HORIZON is an Outbound 46, hull #67. She was built during the fall of 2017 and spring of 2018. We did an extensive research, and met with and contacted several Outbound 46 owners before we finalized the specs of HORIZON. We sailed one week in the Caribbean  on hull #59, Kinetic with Lisa and Andy, and learned a ton of things about sailing and navigation. But also about the Outbound 46. We loved it. We also got huge benefit by looking at Ocean, Pneumatic  and Lions Paw, before we made our final decision of HORIZON and how we wanted her to be equipped.  

Here's a quote from the Outbound website, that's quite telling:

"The Outbound 46 was designed by the late Carl Schumacher (1949-2002), designer of the Alerion Express 28, Oyster’s Lightwave 48, the Express 27 and 37, and a large stable of custom racing yachts. We selected Carl for one reason …. he drew boats that sailed great. Schumacher successfully combined the moderate displacement required for cruising comfort with an efficient underbody needed to beat the weather, upwind performance, and excellent control."

Relevant quote (source not found):

Good yacht designers create the boat their customers want. Great yacht designers create the boat their customers need. Or, to put it another way, the really great boats out there are designed (and built) by the few, the very few, who stick to a vision without being pulled away by every potential customer with a large check book or by the marketing types who profess to know what said owners want. But none of them allowed the market to pervert their boats to the point that their fundamental purpose, going to sea in comfort and safety, has been materially compromised.

So let's get into our priorities for HORIZON.

Easy to handle with a short handed  crew (that will not get younger):

• • Leisure Furl, in boom furling system. which give us 6 reefing points, low center of gravity, possibility to lower the main even if the furling system fails. And no-one needs to leave the cockpit to reef. In addition, there's a minimal number of lines to control when reefing.

  • Electrical winches.

  • Windlass control at the helm.

    • Anchor can be released and retrieved from the helm.

    • The person on the fore-deck  can signal the helmsman to lower and retrieve the anchor via hand signals., making it easier on the fore-deck person.

Self-sufficient from an energy standpoint:

• • 600 AHr house battery bank. 4 x Victron Lithium batteries (LiFePO4 150 AHr each) 

    • With the ability to discharge the Lithium batteries down to 20% (compared to 50% with conventional lead-acid batteries) we get 480 AHrs of usable capacity, compared with 400 AHrs  with standard flooded lead acid 800 AHrs battery bank. Which is a 20% gain. 

    • With our normal consumption, we very seldom get below 50% SOC (State Of Charge). But the fact that we can relax, when we deeply discharge them on occasion is nice. 

  • 590 Watt of Solbian solar panels (5 x 118 Watt on the Bimini), with an individual controller for each panel.

  • 420 Watt, Silentwind windgenerator

  • 300 Watt, WattandSea hydro generator, used on passages

  • Electrical outboard for the dinghy, with extra battery. Which make it possible to refuel (via solar) at sea, and avoid having petrol aboard (which is a fire hazard).

Self-sufficient from a resource standpoint:

• • We have a water-maker aboard. This avoid the need to be "water police", and to have to go into marinas "just to fill up water".

  • It produces 6.3 gal (24 l) per hour which is OK compared to our consumption, and the energy used is easily replenished from solar.

Redundancy in systems for safety:

• • Hydrovane windvane. 

    • Relentless wind-rudder that draws no power during passages. 

    • Second as an emergency rudder, if the main rudder fails.

    • Back-up tiller auto pilot  to work as a back-up for the main auto pilot.

Use renewable energy aboard, to avoid having to run the engine or having a generator:

• • We're trying our best to avoid running combustion engines (main engine, or genset) to generate energy. We just hate the sound of it, and we don't want to use diesel for it. So, with the solar, wind and hydro-power, we are able to use the renewable electricity for things that would force us to consume the limited energy resources aboard (Diesel and Propane).

  • Examples being:

    • The e-Propulsion outboard engine. It's a 3 HP equivalent electric outboard, that we recharge via solar.

    • The electric water kettle for coffee and tea each day, we'll be able to boil water using renewable electricity, without using the limited propane.  

    • Realizing that we have plenty of excess energy, we've also invested in a toaster and and an induction cook-top . It sounds counter-intuitive to have these aboard a sail-boat. But propane is a limited resource,  while electricity is not (with the set-up we have), so having these luxury items aboard make a lot of sense. 

Handle all latitudes:

• • Tropical Latitudes: 

    • Insulated hull, to keep the heat out. Making the refrigeration  more efficient and the climate inside the boat more pleasant.

    • 3 zone air-conditioning system . 1600 BTU AC in the salon, and 4000 BTU ACs in the state rooms.

      • This make it possible to cool the whole boat at marinas with shore power. But also make it possible to run individual ACs at anchor, on battery, to cool down single cabins.

    • With shore power, these AC can be run in reverse, generating considerable heat if necessary.

  • High latitudes:

    • Insulated hull, to keep the cool out.

    • Hydronic, water circulation heat. Powered with Diesel/Engine/Shore-Power 

      • With individual thermostats and fans in each section of the boat. Making it possible to get each area the right temperature.

      • Outlet aimed at the aft head, with the side benefit to have a heated toilet to sit on in cool conditions.

      • Low electrical draw, while using diesel or engine. 

      • The hydronic system also provide domestic hot water.

  • Cool passage making:

    • Back-drops for the hard dodger turns it almost into a pilot house. The heat from inside will make the "pilot house" nice and warm, and it's possible to keep a good watch and steer the boat from there.  

Changes that we are proud of, that  will benefit future Outbound owners. We're the first Outbound with:

• • Recessed cockpit speakers.

  • Swim ladder that has solid hinges when deployed.

  • Centered house batteries in the saloon settee. With room for 928 Ahr of Firefly batteries.

  • Huge storage, with a hinged lid,  in the starboard settee.

  • Anchor light with dawn-to-dusk sensor. When on, the anchor light is only on during dark, so you don't need to turn it on and off.

  • Bigger extendable cockpit table, with room for 6 people (see photo).

  • Anti-siphon valve for the engine, that discharge via a hose down into the bilge, instead if spraying salt water over the engine (see photo).