I was looking at the new Beneteau 345 pamphlet for this year.
The new 2005 specification is showing a 1 X 12 V electric (4.5 cuft) front
opening fridge.
I wonder what is the advantage to have a front opening fridge on a 34 foot
sailboat.
That gave me the idea that this boat was designed to be a live aboard
attached to a berth protected by a breakwater. Conversely, the power boats
community have used front opening fridges for a long time. Maybe there are
advantages that I can not see at this time??

Dangiser

"Denis Marier" wrote in message
...
I was looking at the new Beneteau 345 pamphlet for this year.
The new 2005 specification is showing a 1 X 12 V electric (4.5 cuft)
front
opening fridge.
I wonder what is the advantage to have a front opening fridge on a 34 foot
sailboat.
That gave me the idea that this boat was designed to be a live aboard
attached to a berth protected by a breakwater. Conversely, the power
boats
community have used front opening fridges for a long time. Maybe there
are
advantages that I can not see at this time??

Dangiser

Easier to clean and easier to get food out of. The top surface can be used
as a permanent counter/work surface. Two main problems are they let out all
the cold air every time you open and there is the possibility that
everything may end up on the cabin sole if you open while on the wrong tack.
Maybe not such an issue on powerboats as they usually try to stay level and
often have gensets (don't care about running time of the fridge).

Gordon Wedman wrote:
"Denis Marier" wrote in message
...

I was looking at the new Beneteau 345 pamphlet for this year.
The new 2005 specification is showing a 1 X 12 V electric (4.5 cuft)
front
opening fridge.
I wonder what is the advantage to have a front opening fridge on a 34 foot
sailboat.
That gave me the idea that this boat was designed to be a live aboard
attached to a berth protected by a breakwater. Conversely, the power
boats
community have used front opening fridges for a long time. Maybe there
are
advantages that I can not see at this time??

Dangiser


Easier to clean and easier to get food out of. The top surface can be used
as a permanent counter/work surface. Two main problems are they let out all
the cold air every time you open and there is the possibility that
everything may end up on the cabin sole if you open while on the wrong tack.
Maybe not such an issue on powerboats as they usually try to stay level and
often have gensets (don't care about running time of the fridge).


My catamaran has a front opening fridge. (Again, level sailing has
advantages!) Its far easier to find things so you can open it, get your
stuff, and close it quickly. When we had a top loader, we would often
have to pull things out to find something that had fallen to the bottom.
My wife claims, based on nothing in particular, that the front loader
muse be more efficient. I've wondered how much cold is really lost, or
to be more precise, how much heat content is in the warm air that gets
in when the cold "falls" out.

My freezer, BTW, is a top loader with about 7 inches of foam all around.
We keep bundles of food in mesh bags, so we can pull out the "meat
bag" or the "veggie bag" quickly.

In article ,
Jeff Morris wrote:

My catamaran has a front opening fridge. (Again, level sailing has
advantages!) Its far easier to find things so you can open it, get your
stuff, and close it quickly. When we had a top loader, we would often
have to pull things out to find something that had fallen to the bottom.
My wife claims, based on nothing in particular, that the front loader
must be more efficient. I've wondered how much cold is really lost, or
to be more precise, how much heat content is in the warm air that gets
in when the cold "falls" out.

Having had both (on land) through a few multi-day power outages, I can
state positively that considerable cooling is lost every time a
front-loader's door is opened, and those seals aren't perfect even when
the door is closed.

--
Jere Lull
Xan-a-Deux ('73 Tanzer 28 #4 out of Tolchester, MD)
Xan's Pages: http://members.dca.net/jerelull/X-Main.html
Our BVI FAQs (290+ pics) http://homepage.mac.com/jerelull/BVI/

Gordon Wedman wrote:
"Denis Marier" wrote in message
...
I was looking at the new Beneteau 345 pamphlet for this year.
The new 2005 specification is showing a 1 X 12 V electric (4.5
cuft)
front
opening fridge.
I wonder what is the advantage to have a front opening fridge on a
34 foot
sailboat.
That gave me the idea that this boat was designed to be a live
aboard
attached to a berth protected by a breakwater. Conversely, the
power
boats
community have used front opening fridges for a long time. Maybe
there
are
advantages that I can not see at this time??

Dangiser

Easier to clean and easier to get food out of. The top surface can
be used
as a permanent counter/work surface. Two main problems are they let
out all
the cold air every time you open and there is the possibility that
everything may end up on the cabin sole if you open while on the
wrong tack.
Maybe not such an issue on powerboats as they usually try to stay
level and
often have gensets (don't care about running time of the fridge).

Oh they can be lots of fun on a power boat up on plane if the door
faces the stern. I remember a few years ago running a friends boat to
Florida for the winter with some friends. He had a galley up setup, it
was (key word, "was") a beautiful day, we were out in the open ocean
under way. All of us were up on the fly bridge enjoying the weather, I
climbed down from the bridge to go get something from the cabin. Well,
I opened the cabin door, and the entire contents of the refrigerator,
which was full for our trip, rolled out the door, into the cockpit.
Everything except the eggs, salids and glass bottles. The cold cuts
were stuck to assorted things in the cabin.

One of those golden moments in life where the only thing that comes out
of your mouth is, "Oh s _ _ t". It would have been nice to have a lie
detector on board to determine who opened the refrigerator last, and
didn't latch it shut. Keel hauling would have been called for. It was
one hell of a mess.

The lesson learned, if the refrigerator has a latch, use it at all
times, make it a habit. If it doesn't have a latch, install one.

Bad idea for a sailboat. But then again what do you expect from Beneteau
and the french in general.

Doug

"Denis Marier" wrote in message
...
I was looking at the new Beneteau 345 pamphlet for this year.
The new 2005 specification is showing a 1 X 12 V electric (4.5 cuft)
front
opening fridge.
I wonder what is the advantage to have a front opening fridge on a 34 foot
sailboat.
That gave me the idea that this boat was designed to be a live aboard
attached to a berth protected by a breakwater. Conversely, the power
boats
community have used front opening fridges for a long time. Maybe there
are
advantages that I can not see at this time??

Dangiser

Doug Dotson wrote:
Bad idea for a sailboat. But then again what do you expect from Beneteau
and the french in general.

While not being monos I thought e.g. Catanas had a quite good reputation?
j.

"johannes m.r." wrote in message
...
Doug Dotson wrote:
Bad idea for a sailboat. But then again what do you expect from Beneteau
and the french in general.

While not being monos I thought e.g. Catanas had a quite good reputation?
j.

What is a Catanas?

Doug Dotson wrote:
"johannes m.r." wrote in message
...

Doug Dotson wrote:

Bad idea for a sailboat. But then again what do you expect from Beneteau
and the french in general.

While not being monos I thought e.g. Catanas had a quite good reputation?
j.


What is a Catanas?


Catana is a French high quality catamaran - very spiffy, and mostly
large. They almost folded in 2002, and found a buyer. Like most cat
companies, they're starting to shift over to power cats.

http://www.catana.net/index_us.php

In article ,
says...


Doug Dotson wrote:
Bad idea for a sailboat. But then again what do you expect from Beneteau
and the french in general.

While not being monos I thought e.g. Catanas had a quite good reputation?
j.

And the last time an Aerican won an around the world race was when?