| A Brief History of Omega - Hurley
24/70 Omega has given us a great deal of pleasure since
we bought her in 1987. She has proven herself to be an excellent
sea boat and provided me with a fine and all consuming hobby. I have sailed her across the channel to the Channel Islands and Cherbourg many times but also find a great deal of enjoyment cruising up and down the Devon and Cornwall coastline. The River Dart probably being my favourite place on earth. She was built in 1973. The first owners, a family owned her for about ten years and kept her in Plymouth. Sadly the father of the family died young and she was sold to a sailing school. She was fitted with a BMW D12 diesel and roller furling. She was then used for tuition and charter and even for fortnightly cross channel booze cruises. These trips to Guernsey were advertised in the local paper and took place regardless of the weather and I think go to show what a spacious, safe and sea kindly small yacht a Hurley 24 is. Every nook and cranny was filled with cigarettes, apparently! My Dad and I had a Hurley 20 called “The Little B” (where is she now, we would love to know how she is). She served us well for two years but we wanted a bigger boat for longer trips. Newbridge Virgo Voyager, Westerley’s, Mystyre 26, Colvics and others were considered but a Hurley 22 or 24 is what we really wanted. Luckily we had a Town Quay birth on Brixham marina as we had a mooring there before the Marina was built. We found Omega and bought her that day. She had osmosis so had been for sale for a while. She was sound but needed a little TLC. She was very well equipped. New engine, two steering compasses (one on each side of the companionway, an excellent idea I think as it is so easy to steer by them and gives no distortion). New sails etc. We intended to sort out the osmosis that summer but I changed careers, moved, bought a house etc. The osmosis didn't get any worse so no harm done. We eventually sorted it out in 1997. Had her shot blasted, naturally dried for nine months in a boat shed and then we applied lots of coats of epoxy. At the same time we re-fitted her with new upholstery, new rubbing strakes. She now seems fine and, as she always has, easily keeps up with or beats boats of a similar size or even bigger. Omega is fin keel. She points to the wind superbly, better than many similar yachts that I have raced against or upon. Her small main sail means that she is safe to handle in strong winds, providing that you can furl the Genoa in on time. If not it can get in a bit of a mess or will be misshapen if furled too tightly, giving poor performance on a port tack. (Genoa furls clockwise). Weatherhelm can be a problem if using the full, large Genoa in a wind of F6+. I do have a new genoa that is nice and flat but I try to keep that for racing or if going on a long trip. Otherwise it will be wasted if left up for too long not being used. I have hardly ever used the slab reefing on the main sail. Seems strange but the sail is so narrow. This has another advantage. When jibing. Not too dramatic and the main sheet can be easily led over with one hand about halfway up. This feels nice and safe and means that the boon is not thrashing over people’s heads which can put novices off. Omega has a deep safe cockpit. Nice upholstery means that four or five adults can sit comfortably within and not get wet. Shelter can be gained by standing in the companionway or hiding behind the spray hood. Sadly my Dad's illness means that he was not able to sail very often but I have found Omega to be very easy to sail on my own or with novice friends. An autohelm is a must for longer trips. However, always use a harness when sailing alone! Even in good weather. I learnt this lesson when I went to take a leak over the side and almost fell over board. I was half way across Start Bay at the time and it scarred the pants of me. Hurley 24’s aren’t perfect! I would never claim that but they are a good compromise. They were well built and would not be cost effective if built to the same standards today. You would be able to buy a faster and much cheaper French boat and it would be bigger inside. I have often thought about trading up. Perhaps a Contessa 28? But I came to think why? Omega is small enough to handle on my own, small enough for a thrash around the Bay for a hour but big enough for family trips and a week or two’s cruising to Cornwall. In 1989 I worked for Hurlwind. A builder of the H22. I helped, for a short time to fit out boats ready for the Southampton Boat Show. Not a lot of profit was being made as the materials were so expensive. Plans were being made to build some 24/70’s. The owner of the company had obtained the 24’ mould. As far as I know there was only one mould and this was used to produce both the Fin and Bilge keel variants. The hull was made in one piece by using a hull mould made of either four (Fin) or six (bilge) parts. Very ingenious and this meant that the boats did not require troublesome keel bolts. I wonder where the moulds are now? Limitations to the 24/70 are the visibility forward, slightly cramped interior (you make the most of it) and mast compression because the forward bulkhead was originally a bit thin. High freeboard means that she can be blown off course when manoeuvring at low speeds into a birth and the engine compartment is cramped for a modern diesel. Storage space has been a problem but other than that we have had to do only routine maintenance and replacement of gear. Being a Technology teacher I often need to come up with some problems for GCSE D&T pupils to solve. Loads of A grades have been got by building bits for Omega. These have included the saloon table, solar panel bracket, name plate, wind gen bracket, auto bilge pump, electric outboard battery box for the tender, boon tent, wind indicator and numerous bits of safety kit. Most of which is still fully functioning. I have had some other frightening moments. Coming into Falmouth in thick Fog, coming back from Cherbourg in a gale and being caught in horrific winds off Plymouth but overall I have thoroughly enjoyed the last fourteen years with Omega. My wife Natasha gave birth to our son Daniel in September, I look forward to spending many happy days and holidays aboard Omega and I am sure that she will perform brilliantly in her role as a family boat again. Future trips? St Malo for a couple of weeks. Perhaps in a few years when Daniel will enjoy it more. Nick Vass |
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