hatch and solar power ventilation.

·         Panasonic stereo system with CD stacker.

Galley:

·         Located opposite the saloon area with a four burner gimballed cooker and grill.

·         1 ½ stainless steel sinks with pressurized hot and cold water through carbon filters.

·         Ample storage lockers located throughout the galley, including custom jar holding bracket.

·         Avonite worktops with raised fiddle edges.

·         Fridge access to the aft of the galley top.

·         Opening hatch and opening port to provide ventilation.

Navigation Station

·         Positioned just aft of the saloon and just forward of the double aft cabin.

·         Opening port to starboard provides ventilation.

·         Instrumentation mounted on angled bulkhead above chart table.

·         Supplied with a Raymarine E80 Mulit-Function display, Raymarine 55E DSC VHF, ICS Nav6, Garmin interfaced weather fax and main distribution panel DC and AC. 

Rig:

·         Deck stepped mast with Selden batten car and vertical stowage for spinnaker pole.

·         Twin spreaders rig set up.

·         Selden boom with internal slab reefing led aft to the cockpit.

·         Selden Rod Kicker.

·         Furlex 300S Yankee furler.

·         2 x runners with lewmar jammers.

·         All running rigging braid on braid.

·         8mm forestay.

·         8mm twin backstays.

Winches:

·         4 x 40 self-tailing chrome Lewmar winches.

·         2 x 50 self-tailing chrome Lewmar winches.

·         1 x 16 chrome Lewmar winches.

Sails:

·         37.6m² Fully battened off white mainsail with three reef points from Sanders Sails with lazy jacks into stack pack.

·         14.2m² off white staysail from Sanders Sails.

·         54.5m² off white Yankee from Sanders sails.

General:

·         6 x fenders and 6 x 15m warps.

·         5mm stainless steel guard wires.

·         6 x 12” custom made stainless cleats.

·         1 x 16” custom made stainless cleat.

·         6 x custom made stainless bulwarks fairleads.

·         1 x stainless 27” pulpit.

·         1 x stainless 27” pushpit.

·         3 x stainless gateways with pelican hooks.

Anchoring & Mooring Equipment:

·         Stemhead custom stainless with twin rollers.

·         1000 watt Lofrans windlass.

·         1 x 35lb CQR with 60m 10mm calibrated chain.

Covers, Canvas & Cushions:

·         Sanders mainsail stack pack.

·         Sanders cockpit sprayhood.

Tender & Outboard:

·         Lodestar NSA 230 inflatable tender.

Safety Equipment:

·         Viking “Rescyou” self-righting 6 person life raft in stainless deck mounted cradle. Next inspection date due 06/2018.

·         Raft fitted with hammer hydrostatic release mechanism.

·         Ikaros offshore flare pack expiration 12/2017.

·         Ocean safety Jonbuoy Recovery module, next inspection due 05/2016.

Fire-fighting equipment:

·         4 x powder fire extinguishers.

·         1 x automatic extinguisher.

·         1 x fire blanket.