Boating New Zealand — February 2018

44 Boating New Zealand

PACKAGES FROM

Price including

road and beach trailer

$32,000

MANUFACTURED BY

Astus Boats ANZ Ltd.

Chris Solly 022468 7261

http://www.astusboats.co.nz

Astus 16.5

Sport

loa 4.94m

Unfolded width 3.8m

Folded width 2.5m

Weight: 210kg

Draft 0.2/1.1m

Mast length 7.06 m

SAIL AREA

Mainsail: 11.5m²

Jib: 5.5m²

Gennaker: 20m²

SPECIFICATIONS

Lightweight,

easy to tow and rig

Generous

deck space

Performance

HIGHLIGHTS

44 Boating New Zealand

1.1m daggerboard and the ability to get

leech tension into the main through the

mainsheet purchase system.

To tweak the rig tension further

would require the simple addition

of some adjustable blocks for the

backstays. Helming from out on the

windward hull with the tiller extension

gives you a great view of the sail trim

and in this mode she rewarded us with

bursts not far off wind speed.

Off the wind with the screecher

unfurled the Astus really comes to life.

The deep rudder has a good grip and you

can hunt the lulls and drive off in the

puffs to keep your apparent wind up.

The screecher effectively doubles the

sail area and we were able to get up to 12

knots on a broad reach. The ride was wet

and exciting but without any tendency

to bury the leeward bow thanks to the

volume and flat sections beneath the

waterline. If the family is aboard she can

easily be tamed down to a more sedate

pace to keep the crew happy.

The Astus 16.5 Sport is about wet fun.

She is faster than most everything on the

water and I suspect the harder it blows

the more fun you will have. She is a blend

of the best bits of the trailer-sailer and

the beach cat revolutions and is a sailor’s

boat for those who love performance,

simplicity and hooting out loud. BNZ