For Sale: Hinckley Bermuda 40 Custom Aft-Cabin Yawl

[neilpride]

Great boat! great lines, great gear, beautiful boat,

[cferguson53]

Originally Posted by Kim Petersen

Hi guys:

Well, we've just returned from another wonderful trip onboard Pathfinder. Unfortunately, we're still sitting with two boats, so she's going back on the market on June 1 following a complete rejuvenation of her teak that starts next month.

If you have an interest in doing the brightwork yourself, Pathfinder is being offered at $127,500. After June 1st her price will go up to cover costs. If you're interested in seeing her, she's lying in Vero Beach now and I'll sail her down to Ft. Lauderdale for the varnishing.

I'm VVERY interested is still for sale. Call 404 354 4376 or cferguson53@gmail.com

[cferguson53]

Still available?

[Kim Petersen]

Hi guys:

Sorry for the delay in responding but I've just returned from sailing in the BVIs. Messages sent and voice mails left with those who have PM'd me.

Kim

[Kim Petersen]

Pathfinder will soon have completed the renewal of all of its exterior teak – and she looks great. I also decided to have North Sails replace the Sunbrella fabric on the dodger and sun cover.

Should any of you wish some updated photos, let me know.

[sailcruiser]

I will say up front I'm not a buyer but with that said maybe some pics will help push someone who is ready to pull the trigger. That and I love looking at boat pics. Pathfinder is indeed a beautiful boat.
SC

[BergeronWarren]

Originally Posted by Kim Petersen

Pathfinder will soon have completed the renewal of all of its exterior teak – and she looks great. I also decided to have North Sails replace the Sunbrella fabric on the dodger and sun cover.

Should any of you wish some updated photos, let me know.

Our family has just recently committed to a purchase of a Lord Nelson, or I would be taking a trip to get a better look. "Pathfinder" is beautiful and well-priced.
By the way, are you the author of "Charting the Unknown"? My wife just bought the book last month in preparation to taking our 5 & 7 year old boys on a trip clockwise around the Atlantic (up New England this Summer, trans-Atlantic in April 2014, Mediterranean in Summer 2014, wait in the Canaries, then Caribbean in Winter 2015, then back home to Annapolis).

[Kim Petersen]

Thanks for the kind note, Bergeron. You will be well served by your Lord Nelson. And no, I'm not the author with the same name. Good book though!

[Kim Petersen]

After a wonderful summer sailing Pathfinder we have decided to put our Bermuda 40 back on the market.

In mid-July we began a complete refinish of all exterior teak, along with replacing the dodger and Bimini top. We're now a couple of coats of varnish away from completion and North Sails Ft. Lauderdale has just installed the new canvas (actually Sunbrella). She's in the water in Pompano Beach, Florida and looks great.

Pathfinder is ready to sail anywhere in the world. I'll post some updated photos soon.

[Kim Petersen]

Our family has really enjoyed another season sailing our wonderful Pathfinder in her home waters of southern Florida and the Bahamas.

We thought she had been sold back in October, and there were very positive inspections and a sterling survey, so we took her off the market. Unfortunately, we just heard that the buyer cannot get financed. So she is back on the market for $132,500 - an extremely fair price especially given her condition, history, and unique layout. Fresh brightwork, canvas, and headsail. Check out her details and compare her to other Bermuda 40s on the market.

If you're looking for a world-class sailboat that will safely take you anywhere on the globe, look no further than Pathfinder!

[CSY Man]

A Beauty for sure.
Reminds me of my first boat, a Bill Tripp Bermuda 44' yawl, "Katingo", same lines, same details.

I saw 10.5 knots on a beam reach between St. Croix and St. Thomas, these boats are full blooded sailing machines.

[jtsailjt]

Very nice example of the B-40 and looks like it's been extremely well cared for all along the way and is very well equipped all around. I'm sort of surprised it hasn't sold at the price it's listed for. For the right buyer interested in some local day sailing or "gentleman's cruising" it's a bargain!

No doubt it's a beautiful work of art riding at it's mooring or under sail in moderate conditions, but all the exterior teak is a LOT of expense (as you well know) to keep up the way you have and the interior space is comparable to a typical 35' boat, as is its sailing performance with that short waterline and shallow draft, and forget about such "luxuries" as taking a shower. Also, I've been aboard lots of B-40's, including one of them with your layout and I got the feeling that they tried to fit too much in so it seemed more like a series of dark, interconnected closets than actual living spaces. I've never been on a cruising sailboat, even my old Hinckley Pilot 35, that felt so small and closed in down below and that's probably why so few were built this way. I can fully appreciate the aesthetics of a well kept B40 but don't think it's very practical for the lifestyle most long distance cruisers today are looking for and that probably accounts for it being on the market for so long and at such a good price. But still, if someone wants a beautiful and extremely rugged, very well equipped, and well built boat for coastal cruising a few days at a time (just the way the vast majority of "someday" long term cruisers actually use our boats while we still have jobs) and is willing to commit to caring for all that teak, it would be a great boat that they could enjoy and be proud to own.

