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Jeanneau Attalia

109K views 301 replies 33 participants last post by  Waymar83 
#1 ·
Hi all,

I've been reading the sailnet fora for a few years and have not come across anyone with any comments about the Jeanneau Attalia. Anybody have any info/experience? My 1983 has served very well for the past 4 yrs (on Lake Ontario).

I have really only one minor irritant on my boat: no hot water.

Mark
 
#80 ·
I believe a few folks have retro fitted refrigeration. Showers are unknown to me. If the head area is anywhere near the size of my arcadia, I would go what the original owner of my boat did while cruising into Desolation, take a sun warmed up outside shower bag along. And or hit marina's every few days. Generally speaking, there are plenty of marinas in this area that have showers.

Are you looking at the boat Oak something north of Victoria? That is only local Attalia I could see for sale.

marty
 
#81 ·
Showers etc.

There seem to be two listings for the same boat...Jade Maiden (not my choice for a name!). It is located in Oak Bay, a suburb of Victoria. I am planning to spend some time further north, often on a hook, perhaps a bit too early or late in the season for cockpit showering.

I don't live in the Victoria area, but the boat would. Hence I want something where I could use a shower on board in crap weather. I know there are references where it has been done and my brief look at the head suggests room but I don't know what was done for a sump.

I'm not yet settled on this boat, but it seems the best fit to what I want--not too big to get it out on the water and sailing quickly, likely shorthanded, yet has enough features that spending several days on board wouldn't be too cramped. 32-ish feet seems to fit and there aren't a lot of similar boats around.

RB
 
#83 ·
Not sure what to tell you on the shower part. Looking at the JeanneauUSA main site, where an old brochure along with owners manual in french is available for download, does not show a factory installed shower. Nor refrigeration. I would be pretty positive that those boats with, have all been aftermarket fitted with those items. I could also be wrong........

Alex/giuletta, dispite his hate for the french, used to sail an Attalia, maybe he can mention if he remembers if it had a built in shower or refridgeration. Not getting anyone else with an attalia to say if they have or not.

The interior pics etc do look really similar to my arcadia, and for being the size they are, they are roomy! One of the things that attracted us to Amoretto. I have had to redo most of the interior, I think some pics are a few pages back, also the head and aft cabin redo's are on the "hints and tips" area of the JO site. Do watch out for the headliner issue with this era Jeanneau. Sailing mag has a good review of the boat online too, the JO site has a link to it also. I believe Boat US has a review too, I know where one is for the Arcadia, comparing the one for my boat and the sailing one for the attalia, similar issues.

I do feel you will find it to be a good boat for around here if you go this way, if you can figure out the shower and refridgeration issues.

marty
 
#87 ·
Not sure what to tell you on the shower part. Looking at the JeanneauUSA main site, where an old brochure along with owners manual in french is available for download, does not show a factory installed shower. Nor refrigeration. I would be pretty positive that those boats with, have all been aftermarket fitted with those items. I could also be wrong........

Alex/giuletta, dispite his hate for the french, used to sail an Attalia, maybe he can mention if he remembers if it had a built in shower or refridgeration. Not getting anyone else with an attalia to say if they have or not.

The interior pics etc do look really similar to my arcadia, and for being the size they are, they are roomy! One of the things that attracted us to Amoretto. I have had to redo most of the interior, I think some pics are a few pages back, also the head and aft cabin redo's are on the "hints and tips" area of the JO site. Do watch out for the headliner issue with this era Jeanneau. Sailing mag has a good review of the boat online too, the JO site has a link to it also. I believe Boat US has a review too, I know where one is for the Arcadia, comparing the one for my boat and the sailing one for the attalia, similar issues.

I do feel you will find it to be a good boat for around here if you go this way, if you can figure out the shower and refridgeration issues.

marty
Marty is just being too kind - having been on his boat its IMPRESSIVE - but Marty neither serves cocktails or takes a shower but a mighty fine boat :)

BTW Marty how is the new genoa system working out...?
 
#85 ·
Damn..it was 1983..are you nuts?? I don't even remember if they had sails....
Of course I'm nuts! You have not figured that out by now!:eek::eek::D:D:laugher:laugher:laugher

Yes these boats do have sails on them. They are a bit faster than the old shoe! actually for there age and time, reasonably fast for there size etc. Not as fast as the current planing hull boats............I've been into the mid 8 knot range.....not bad for a 25' waterline! I would think an Attalia would be equal in the same conditions. They are IIRC about 5-10 secs a mile faster vs my Arcadia.

out to put some xmas light up in the cold! Altho not as cold as wyoming is right now I am sure of that, about -1C here in the NW where I am!

Marty
 
#86 ·
malabo,

If the Attalia i see on the Freedom yacht sales is any indication, that Attalia might be ArgleBargle on this sites old boat. Or the one he may have traded in etc. Worth a PM or equal to him on this site if you can get the PM part to work.

