The Hallberg-Rassy 29 is a Classic

The Hallberg-Rassy 29 is according to many one of their most beautiful designs. Its high sharp bow is as high as modern 36 foot yachts giving the boat a fantastic side profile and power to drive the boat through waves. The boat was designed by the legendary Swedish yacht designers Olle Enderlein and the founder of of Hallberg-Rassy boat yard Christoph Rassy. The design has so many great innovations, looks like there must have been some wonderful debates perfecting the design. It was first introduced in 1982 during its 14 years in production 571 yachts were produced. The boat has typically 4 berths, I have seen some pictures with boats with five. Our has 4 which means that the boat has an amazing amount of storage space in the steering area. This builds a fundament for ship shape. I can fit the liferaft, rubber dinghy, sails and all ropes, fenders extra gas. We even store the trash in the aftmost, when at sea.

Interior & Galley

The interior is immaculate. Very rich in mahogany, with thick varnish. Our is 19 years old and there is practically not a scratch on the saloon table. The varnish silk matt giving is a warm feel and longlasting protection. There are several joints where not a single angle is straight and the joining pieces fit perfectly. Those kind of joints are so hard to do, but Hallberg-Rassy has that kind of attention of detail. This summer I buffed the hinges on the doors to the toilet and front cabin. It was amazing to see that all the screws where perfectly aligned and there must have been more than 200 screws keeping them together. It is only passion that drives that kind of craftmanship one cannot do it if it is just "a job".

The Galley is very cleverly designed as it integrates with the navigation table making it a perfect place for serious cooking. One is typically standing facing the hatch when preparing food making it very easy to communicate with people sitting outside in the cockpit. The saloon table is generous and the sofas are comfortable to sit in.

Sailing

The yacht sails very well, but not too fast. It carries its sail in 20knots of wind and does not get restless even in strong gusts. I have been sailing it in winds up to 42 knots and felt completely safe. The visibility is very good and one has several positions which are comfortable to steer in. The canvas sprayhood gives good protection at heavy seas, going downwind I often fold it forward improving the good visibility further. In really nasty wind one can stand all the way in the back and the spray from the waves will hit you around mid body.

Hull

The hull is very well proportioned I am really fond of how high the bow is. It is the same height as many modern 36 feet yachts. This makes it very dry in high seas. It also has a sharp bow, cutting the waves very well, giving it a very pleasant feel in both long waves and short choppy waves as we have in the archipelago. There are good line plans of the yacht in Ingrid Kajser's beautiful book "Vackra båtar seglar väl!", Sjöhistoriska Museet, 1999. Page 204. There is also some anecdotes on pages 90 and 91 in the same book. The laminate is thick almost 20mm atleast where I have been able to investigate and the quality of lamination is really good. I should know having laminated model boats for many years and then one gets very sensitive to clutter with polyester which does not add strenght only weight.

Deck and Fittings

The teak deck is about 12-15mm thick and very well made, no strange gaps due to wood expansion or shrinking. The grip is very good. The layout of the fittings is very simple and straight forward. All lines run to the cockpit except reefing lines. I have upgraded some of the fittings to Harken as the original started to get old, particularely the jib pulleys. It is easy to walk on the deck at sea, there is a solid hand rail to hold on and the stansions are sturdy. In harbour it is easy to pass the stays on the inside.

The mast is free standing and supported with top shrouds and lower shrouds and a single pair of spreaders. I feel that the hull is stiff enough to tighten the shrouds tight enough to not have any slack at leward when beating.

Engine & Heating

The engine is a Volvo-Penta 2002, an 18Bph engine giving you good push even at high seas. The cruising speed is about 6.2-6.4 knots with modest engine sound. I am especially impressed with the access to the engine. The engine room is so big that I can fit into it. I decided to install the new heater the Webasto 3500 in the engine room to ensure that operation would be silent. I cannot hear the heater in the saloon, only the sound of warm air flowing into the cabin. Since the heater has alot to offer, I decided to make an extra outlet in the hanging locker behind to toilet bowl. This gives wonderfully dry clotes and even warm clotes on a chilly day.