I know it wasn't you, but WHO names their sailboat Priapus?! A close relative to the guy who names his fishing boat Masterbaiter?

pri·a·pus (prī-ā′pəs)n.1. Priapus Greek & Roman Mythology The god of procreation, guardian of gardens and vineyards, and personification of the erect phallus.
2. An image of this god, often used as a scarecrow in ancient gardens.
3. A representation of a phallus.

[Latin Priāpus, from Greek Priāpos.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition copyright ©2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Priapus (praɪˈeɪpəs) n1. (Classical Myth & Legend) (in classical antiquity) the god of the male procreative power and of gardens and vineyards
2. (often not capital) a representation of the penis

[Kim Petersen]

Jtsailjt:

It's always interesting to hear from folks who have enjoyed the qualities of design and build offered in a Hinckley yacht. Hinckleys have the distinction of being judged 'one of the finest yachts built in the world'. They are most certainly traditional in design and are unlike most modern sailboats that attempt to maximize living space below decks at the expense of sailing efficiency and safety. One need only look at the exceptionally wide - and safe - decks on a Bermuda 40 to understand where Bill Tripp's (the designer) priorities were. That said, not everyone wants or needs a boat where you can safely move along the decks in gale conditions, but for those who do, particularly blue water sailors, this is indeed such a boat.

I do have to take issue with a few of your comments. For example, it surprises me what with your declared experience with Bermuda 40s like mine that, for example, you don't know that the head is fully equipped with a "luxurious" hot and cold running shower, or that the "shallow draft" is in fact a very rugged centerboard allowing for a variable draft between 4-feet 6-inches (centerboard up) and a quite deep 8-feet 7-inches (centerboard down). Your experience must be different from mine, as I find the B40s ability to point upwind to be exceptional with the board down, and more than adequate for cruising with the board up - which we have done for days at a time on long passages. (And the centerboard allows remarkable cruising option otherwise foreclosed to deeper-draft boats in areas like the Chesapeake, Bahamas, and the Florida Keys.)

I'm also taken aback that someone with your experience believes that this is a boat intended for "moderate conditions" and sailing only "for a few days". Many Bermuda 40s have circumnavigated the globe (none doing so in a 'few day' as best I'm aware); Pathfinder has circumnavigated the Caribbean and Central America, and quite capably sailed the edge of two hurricanes, the most recent with 15-18 foot seas. She did so magnificently and without a single piece of broken gear; this is a boat that is stronger and more capable than most who will sail her.

Our most recent trip had onboard four adults and a pre-teen for a two-week sail through the Abacos. She doesn't afford you the room of a comparably-sized coastal cruiser like a Catalina, for example, but we were comfortable and quite content - even with all of us watching movies in the chill of the air conditioned salon. The private aft cabin with two berths, along with the private forward cabin and separate salon, allow for remarkable privacy on a boat this size. As for the comment that your Hinckley Pilot 35 seemed to be more commodious below decks than a Bermuda 40 with the custom and updated layout, well, having sailed on a few Pilot 35s I have to say that's just silly.

Perhaps your belief that this is a "coastal" sailor betrays a more timid approach to sailing than most who own B40s. That or you don't have that much experience sailing a Bermuda 40. She is rugged, sea-kindly, and even under 'ginnie and jigger' steers herself in the most robust offshore conditions without the need for the mainsail. In foul weather and heavy seas, or for a lengthy ocean passage, there is no other sailboat I would rather sail – and I've been sailing for 45-years.

As for the reason she has not sold, Pathfinder is not listed with any brokers nor advertised elsewhere, perhaps evidencing a lack of incentive to part with her. You may also have missed how she was taken off the market several times, including for the Summer and Fall sailing season, and due to a sale that fell through after several months. But now it is our hope that another family will own Pathfinder and enjoy her as much as we have.

[jtsailjt]

Originally Posted by Kim Petersen

Jtsailjt:

It's always interesting to hear from folks who have enjoyed the qualities of design and build offered in a Hinckley yacht. Hinckleys have the distinction of being judged 'one of the finest yachts built in the world'. They are most certainly traditional in design and are unlike most modern sailboats that attempt to maximize living space below decks at the expense of sailing efficiency and safety. One need only look at the exceptionally wide - and safe - decks on a Bermuda 40 to understand where Bill Tripp's (the designer) priorities were. That said, not everyone wants or needs a boat where you can safely move along the decks in gale conditions, but for those who do, particularly blue water sailors, this is indeed such a boat.
I did have some very good things to say about B-40's and your boat in particular. I think it's important to try to look at and understand any boats good and bad points equally. Maybe good and bad aren't even the right words, distinguishing features maybe? Certainly some modern boats have sacrificed safety in the interest of below decks space, but it's not necessarily an either/or proposition as you seem to be suggesting.