Marty
 
#88 ·
Not sure what you want for a shower but my Attalia does have something of a mini shower, not that I ever used it! I have a 1986 model and the head wood floor has several holes in it, underneath there is an intake connected to my bilge manual pump. If I used the sink flexible hose, I can "shower" and manually pump out the water.
On the fridge department, my Attalia came with one that the previous owner installed. The unit was mounted in the lazarette and was busted. I bought another one and installed the new one under the sink, just beside the fridge. I have not tried it out yet since this was done just before winter haulout.

Please note that there is NO insulation in my Ice Box.

Stephane
 
#90 ·
Marty:

Between the snow (I live 250 mis. inland, where we have had quite a bit), holidays, and aspects of the boat that need consideration (25 year old raw water diesel with no evidence of any rebuilds, original sails, etc.), I am delaying my decision a bit and looking at other boats in the same category.

Rob
 
#91 ·
hmmmm, are you sure it is complete raw water cooling? Mine has fresh water cooling, but salt for the radiator if that is what is is called per say. I do understand the original sails issue too, as I had them also. BUT, nice thing about a boat with older sails vs newer ones, if the newish ones are say partial battans, and you want full, then you do not have to refit, or buy a new main! Or if they stayed with hanks, you want an RF system.......

Some good and bad to the options obviously, anyway, for me it had been 10G in new sails, main, spin, 110, 155 carbon, in so far, along with a 140 high cut cruising and a 130 reacher coming in the spring. I do some racing, hence the 155 carbon and all of the sails I own etc.

Good luck on choice!

marty
 
#92 · (Edited)
New member

Hello everybody - and Happy New Year.
I only recently discovered this news group and already found a lot of good discussions here.
I have owned my Attalia for 4 years now and have been very pleased with it - which is luckily also the case for my family.
I have set up a website for our boat - in case anybody is curious. It is unfortunately in Danish - but I am sure you can find your way around.

trud

Best regards
Jens
 
#93 ·
Trud

Jens,

There is a clickable for folks, assuming I googled correctly. True, you can not post a link/picture or recieve PM's until you have 10 posts. Numerous ways to succeed. IE just make 10 posts counting down, or go to the song tread in off topic......anyway.

Welcome over here to this crazy group. Looks like your registered on the Jeanneau-owners site out of the UK too. Do you post on that forum too? Has a tendincy to be kinda slow at times, other than folks with newer boats.

Marty
 
#94 ·
Dear Marty
Thank you for inserting the link.
I discovered that the reason why I could not access the thread again was that I had kept myself logged-in - apparently one has to log out and then log in again between sessions.
Yes, I also registered with the Jeanneau Owners' site - but very litte is going on there - and they do not have a separate sub-sub-forum for Attalia.
Best regards
Jens
 
#97 ·
Bon Ami

I just bought a 1985 Attalia "Bon Ami" and spent most of last season replacing the wood around the engine whuch was no small chore as it is glassed to the bottom. I finaly got her out around september and sailed a little over 100 miles before it was time to take out for the winter.

So far, I love the boat. very solid and well built. She seems to sail upwind real nicesly, but this is my first cruiser. My only sailing experience prior was on a 14' Butterfly and did some certification sailing on a 42 C&C.

I can hardly wait to get back in the water and looking forward to my first full season (Can't wait to try out hte Asymetrical!) and will be checking this forum regularly.

If anyone has any tips on reparirng a rudder that is delaminating at trailing edge, I would really appreceate it.
 
#98 ·
Bconant,

That boat is listed as being in Chicago on the Jeanneau owners forum. Is that the general area you are in? Anyway, if that is you, not sure if the current owner list is correct check at Albatros to Attalia

You might also check around the base site, along with the forum that is affiliated with it. That was a pretty popular boat in the 80s. Altho not that many brought here to the states.

marty
 
#99 ·
Yes, that is the general area I am in, however the owner listed on that site must be one of the past owners.

I bought the boat in Chicago and decided to keep the name. Good Friend in French seemed appropriate.

I found that site when I was researching the boats history trying to find out how it made it from France to the Great Lakes. I don't know if that site would allow me to make a change. I had attempted to contact the past owner, but the email listed is no longer valid.

I'm still interested in learning the boats history, however the Albatros to Attalia site is the only one if its kind I found so far. the coast Guard has the boat registered to a different name.
 
#100 · (Edited)
You can change the owner name on the owners site to you, email malcolm, he updates the site usually the last weekend of the month, sometimes up to the first weekend of the month. If you hunt around that site, or the forum, there is quite a bit of good info. IIRC there are some other sites based elsewhere in Europe in languages other than english. The main Jeanneau builder site has an owners manual and brochure IIRC, they do for my Arcadia.

Most of the mid 80's boats here in N AMerica were shipped here intentionally. Not sure how many Attalia's were made, but 700 hulls were made from my Arcadia, 300 Arcadia's, another 200 or so each, sundream 28's and sunlight 28's. I have the actual numbers elsewhere. This is the research I got from Jeanneau and Malcolm for an upcoming Good old boat article on my boat. I know of about 15 or so Arcadia's here in NA, not sure how many Attalia's made it, but IIRC there were 1200 or so built, so probably a few more on this side of the pond.

