We had a Hylas 49 for 10 years and just sold it.

You ask about decisions on the Taiwan boat...  Here are a few thoughts:

I had a leisurefurl boom on our 49 and loved it.   It made sail handling much easier and I did the same boom again on our new boat.

Cutter rig or not is a decision.   Tacking the 49 with a staysail can be difficult.  The genoa has trouble getting thru the slot.   On the other hand,  the staysail and reefed main combination is outstanding for rough weather and we used that a lot.    A compromise might be a detachable inner headstay,  but I've never liked those as you then have hanked on sails or something not already up and you have work to do to fly the staysail rather than just rolling it out...

There are 5 tanks on the 49.  You need to decide which are water and which are diesel.   If you will have a watermaker,  you can go with 3 diesel and 2 water,  but we went with 3 water and 2 diesel from the factor because we had no watermaker at the start.   As well,  you can go from water to diesel down the road but not the other way around. 

The portside cabin may already be decided, but we ended up putting the berth too high and adding too much storage under.   A better option (we think) would have been more storage high and a low berth to make it easier to get in and out of.

Unless you put some diverters into the anchor locker, the chain will tend to castle and jam the windlass.   We had 300' of chain on our boat along with a CQR65 and Bruce 66 with 50' of chain and 200' of rope.    It lets you have good ground tackle but the chain can throw it off her lines unless you balance it aft.  Outboard motor,  batteries, etc...

We had the MAMBA steering system and loved it.  Its rugged,  avoids the problems of having to adjust chains/cables, and was responsive to the touch. 

Batteries need some thought.    We had 4 8D's in the house bank,   an engine start battery,  a generator start battery and an 8D for the bow thruster.   Balancing that weight required QL to put 2 in the bow,  2 in the stern and 2 at the base of the companionway.   Five years after its built, no one I know of says "I wish I didn't put so many batteries in the boat".   A combined solar / battery setup is recommended.

Get WEMA gauges or something like the SIMARINE PICO system for monitoring tanks and batteries.   The standard stuff people did in the 49 (tank tender and XANTREX) are not as accurate or useful as the PICO or WEMA stuff.   The tank tender doesn't draw any power (it uses pressure that you pump up), but you have to convert cubic inches of tank space and pressure into "20% full" and that takes some work..  The ultrasonic sensors in particular are great for holding tanks as the float kind get stuck a lot.   

We had the PANDA mini-8 for a generator.   It was fine for us, and the PANDA support pretty good when I needed it.    I know everyone has opinions on generators just like anchors.    Nothing is the right decision except the one they made.   That said,  I have no experience with Northern Lights or Mastervolt or others, so you should do your research here.   All I can say is that 8KW was fine for our needs.  No need to go higher that I can see.

On sails,   we went with HYDRANET radial sails.   This was 10 years ago.    We did it because of their durability and the fact that they don't get "measles" (black spots of mold inside laminate layers).   Hydranet is the only cloth where you can create woven radial cut sails.   Ours lasted 10 years and we were very happy with them.   Today you might be able to get a molded cruising sale that performs as well as a radial cut sail, but the jury is out on durability and growth between layers.   If a woven sail got dirty, you just scrubbed it.    An area of research as well.

Unlike the other Hylas models,  the 49 mold does not have the hull ports in it.    Dick Jachney tried to talk us out of the hull windows as he said the gelcoat might craze around them and the construction wasn't as good as having it in the mold.    I contacted Sparkman and Stevens (the designers of the 49) in NY and they told me how the windows should be put in.   Queen Long verified that was how they did it.   In 10 years we never had an issue.      We like the hull windows because it gives you some nice views from below deck and doesn't make it so much of a teak cave below deck..

Again, these decisions might have already been made, but....

1.  Separate shower stall in the aft head is well worth having the nav station turned sideways.   If they can make it forward facing, even better.
2.  Not sure what they put in these days for refrigeration/freezer, but we had frigoboat and it worked fine.
3.  We never used the bench berth in the salon.  I'd have rather had some custom/comfortable seating opposite the salon table.   
4.  We had folding benches made for extra salon seating. These also became tables for the aft deck if we wanted to sit back there.  These seem to have been the first Hylas made, but we've seen them on many other models since so apparently they are a success.
5.  We had the stern rail seats.  Very comfortable and a great place to have guests stay out-of-the-way when sailing...
6.  We had Vacuflush heads and they were fine for 10 years.  There might be a better option these days, but i'm not aware.

Hope this helps...  Contact me if you have any questions...     Personally,   I'd see what kind of deal on the new hull I could work.  Some of the 49's mentioned have been out there a while.   They could be overpriced, or there could be something people don't like when they look deeper.   In any case,  its always good to have a boat done your way and this would give you the opportunity...

