“Beauty is in the eye of the beholder and those who cannot see past the Ovni’s boxy hulk and quirky French design will probably be those who cannot appreciate the benefits of a shoal-draught cruiser which is the perfect expedition yacht. The Ovni is designed to explore remote inlets and bays, as well as take you across oceans, from the Artic to the tropics.”
“She has been called the Land Rover of the seas with good reason. She's a very capable, long-distance, liveaboard cruiser. Her aluminium hull (65% as strong as steel, but one-third as heavy) makes her robust, if not bullet-proof, and the ability to beach the boat is a bonus..” (Yachting Monthly, 8 April 2010, Review of the similar Ovni 365)
Being called the ‘Land Rover of the seas’ is a great description for this comfortable, strong, exciting yet safe, ocean-girdling boat, built of aluminium.
With a lifting keel and rudder, she can go (almost) anywhere – getting safely into shallow anchorages that other boats cannot access.
An Ovni 43, ‘Aventura III’ was commissioned and then used by the celebrated sailor Jimmy Cornell and his family to complete tens of thousands of miles circumnavigating the globe.
Designed by Philippe Briand and built by Alubat in France, 90 boats were built between 1991 and 2000.
“The Ovni 43 is an excellent vessel for both long journeys and short sailing trips. Ovni’s are known for their enormous seaworthiness...” (KM Yachtbuilders)
Fidelio is no. 88 of the 90 Ovni 43s: she was built in May 2000, but we understand she was not commissioned until 2002.
The boat crossed the Atlantic to Venezuala and the West Indies in 2004-05 under French ownership.
We bought her in 2012. Since starting chartering from the Oban area in 2018, we have continued to upgrade to ever higher standards.
| Specifications | |
|---|---|
| CE Certificate | Category A Ocean |
| Length | 12.9m |
| Waterline Length | 10.4m |
| Beam | 4.3m |
| Draught (keel down) | 2.5m |
| Draught (keel up) | 0.8m (better to allow 1.0m) |
| Displacement | 8.5T (internal lead ballast, 3.6T) |
| Air Draught | 17.0m (plus aerials) |
| Sleeping Space |
9 berths (8 permitted on charter):
|
| Water Tanks | 400 litres |
| Diesel tanks | 320 litres |
| Theoretical Hull Speed | 7.8 knots |
| Sail Area |
Main: 40m2 Genoa: 53m2 Staysail: 17m2 |
| Equipment | |
|---|---|
| Engine |
Volvo D2-50 engine
|
| Propellor | MaxProp folding propellor |
| Electrical Generation Capacity |
Solar panels (approx 1.5m2) Rutland 1200 wind generator |
| Batteries |
Dedicated engine starting battery 5 service batteries (with control switch for these to support engine battery if necessary) 2 dedicated bow thruster batteries All batteries 85AH or larger |
| Bow Thruster | Max-Power Compact Retractable bow thruster |
| Anchor |
Lewmar electric anchor windlass 25kg CQR main anchor, and 20kg CQR kedge anchor |
| Shore Power | Shore power connection available |
| Dinghy |
Caribe 4 person dinghy, with rigid floor, stowed fully inflated on aft davits at sea (so can be deployed in seconds) Torqueedo 1103CS Electric Outboard (new in 2025) |
| Lifting keel and rudder | Manually pumped hydraulic system (operation will be shown) |
| Sailing Equipment |
|---|
| Fully battened mainsail with 3 reefs (2 reefs are fully controlled from cockpit) |
| Furling genoa (Pro-furl unit). Sail is new in 2024 |
| Staysail on removable inner forestay |
| Storm Jib |
| Asymmetric spinnaker (for experienced crews only, supplied as extra cost item) |
| Total 8 winches (1 electric, for main halyard): main cockpit winches are Harken 56/2 and Harken 44, 2-speed |
| Walder boom brake (reduces risk from an accidental gybe) |
| Lazy jacks sail stowage |
| Mast steps |
| Running backstays (use will be shown) |
| Life On Board |
|---|
| Sprayhood |
| Cockpit table (collapsible into cockpit floor) |
| Bimini over cockpit (and a bimini extension stored below - between them, they cover whole of cockpit) |
| Swim fold-down boarding ladder (combines with dinghy davits to make Man Overboard recovery much safer and easier) |
| 3 double berths each have Bedflex slats below mattresses. Most people find these very comfortable |
| Hot water cylinder, heated from engine or shorepower |
| All lights LED |
| Planar 4kW Diesel hot-air heater |
| Force 10, Euro-compact cooker, with 2 burners, oven and grill |
| Large fridge compartment (not a freezer, but we've found it can keep food frozen for a week) |
| Internal Pioneer audio system, with CD and phone cable connection (not bluetooth) |
| 200W Inverter |
| 230V power circuit in each cabin (when connected to shorepower) |
| Double sink, with hot/cold fresh water mixer taps, and separate sea water supply from footpump |
| Full set of utensils, crockery, cutlery (detailed inventory will be supplied prior to charters) |
| 2 heads compartments, each with basin with mixer taps on flexible hoses that pull out to act as shower heads. (Note: only one compartment has a toilet) |
Safety Equipment
Fidelio is coded by the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) for eight people to live on board, to sail up to 60 NM from safe haven (Area 2): MECAL certificate No. M18SV0130066, issued 2023.
All safety, navigational and related equipment required for this (see MCA publication MGN280 for details) is carried on board. There is a Category 1 EPIRB also carried on board.
A complete list of what is on board can be supplied on request.
| Instruments |
|---|
| Garmin 1022 colour chartplotter |
| Garmin wind, log and depth instruments |
| Vesper Marine transponder (2-way AIS) |
| Garmin radar |
| Raytheon Autopilot |
| Plastimo compass at binnacle, and handheld compass |
| Furano GPS (older but kept as a back-up) |
| VHF radio: Standard Horizon 1850 GPS (with DSC) |
| Handheld radio (with DSC) |
Maintenance and Upgrading
Over the past 7 years, we have undertaken a programme of maintaining (replacing where appropriate), and upgrading almost all equipment on board.
The aim has consistently been that Fidelio should not suffer any unforeseeable problems, and that your holiday is as troublefree, safe, comfortable and enjoyable as possible.
As well as items noted above, over the past 7 years we have, among many other jobs, renewed all standing rigging and nearly all running rigging, replaced guardrails, new electronics for the bow thruster, serviced the lifting keel, the rudder and the steering system, fitted new rudder bearings, had the boat's electrical system upgraded, renewed the solar panel control system, and renovated the dinghy.
