Identity Card
Name: UtPåTur
Type : Cordova 40, first of the series
Date of birth : 2011
Size : 11m98 x 4m15
Draft : 0.90m / 2m60 – centerboarder
Air draft : 18m (mast alone 15m75)
Weight : about 11 tonnes
Material : aluminium of course!
Rigging : sloop
How we met
Summer 2023. We aren’t really looking yet (as they say at the start of all new love stories ;o) ), but we have reached out on Facebook “out of curiosity, we would like to visit aluminium boats between 10m and 12m, during our holidays in Brittany”.
Nothing else. We got a few meaningless responses first, then this private message from someone called Jean-Francois: “I have a Cordova 40, which will be for sale in the fall.” Then one more sentence: “This is my own boat”. What does that mean? We check the name again … Jean-Francois André! THE Jean-Francois André, naval architect! Well well, that boat must be seen.
We agree to meet at Sainte-Marine in the Odet River, under a downpour on a particularly lousy July day. The boat is impressive, standing there at the end of the jetty. But also weirdly familiar. Have we seen her before? Yes we have! We were actually anchored next to her with Saltimbanque, in Galicia in 2011. Sylvie André confirms, as soon as we set foot onboard. This was the Cordova’s maiden voyage! And already then, we had spotted her…
First meeting with the monster
Not even the torrential rain can stop our conversation
We settle in the saloon and chat a little more with Jean-Francois and Sylvie. They log an impressive 40 years of sailing, always on boats designed and built by Jean-Francois. Every 10 years or so, he would draw a new plan, learning from previous experiences and designed for their next adventures. The Cordova 40 is their 4th boat, named after a small fishing village in Alaska where she was designed as they were wintering with their previous boat (Patago 50). 30 years of building and sailing experience went into that boat…
As the conversation goes on, we ask about pretty much everything onboard. The type of equipment, the rigging, the maintenance schedule… there again it seems to be a perfect fit with our philosophy: everything is simple, robust, and easy to maintain.
It’s too much of a coincidence not to see the hand of Fate… when we look at their business card after leaving the boat, we realise that Jean-Francois and Sylvie live in the same small village as the previous owners of our beloved Saltimbanque! Plogastel-Saint-Germain is the only place for us to buy a boat… at the end of 2023, we welcome the Cordova 40, first of the series, as our new sailing companion.
The whole family!
We are not ready to leave right now, but it feels like this boat came to us and we simply couldn’t let her pass by. Thereafter come several months of preparation – and separation – and another sailing trip onboard Saltimbanque, to bring him back to Brittany for sale. Then we had to leave our professional Norwegian life behind… and here we are, early 2025, finally together and ready for the many new adventures to come!
UtPåTur, outside
UtPåTur’s hull is in 5086 grade aluminium, shaped thanks to a technique of slanted frames (more details on http://www.jfandre.com/2015_innovations.htm). She is 11.98m long (right under 12m, that’s the point!). In addition a bathing platform at the back and a bow nose can be lifted up to fit right in shorter mooring spaces.
She is a centerboarder, meaning that the long profiled centerboard can be fully lifted up the daggerboard case, reducing the draft from 2.60m to 90cm… shallow lagoons and tidal beaches, here we come!
UtPåTur on the dry in Pors-Moro, with the centerboard halfway down
Seen from the afterdeck
The cockpit is narrow and deep, with a large steering wheel which can be tilted on one or the other side depending on the tack. Our plan is to install a windvane soon, in addition to the auto-pilot. We got so used to it on Saltimbanque that we couldn’t imagine sailing without one.
On the afterdeck, the arch is equipped with solar panels (170W) and a wind generator (400W), but also GPS antennas, AIS, radar and Navtex – and a davit to lift and hold the tender.
On portside, the large cockpit locker could be called a technical room: everything is there, from the battery bank to the boiler, pumps, autopilot computers, black-water tank, most of the equipment and spares, and access to most valves. This room is also accessible from inside.
The tech locker
Thanks to the mast pulpits, we have a chance to reach and close the mainsail’s bag
The large deck is mostly free as the sheets and reef lines are handled at the mast, safely pressed against the pulpits.
UtPåTur is a sloop, with one mast and two levels of straight spreader bars. There are three reef bands in the mainsail. On the forestay we have a furled genoa, and a furled staysail (self-tacking even, the lazy option). We added a spinnaker for downwind sailing, and a storm sail for which we have to mount a releasable forestay.
Finally, a huge anchor locker houses two always-ready anchor systems as well as spare anchors, sheets and fenders.
At the bow : the windlass, two furlers and a big anchor locker
UtPåTur, inside
As far as dwellings go, the Cordova 40 is actually a proper duplex: the living quarters are below, while “upstairs” as we like to call it, is the focal point for navigation: the indoors observation room! This is not typical for a boat this size, and we are looking forward to many hours in it.
UtPåTur, upstairs. Warm and dry observation post, sitting cosy with a cuppa…
From the watch bunk (which can be tilted to accommodate heeling), there is an open view onto the deck, the sails and the sea all around through tempered glass windows. Most screens are here too (charts, GPS, AIS, VHF, radar…). One can operate both the engine and the autopilot from here… sailing (almost) entirely in the warm and dry! To trim the sails, one only needs to go through a semi-watertight door into the cockpit. This looks so cosy that we are almost hoping for bad weather to make the most of it!
Lift up the floor under the observation room and you find the engine, a Yanmar 4Jh4AE with 54 hp. This is needed for a boat this size, and we will appreciate the added power. On the flipside, we will have to rely more on the engine than on Saltimbanque (which could be sailed almost everywhere). Note to self: maintenance will be key…
Good access to the engine from the top, more limited from the side
A proper guest cabin with a double bed
Two more steps down and you are in the living quarters. First on starboard, a proper guest cabin (which will turn into a navigation berth and storage compartment at times).
Back to the center, there is another chart table / desk, then comes the diesel oven (one of the two heating systems onboard).
In the middle, the saloon is divided by the daggerboard shaft covered by the table.
The kitchen on starboard is equipped with a cooking stove, an oven, a double-sink and a fridge! The Scandinavian style light wood decoration reminds us of home. At the bow, the main cabin.
Spacious living quarters
A biiiiig shower room ! Luxury!
Back to the stairs, a door on portside opens to a bathroom (toilet and sink)… and a closed shower room! After years showering outside in Saltimbanque’s cockpit with a gardening spray, this will be heaven! Able to shelter from (in no particular order) cold, wind and prying gazes… With a hatch opening to the deck, this will be handy to let soaked oilies drip elsewhere than in the middle of the mess!
From the bathroom one can crawl under the observation room towards the tech locker. Here is the water-maker, useful for fresh water autonomy.
The water maker on the left, and the door to the tech locker