Marty
 
#101 ·
About your rudder, I had a similar problem when I purchased my 1986 Attalia. Mine was such that the rudder was full of water The surveyor noted that my rudder was full of water and the insurance company would not let the boat back in the water until it was fixed, that means that I did not get to sail the boat for the rest of the season, very frustrating.

I hired someone to fix it but can share what I've learned from the process.

First, it was difficult to get the rudder out, my boat sits on a cradle and there was not enough clearance to get the rudder post out, they had to "block" the cradle and dig the dirt down under a bit to get the rudder out.

Once the rudder was out, the person took it to its workshop, cut the rudder sideways and open it in two halves and let it dry out for several weeks. Please note that the inside of the rudder was wood, which surprised him. Once it was all dried, he put it back together.

Since I had the rudder out, I replaced the cutlass bearing on the propeller shaft, it was easy to take the shaft out with no rudder.

This was done over the winter (I am on the great lakes) when the boat was out.
 
#104 ·
Rudder repair

My rudder is also made of wood, glassed over. I seperated the delaminated trailing edge with a couple of screw drivers and injected some West Systems thickened two part epoxy, then clamped the rudder with several clamps and blocks of wood to distribute the pressure.

Once the epoxy was hardened, I sanded the excess, had the rudder stripped down then coated with several coats of Interprotect 2000, followed by two coats of VC 17.

The boat was sailed all last season, many times very aggressively in high winds/weather helm. Surprisingly, when the boat was pulled out at the end of the season, the ruder looked as good as it did when the repair was completed.

Total cost of repair was under $400.00 with the paint being nearly 100% of the cost. A tube of Six 10 Thickened epoxy is around $20.00 u.s. and I have over 3/4 of the tube left.
 
#105 ·
I also have an Attalia '86. I love the boat! It sails very well and it is very roomy for its size. All my sailor friends were impressed.
A downside is that the bilge is very flat. Waters gets trapped in some places and I have to constantly lift the floor to soak it up. I'm also having a fresh water leak that I still have to solve.
I've also noticed that there are 2 bilge pumps in the head. One is for the bilge and the sump. There is a valve that swithces between the two. The other pump is a bit of a mystery. It is connected to the holding tank but it is not clear to me what it does. Does anyone else have a similar issue?
Another thing: I could not pump out my holding tank. The pump pressure is not strong enough to suck up the water. I would need a smaller hose to go all the way inside the holding tank to pump, but this is not a common feature in my marina. Has anyone had this problem?
 
#107 ·
Hello Fodao and other Attalia fans.
I am delighted to find this thread even if it is getting a bit old!

I have an 84 Attalia which I bought in 08 and is based in the Greek Aegean. She is a former flotilla boat and was much modified by the company before I bought her.They did an extensive refit in 2004 which included new Volvo 2020A 18hp, new plumbing and electrics, new windows, headlining, deck gear including Harken 2 speed ST winches and Lewmar hatches. The Volvo pushes her well at up to 6 knots.

They cut away about 60% of the chart table and extended the heads forward so that there is now a separate shower and loo space on the heads (appreciated by Admirals!) and the sink is set across the aft locker bulkhead. The chart table is now really a shelf with a few lockers below but it doesn't bother me as there is adequate space to store charts below and I use the table for navigation. Also with plotters these days there is less need for a dedicated chart table.

I too had problems with water under the the cabin sole and eventually found where it was coming from. I keep a few plastic sponges in each underfloor area and this helps to keep small amounts of water from sloshing about. My boat has hot water via a calorifier heated by the engine. There is an electric shower pumpout under the sink in the heads and the boat has a black water holding tank. This is a gravity type which is emptied offshore. There is no provision to pump it out ashore. The boat also has an electric and a manual bilge pump. She also has an electric anchor windlass which can be controlled from the cockpit.

Since buying her I have added a autopilot, liferaft, EPIRB, plotter, AIS and a DSC radio (these three are interfaced).

I am retired so I spend 4 months each year aboard (Apr,May, Sep and Oct). I avoid the hot, busy times! I bought her in Corfu and have since cruised the Ionian, Gulf of Corinth, around the Peloponnese and last year the Cyclades. This year I am headed across to Turkey.

I am delighted with her performance. As you may know the Attalia is a 'cruiserised' version of the 1981 Half Ton winner 'Ar Bigouden' which was designed by Joubert Nivelt. By 'cruiserising' I mean higher topsides for volume, masthead rig instead of fractional, iron keel instead of lead and full interior fitout etc. I find that even with dacron cruising sails and furling genoa she is quicker than many modern equivalents such as Beneteau 323, Sun Odessey 32 etc. especially to windward where she points well and has a very light feel to the helm. I have just bought an assymetrical cruising chute which I am looking forward to trying this year.

Cheers

J
 
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