Rick

Fomerly....
S/V Black Diamond
Hylas 49-057
Portsmouth, RI

we've got one, fully equipped.  she's not on the market, but we are beginning to talk about life after cruising (age related.)  we can talk more, if you like
brian

Okay, we have zeroed in on a 46 with shoal draft. If anyone knows of someone who owns one, please tell them that you know someone who would like to buy it? Thanks!!!

Rich

We are currently negotiating with Hylas in Taiwan through the local representative in FL to purchase the "last 49 to be built", after which the molds will be destroyed. We also considered Manketti in Europe and Wyoming Wind on the east coast, both appear to be nice boats, but are not convenient to our location in Seattle. We like the 49 for the good sea keeping reputation, and the classic looks, and we don't want the hassles of docking, moorage, etc of a bigger yacht. The chance to get a new boat for a discounted price is enticing, fully understanding that "new" does not imply trouble-free, when it comes to commissioning, especially after reading horror stories of the process.

According to the rep in FL, Hylas needs to move this 49 to make room for the newer models being built at the Taiwan facility,  and are willing to "deal", otherwise they are going to build the boat out to standard specs, and try to sell it as a finished boat in the US, which for them is a riskier proposition than having the boat optioned out by a buyer, who will be assuming the financial risk/complications of commissioning a yacht.

 My question to the readers is:  what items to be added to the base boat that are "needs" vs "wants", as the list can be very short, or very long, and very expensive! The boat is currently in a semi-finished condition, so we do not have choices about the interior layout, cabinetry, floors, decks (thankfully not teak).

We do get to specify the rig, electric  furling,  electric winches, sails, and creature comforts such as generator, a/c, diesel heat (we need that up here), water maker, electronic/navigation/autopilot package. Here is where we would appreciate some advice/comments. All of the things we "want" add up to an awful of of cash, pushing the price of the new boat into, and beyond,  the range where we could get a fully equipped 54, of which there are many on the market currently. Once we have committed to spending 750K -1M on a yacht, there are a lot of choices on the used market.

If anybody has experience with building a new boat through Hylas, comments/advice would be appreciated.

We have H49, Hull#58 (2007). The H49 is a great long-distance passagemaker but very different from the Hunter you have now. I won't mention anything about the differences in build quality because they are so visually obvious, but here are some of my comments on the differences in sailing performance.

BTW: We just reached Southport, Australia after departing from San Francisco, California in 2017. Three-quarters of the trip was done double-handed with my wife on board, but I did Bora Bora to Fiji single-handed (about 2,000nm) while my wife visited her family.

Prior to buying the H49 I had been sailing a lot of race boats and common production coastal cruisers. They were all lighter, fin keel boats with spade rudders. Getting on the H49 it took me a while to understand and eventually appreciate the differences in sailing performance. I even raced our H49 for about 15 months prior to departing on our trip (OYRA and SSS series in California).

The H49 will not point as high as your Hunter (also add Beneteau, Catalina, etc.), and it will not go as fast in light to medium air. It will be slower to tack and gybe. In medium to heavy air it will get closer to the speed of the Hunter 44 but still not point as high. I got a PHRF rating of 111 in Northern California, but the boat only sailed to that race rating once the wind was close to 20 knots (or above).

I was somewhat frustrated by the H49 sailing performance when I first got it. It may also take you a while to appreciate it's sailing performance after the Hunter, AND, that didn't happen for me until I had done a few thousand offshore miles on the H49.

It is good/great for long-distance passagemaking. It sits in the water solidly with good motion in typical tradewind conditions. It is very comfortable in heavier air--relative to lighter coastal style boats. It is also very forgiving in heavy conditions. You can trust it to sail itself and look after you when conditions get nasty and you're tired, worn out, etc.

It also performs well and makes fast passages in typical tradewind conditions (20 knots from apparent wind angles of 60 degrees or more). We usually make 170nm a day and have three different days of 202, 203, and 206nm by the log. However, we usually wait until GRIBS show close to 20 knots before departing on passages (we don't like motoring and as mentioned earlier, the H49 does not sail well in lighter air--especially downwind).

I often end up reefing late (procrastination, thinking that wind won't get any stronger, slack, tired, asleep, etc.). The H49 will forgive you. They are incredibly strong solid-built boats and you only notice and appreciate that in heavy conditions. No creaking and groaning from the hull flexing--because it doesn't.

The keel and rudder are a confidence-inspiring design/construction. The wind will scream/howl in the rigging at 35 knots (like all boats) but the mast/rig won't start oscillating and/or shake like crazy (saw that too many times on lighter-rigged boats).

Summary: the H49 sails very differently to what you have now.

Michael
H49 #58 Hylite