Sailing Yacht ‘Snorkel’ CONTESSA 33 (A bit like a SIGMA 33 but better) Before I tell you how great the boat is, I should also say we have bought another yacht. I had always intended to take my time selling this one and then look for a replacement but sometimes it doesn't work like that. We are therefore highly motivated to sell and we will consider all offers or potentially deliver the yacht somewhere else if you either lack the time or the skills to do so. The Contessa 33 has often been described as the ‘boat the Sigma 33 should have been’. With her lead fin keel, Keel stepped mast, high build quality, more flexible layout and well-mannered performance, this yacht, designed by Rob Humphries and built by Jeremy Rodgers is a joy to sail. There would have, no doubt been a whole load more of them had they not been so expensive to make. Sadly the yard went bust just 15 or so hulls into production. The project was intended by all concerned to create not only a spiritual successor to the legendary Contessa 32, but also to make an exciting one-design fleet that would also supersede the Sigma 33 class. To that end, not only did Rob Humphries draw up a very pretty yacht but the interior design was fashioned by the Conran Brothers in light ash wood, that gave the whole boat a really modern feel for its period. Bear in mind that to buy a Contessa 32 today you are looking at a £190,000 yacht and there are still many things on the Contessa 33, like the Kevlar in the bow and the use of cores to reduce weight that would make the 33 an even more expensive boat than the 32.It has a number of design features that make it a really great dual role boat. Firstly it isn’t shabby on getting its skates on. I have almost exclusively sailed this yacht with my girlfriend (and I should add in all weathers), ie not had a load of rugby players on the rail and we have covered some pretty impressive distances, our best being 155nm in 24 hrs. This is a seriously easy yacht to sail. It has a really nice balance of simplicity in terms of being manageable single handed, to having sail controls and the ability to really dictate the sail shape if you are trying to eek all the power you can from her. The boat has quite a bit of beam and that means although it doesn’t have the power to plane like some ultra-light displacement yachts, she does surf very well and feels like she is on rails when she does. The best speed surfing so far is 16.5 knots. If only we could stay on the wave! The point I am making is that this is a yacht you can sail. We have been in the Mediterranean for the past couple of years with her and it is a doddle sailing into a bay and dropping anchor or sailing off your anchorage and actually going places. Although it isn’t massively canvassed it has enough sail to make way in very light winds seemingly unlike many other yachts. As a result we can sail around when others would have to motor. As a cruising boat, it is both capable and pretty quick. We often outpoint pretty much anything other than pure racing yachts and whizz by cruisers that are much bigger on most points of sail. As a racing yacht, the best known of these was a Contessa 33 called Owl that really cleaned up. This yacht, like all the Contessa 33s, has been raced by her former owners as Cognac, Ace of Hearts III, and Artic Monkey, most recently of an IRC rating of 0.922 (Endorsed 2013), where she won class 3 at the 2014 East Coast IRC Championships. If you were interested in racing, she is by no means obsolete and would be particularly tricky to beat on handicap upwind in light airs. I have made a number of ‘cruiser’ items but these are often made of carbon fibre and all are quick release and designed to be easily removed, so you could strip this yacht back to its bare bones for racing in an hour or so and reinstate all the cruising gear just as quickly. As a cruiser, which is what she has been used for since 2103 she has done really well. We have lived on her for extended periods (up to 7 months at a time) and sailed her from the UK right into the Med. At least one other 33 has done transatlantic passages. As much as the Contessa 32 has a loyal following, I would have struggled to live that long on a yacht with comparatively little space, the 33 however lets in lots of light and is beamy. The interior of Snorkel is designed to sleep 8, in 2 doubles and 4 singles. Mostly we have been a couple but have had occasional guests and it works very well. In the Mediterranean the arrangement of the hatches and additional opening vents made it a really comfortable place to be. The yacht has pretty conservative energy requirements with LED lighting and NAV lights throughout and we anchor pretty much every night and have been able to make all the power we need using the 2 x 80 watt solar panels and wind generator (on a carbon fibre cantilever pole). All of these are easy to remove for laying up or racing. The boat has a Lavac vacuum loo, which I have always thought was the most sensible design and the easiest to clean with a custom holding tank (again easy to remove). This was fitted in 2015 prior to setting off to the Med and has not yet been used. In terms of the exterior, there are a few spots for lying about and when underway the decks are sloped so the windward deck becomes level and a much sought after sunbathing area that also makes the boat go faster! The cockpit is bisected with the traveller, because this is after all primarily a sailing machine but the tiller steering does use a lot less cockpit space than a wheel and the back drops down to make getting on and off the yacht from the sea really easy.   