Length Overall – 10.8m (35ft 7inch)
Length at Water Line – 8.4m (27ft 6inch)
Beam – 3.7m (11ft 11inch)
Draft – Keel Down 2.0m (6ft 8inch)
Keel Up – 0.6m (2ft 0inch)
Displacement – 5897kgs (13,000llbs)
Produced by Northshore Yachts, based in Hayling Island on the South Coast of the UK, the Southerly 105 offers a 36 foot sailing cruiser with a large volume interior and luxurious living space for her size. Very beamy (3.7 metres) she is no tender racing yacht and hull top speed is about 7 knots usually averaging at about 5 knots. Massively built, the fibreglass construction is incredibly strong and does not use sandwich construction anywhere on the hull. A very large cast steel plate and box section is bolted to the fibreglass hull which holds the cast steel drop keel that swings up into the keel box by the means of Kevlar pennants attached to a hydraulic ram. The ram actively raises the keel and passively lowers it.
The Southerly 105 benefits from a steering position down below with full forward looking glass windscreens, allowing for 180 degree vision.
To facilitate the ability to dry out, the rudder is stern hung and rises up and down by means of a stainless-steel bar attached to the stern. A bronze split plate that is bolted through a running slot in the rudder allows it to be rotated for steering. This is facilitated by a series of cables that run through to the cockpit wheel steering position and then duplicated to the inside steering position.
The 105 has a tendency to gripe up into wind if over-pressed and for this reason Northshore stopped production in 1984 to produce the Southerly 115, an identical design to the 105 but with twin keels under the hull. The rudders needed to be quite small to allow the new design to also be able to dry out.
Hoopla
Gosport – United Kingdom
Our yacht Hoopla is a Southerly 105 with some modifications to original design these include;
- A reduction of berths from 9 berths to 8 (the single berth in the stern cabin was removed)
- In mast roller reefing with vertically battened main.
- 150% Oversized Genoa
- Sewage holding tank
- 300 litre stainless steel fuel tank
- 170 litre stainless steel water tank with pumped pressurised water with hot water tank and calorifier.
- Solar panel gantry with two 100 watt solar panels.
- Fresh water flush tank for engine.
Originally purchased with the intention of heading to the Med via the canals, Hoopla seemed an ideal vessel due to her ability to perform in very shallow waters. With the keel up she will float in about 1 metre of water. I also liked her stern hung rudder which allows for the installation of an emergency tiller in the event of a cable breakage. Many yachts have been lost for the want of an emergency rudder!
One of my main considerations when looking at a vessel that we could live aboard as well as travel the world was that it was essential that it could be single handled. Travelling with a young family involves being realistic about
Hoopla was fitted with an oversized genoa (150%) and this combined with the roller reefing main, makes her a very versatile and agile craft.
We have a 36 hp 3 cylinder bukh engine with a very large twin blade propeller. The idea of the twin blade is that it is possible to align the blades with the skeg to help minimise drag. The Bukh has been converted to fresh water cooling using a Martec heat exchanger and electric water pump.