Here you can find a minitest of a PROSPECT 900 sailingyacht. This test reveals the good and bad sides of a particular yacht, that was for sale somewhere in Holland. Most of the bad sides of this ship are improved in other ships (mine for instance) . You can double click on the pictures to enlarge them.

The prospect 900 is a modern designed cruising sailingyacht. The construction is good. The interiour is different than most yachts, and can accomodate 5 persons. The sailing performance is good, althoug they are negatively influenced by the simple rigging. The performance on the engine is very good. The ship is capable of sailing in coastal waters, provided the rigging is althered and your ship is good equiped.

Good and bad:
Good sailing qualities
Good and easy to access engine
Very good noise control
Safety on board is good
Rudder control is heavy
Simple rigging
Fuel system can cause problems

Main dimentions:

Length:8,70 mtr.

Length on waterline: 6,85 mtr.

Breadth : 2,80 mtr.

Draught: 1,50 mtr.

Weight: 2900 kg (of witch 1200 kg ballast)

General information:   

Builder: Rydgeway Marine L.t.d. (Engeland)

Importer in Holland: Doornbos B.v. Herenweg 21-23 Breukeleveen

Designer: E.G. v.d. Stadt & Partners

Building material/ method: Glasreinforced polyester/ hand lay-up

Height above water: 11.95 mtr.

Heigth in cabin: 1,88 mtr.

Engine: Inboard Volvo Penta MD7A dieselengine/ 110S Saildrive

Numer of beds: 5

Design:  

The Prospect is a sailingyacht with modern lines. The boards are high, a slimm finkeel with balansrudder, behind a shallow fin. The cabin is short in in good proportions to the hull. Spacious deck, the rigging is somewhat blocking the gangways. Spacious room to sit outsite with enough room for 6 persons. There is a chest n the back where originally was place for a outboard motor. In the bottom of this chest is a little hole where seawater comes in. That makes this room unsuitable for storage.

Construction:     

Good. The hull is build in one scale, the roof is a sandwitch-construction with balsa as core. It is sufficient stiff and strong. The hull-deck joint is simple with stainless steel bolds and filler. The polyester inlayer is mounted to the hull and is also part of the construction, witch makes the hull extra strong. The hull is straight, the gelgoat is done in good quality. The deck has little air bubbles on the top of the profile, this is not good but can do no dammage. The nylon bearing of the rudder is to small, witch causes the rudder to operate very heavy.

Accomodations:    

Good for a family of 5 persons. The accomodation in the front of the ship is different from most ships. The two frontbeds are very smal and short (1,76 mtr.) and suitable for kids. In the newer versions of the ship these beds are 11 cm. longer. You can sit very good in the cabin. There is a U-bench and you can lower the table to make a two persons bed. The hight in the cabin is 1,88 mtr. Competely in the front and in the centre of the ship is the toilet room. The gally is very compact. The sliding top is also used to extend the gally. There is a 2 burner spiritus cooking-range. The freshwaterpump is electrical. There is enough room for storage. Not everyone would appreciate the colours. The ceiling is not streight, but the rest is finished with good teak.

Rigging:     

Simle. There is a modern masthead rigging. The mast is on most ships of aluminum (Holt-Allen) made of 2 pieces, joined in the middle. When you tighten the innerforstay the mast nodes on this spot which is not so good for the rigging and is not so good for the strength of the mast. The mainsail hallyard winch is missing. The winches of the genua are simple. The sails are good but the finetuning of the rigging is limited.

Safety:    

Goed profile on the decks. The escape hatch is big enough. The entrence to the cabin is good. On all the through-hull fittings is a manual valve. There is a good bilgepump. The searailing is with two stainless steel threats. There is a fire extenguisher mounted.

Engine:  

Engine construction is good. There is a 9,5 kW Volvo Penta MD7A with a saildrive on board. There is a steel dieseltank, with no filters. The connections with this tank leaked a little bit. The acces to the engine is very good. There is no extra soundproofing material used, but the engin is very quiet. The engine is in a completely closes polyeser room. The engine is easy to operate and the electrics are good.

Performance:  

Good sailingcapacities. We sailed on the IJselmeer with force 3 to 4 beaufort, with short waves. The stability was good. On all courses good to sail. In gusts the ship goes toward the wind, and in the waves very lively. The movement of the rudder was heavy. Performance on the motor was very good. Turning and stopping in one shiplength. Cruising speed aroud 11 km/ hr.