Built in 1984 by Contessa Yachts, Snorkel has a white hull and superstructure with painted non-slip decks (repainted 2013). Lead fin keel. Tiller steering with spade hung rudder. Self draining cockpit. Professionally epoxied in April 1995, stripped back to epoxy and re-coated in 2012. Epoxy-copper bottomed to make a durable antifouling in 2015. In addition to the copper antifouling in 2015, we also replaced a big chunk of core and inner laminate between the main bulkhead and quarter bulkhead in carbon fibre and beefed up the main bulkhead rigging areas with large carbon fibre pads. Stainless water and fuel tanks. ACCOMMODATION The accommodation offers eight berths in two cabins. V berth forward with infill and stowage under. Full width heads compartment with Lavac marine toilet to port and washbasin opposite. Saloon with settee berths and pilot berths outboard both sides. Fixed saloon table with drop leaves. Chart table to port with double quarter berth aft. Large galley to starboard with two burner gimballed gas cooker with grill and oven, stainless steel sink with electrically pumped cold water coolbox and icemaker. Mattresses were all replaced a few years ago. ENGINEVolvo 2002, 18hp inboard diesel engine 2 bladed folding propeller (not original) Starter motor re-built, fuel tank cleaned 2016 60L stainless steel fuel tank and new deck fillerNew Alternator 2014 Engine and gearbox rebuild under previous owner, and generally well looked after 2 12v Leisure batteries charging from alternator 2014 and 2015 1x Starting battery 2014 New cutlass bearing 2015 New Volvo non-drip propshaft seal 2015 New pencil anode annually New Propshaft anode annually.  RIGGING Fractional rig, rod jumper stays Harken headsail furling system,  2012. Nordic Spars aluminium Keel stepped mast new in 2007 with twin spreaders and jumpers. Stainless steel standing rigging 2007. Dyneema running rigging all new 2007 or later.  Solid kicker. Lewmar 43 self-tailing genoa sheet winches.  2 x Lewmar 40 halyard winches on coachroof. Lazyjacks SAILS Main - Mylar with taffeta 1996 Parker & Kay #1 dacron cruising headsail (date unknown but never used) Main Black Twaron laminate GP sails 2015 (3 reefs) Main - FLX Kevlar ? 2006 – Quantumn #1 Millennium Carbon Fibre  2013  One Sails #1 - IFM Kevlar  2006 – Quantum (very worn, luff rope/tape damaged) 140% Maxi #2 - FLX Kevlar  2005 - Quanutm #3 Genoa - Mylar 1996 Parker & Kay All Purpose Spinnaker - 2006 - Quantum 0.5oz Spinnaker 1995 Parker & Kay 0.9oz Spinnaker - Superkote 90  1998 Parker & Kay 1.5oz Heavy spinnaker/reaching spinnaker - 1985 Storm jib by North sails – 1985 Sheets, guys etc NAVIGATION EQUIPMENT Compass (Silva Contest)VHF DSC Standard Horizon radio with new masthead Metz Antenna and coax 2015 Raymarine ST60 instruments in cockpit (wind, wind close haul, speed, depth) Serviced 2016 New wind instrument cable and transducer cups/vane serviced 2016 New Speed Transducer 2016 Mast cabling renewed 2015 Autohelm ST50 Multi instrument at chart table (serviced but not working properly) Garmin GPS NASA fluxgate compassAutohelm NMEA to seatalk multiplexer Clock and barometer LED Tricolour and LED anchor lights at masthead LED (problem with the tricolour) Bow and stern navigation lights LED NASA BM1 battery monitor Reconditioned main switch panel Carbon fibre instrument panels OTHER EQUIPMENT Anchor with recent chain (not rusty) and braded warp Spinnaker pole Spinnaker pole deck bracket RORC flare pack expires 2017 Zodiac inflatable (no oars or outboard) Stainless steel boarding ladder Mainsail cover Fire extinguishers Warps and fenders Tiller extension (carbon fibre) Horseshoe lifebuoy (worn) Jack lines Electric Bilge Pump Manual Bilge pump Electric pumped water to the main sink Autohelm ST2000 tillerpilot replaced under warranty with new item Dec 2016 Remote 6+M for tillerpilot Boat hook Winch handles Engine starter handle Throw line External VHF speakerEmergency Antenna & coax switch to flip between masthead and emergency. Flag pole There are plenty of cosmetic things you can always do to a yacht and this is a yacht that could benefit from a bit of tidying up here are there. It is a solid boat though and it doesn’t take on water or have any vices. It is currently fully working and insured. Had we not purchased another yacht, we would almost certainly be setting off to Greece this year. The yacht is currently in Almerimar on the south coast of Spain. Moorings are paid until 1st April 2017. Almerimar is a short trip from Almaria airport or a longer bus/taxi trip from Malaga. It has excellent yard facilities and a decent ex-pat network. We generally sail the vessel from Almeria to Ibiza in a couple of days, to give you an idea of range. Although the vessel will be sold as is/where is, we may be able to move the vessel to a port of your choice or even to the UK by negotiation. I am in the UK but have someone with a key at the Yacht.I am getting quite a lot of enquiries and using ebay messaging restricts the number of characters, photos and actually seems to not let me send pictures anyway. It seems to be entirely unsuitable for responding to queries in any case. It would be easier for me if you contact me on whatsapp using my phone number 07968591757 or madjonevans@hotmail.com Cheers!!