Rugged High Latitude Boats?

[Dockhead]

Originally Posted by Kenomac

Weren’t you looking for something like this a couple of years ago? Here’s a Sundeer for under $200k.
https://www.yachtworld.com/boats/199...nced%20listing

I like Sundeers a lot -- and I've taken a lot of clues from the many innovative design features of them. Dashew is a serious innovator. But I don't want plastic for the Arctic, and these boats are pretty dated by now.

[Dockhead]

Originally Posted by Sojourner

This may well be the dumbest thing I posted in a long while, but I was just musing the other day after visiting a beautiful amel 55 parked next to our humble little 1991 super maramu... a million buck boat and by god i wouldn't trade her for ours. So many design flaws (for us anyway)... Island beds, tiny bow locker, tiny cockpit, windows where there should be cabinets, wastes of space everywhere. That got me thinking how the SM could be improved, and the only thing I could come up with was making the hull out of aluminum or steel. No matter how much money I might get my grubby hands on later, the only thing I would ever do to 'upgrade' our boat situation is to try to replicate a SM in steel Any way to achieve that? I got the fiber SM already. Get a hull made exactly the same in alu and swap all the hardware? I mean the weight difference would have to be accounted for somehow, but still. Haha, how stupid is that, guys i mean, it's stupid..... right?

Well, if it's what you want, it's not stupid. Henri Amel is dead I think so you can't hire him, but I think he used a design bureau, so I'm sure you could order whatever you want, built in whatever material you like.


I agree with you that Amel has drifted off mission -- the new ones are much more like other mass produced coastal cruising boats, and not so interesting.

[Dockhead]

Originally Posted by boatman61

So... Its just another owner bullshitting about his boat again..

No, they're all more or less custom built. The basic hull is the same but everything else is done to order. So they are all more or less "one off".



I visited the KM Yachts factory and saw Noelex and SWL's boat being built and spent some time with the owner. Seriously impressive yard, and top of my list for where to have my next boat built if I end up building from scratch.


I wouldn't go with one of the Bestevaer designs, if I build from scratch, though. I would really start from scratch.

[Pete7]

Originally Posted by Sojourner

This may well be the dumbest thing I posted in a long while, but I was just musing the other day after visiting a beautiful amel 55 parked next to our humble little 1991 super maramu... a million buck boat and by god i wouldn't trade her for ours.

Completely off the thread topic, but we moored next to a rather nice SM that was for sale in Portland (UK) a couple of years ago. One of the rare times I have suddenly thought about changing the boat. The only snag in the plan is we like visiting wee little traditional fishing harbours and drying out up tiny estuaries were even dinghies approach with caution. Might be a problem in a SM.

Pete

[OceanSeaSpray]

Originally Posted by msinn

Skip Novak's Pelagic boats are tough and fast steel boats but they are custom built.

Fast?! You must be joking. Custom steel tubs with big engines and huge fuel tanks for charter. You would be lucky to see one under sail and I have been in the area.

[boatman61]

Yup you were right its the 57ft Besteaver..

[Bigmarv]

Originally Posted by OceanSeaSpray

Fast?! You must be joking. Custom steel tubs with big engines and huge fuel tanks for charter. You would be lucky to see one under sail and I have been in the area.

agreed. OceanSS, what are you doing with your boat next? it looks like it has long legs.

[OceanSeaSpray]

Originally Posted by Bigmarv

agreed. OceanSS, what are you doing with your boat next? it looks like it has long legs.

Sailing it from NZ back to Alaska, over the top and into Northern Europe once I get a few projects to fall off my desk here.

[Breaking Waves]

Originally Posted by Dockhead

I don't want plastic for the Arctic.

It's not for you, but there might be things you could learn from it:




It's done more cold weather expedition work than pretty much any other (yes, this is debatable, but near the top of the heap especially for a private, not charter, vessel). Very very impressive owner David Scott Cowper - a 'real' hard as nails seaman of the old school. The boat was built in a Scottish commercial workboat yard if I remember correctly.

[Dockhead]

Originally Posted by Breaking Waves

It's not for you, but there might be things you could learn from it:

Attachment 191848
Attachment 191849

It's done more cold weather expedition work than pretty much any other (yes, this is debatable, but near the top of the heap especially for a private, not charter, vessel). Very very impressive owner David Scott Cowper - a 'real' hard as nails seaman of the old school. The boat was built in a Scottish commercial workboat yard if I remember correctly.

Last year, a friend on here gave me the book about Cowper's double handed NW Passage trip, written by his companion, so I'm familiar with the story.


Yes, impressive vessel with impressive stories behind. It's true that above the Arctic Circle it's mostly motoring (at least according to our experience), but I would still want a sailboat.

[Breaking Waves]

Originally Posted by Dockhead

I would still want a sailboat.

yes, I understand. He is also actually a sailor at heart (see quote below) and did his first voyaging sailing (on a Huisman as his 2nd sailboat)

but in the build and fitout you might learn things .... he is both a smart engineer and rather real-world experienced.

He is no luddite - just for example put Transporter Energy lithium-ion batteries during his latest refit.

But he also said "But my passion is still sailing boats. When I’m in port I go round looking at details. It intrigues me. One day I would like to design a perfect sailing boat. The ideal size would be 46ft. Most boats these days are far too sophisticated. I threw out the hot water system and desalinator. It all goes wrong.”

The details on the boat for things like window construction and ventilation are spectacular. He had no major failures in essentially 3 continuous circumnavigations (I'm not sure after that).

Continuously welded stringers (rather than tacked like most) and every weld ultrasounded every cm.

Just random pics



radar mount polar bound.jpg Views: 223 Size: 93.1 KB ID: 191859" style="margin: 2px" />


ps Designer: Dennis Davidson of Murry Cormack Associates Scotland
Builder: New Century Marine Scotland

[jmh2002]

This article popped up on my news feed and some points might be of interest to you:

Qilak: The super-rugged yacht built for fast, high-latitudes cruising:

https://www.yachtingworld.com/extrao...ruising-121332

[Matt Johnson]

Originally Posted by jmh2002

This article popped up on my news feed and some points might be of interest to you:

Qilak: The super-rugged yacht built for fast, high-latitudes cruising:

https://www.yachtingworld.com/extrao...ruising-121332

Another KM built boat that Dockhead probably saw during his visit to the yard last year.

Only thing I don't like about it is the longitudinal seating in the pilothouse... on a charter boat where everyone is trying to see what is going on outside, why would the put the seating so low as to require standing to see out the ports?

Matt

[jmh2002]

Yes, it's an interesting boat but I'm not sure that all of the design choices are valid, In the end many decisions become a compromise in one way or another.

[nmccubbin]

Thanks. Impressive machine