I do have to take issue with a few of your comments. For example, it surprises me what with your declared experience with Bermuda 40s like mine that, for example, you don't know that the head is fully equipped with a "luxurious" hot and cold running shower, or that the "shallow draft" is in fact a very rugged centerboard allowing for a variable draft between 4-feet 6-inches (centerboard up) and a quite deep 8-feet 7-inches (centerboard down). Your experience must be different from mine, as I find the B40s ability to point upwind to be exceptional with the board down, and more than adequate for cruising with the board up - which we have done for days at a time on long passages. (And the centerboard allows remarkable cruising option otherwise foreclosed to deeper-draft boats in areas like the Chesapeake, Bahamas, and the Florida Keys.)
I'm pretty surprised that with your "declared" experience with B-40's that you don't seem to understand that centerboards don't count as draft when you are talking about stability. The B-40 is a very shallow draft sailboat. That's not necessarily bad or good but that's what it is. If you publish a picture of your MK I B-40 out of the water, anyone can see that it has an extremely fat and stubby keel. Our experience indeed must be different when pointing upwind because, while lowering the centerboard does help, compared with having very little lateral resistance with the board up, it's very, very far from "exceptional." But that's OK, the B-40 isn't meant to be an upwind witch and personally, the older I get the more I agree with the idea that "gentlemen never sail to weather," at least in strong winds and large seas. IMHO, it's just not fun for very long in any moderately sized cruising boat with the wind over about 20 knots so the B-40's lack of ability in pointing very high wouldn't bother me much at all. Of course I agree with you that shallow draft does open up areas of the Chesapeake and Bahamas that a deeper draft boat would miss out on but that sort of goes without saying.

I am indeed familiar with the "luxurious shower" facilities on B-40's! I just don't consider adding a shower handset to the sink spigot in a varnished and painted tiny head qualifies it as a shower that's practical to use regularly while cruising. I know it's called a shower, but really....

I'm also taken aback that someone with your experience believes that this is a boat intended for "moderate conditions" and sailing only "for a few days". Many Bermuda 40s have circumnavigated the globe (none doing so in a 'few day' as best I'm aware); Pathfinder has circumnavigated the Caribbean and Central America, and quite capably sailed the edge of two hurricanes, the most recent with 15-18 foot seas. She did so magnificently and without a single piece of broken gear; this is a boat that is stronger and more capable than most who will sail her.
I think I acknowledged the extreme ruggedness of a B-40 and wouldn't think of questioning that, they're bulletproof and rumor has it that Henry Hinckley was known to prove that to prospective buyers by actually shooting a hull with a revolver he had at the yard. I also realize all the places B-40's have been over the last 50 years, virtually all over the world. The fact that such an old design is still around speaks well of it. But it's very small inside and that means less storage for all the things you need for comfortable extended cruising. It also has an index of positive stability that is on the very fringe of what most consider to be appropriate for offshore sailing. I realize that it's not often that LPS or stability index comes into play, and also that it doesn't tell quite the whole story where seaworthiness is involved, but there's a reason that it's computed. It IS a pretty good indicator, not the only one, but you can't say it's not worthy of serious consideration when evaluating an offshore cruising boat. Despite what the Hinckley sales office may suggest, physics applies equally to Hinckley's just as it applies to all other boats. Most boats can do quite well in difficult conditions if they are sailed by a competent skipper and crew so I compliment you on you and your boat handling some big winds and seas, but you'd have had a bigger safety factor built in if your boat had a lower CG and a larger stability index.

Our most recent trip had onboard four adults and a pre-teen for a two-week sail through the Abacos. She doesn't afford you the room of a comparably-sized coastal cruiser like a Catalina, for example, but we were comfortable and quite content - even with all of us watching movies in the chill of the air conditioned salon. The private aft cabin with two berths, along with the private forward cabin and separate salon, allow for remarkable privacy on a boat this size. As for the comment that your Hinckley Pilot 35 seemed to be more commodious below decks than a Bermuda 40 with the custom and updated layout, well, having sailed on a few Pilot 35s I have to say that's just silly.
Wow, sounds like you all must get along very well! I realize that 5 people can fit/sleep in a B-40 but finding room to stow all your clothes and toys and food, etc. for an extended cruise, in addition to all the boats gear, is a challenge. But I can see doing a 2 week cruise in warm weather where much of the time is spent out of the cabin and not a lot of clothing is required. There is a price to pay for those seaworthy wide decks (much more important in the days when every sail change or need to reef required that a crewmember go forward) and that un-seaworthy huge cockpit (great for coastal cruising in nice weather or entertaining with all your friends but not so much when it's full of water offshore) and that price is a lack of living space and storage room, especially if you chose to use up some of that limited space with an air conditioner that can only be used while plugged in at the dock.

Of course there is more room in a B-40 than in a Pilot 35 but with what you call the "updated" layout of your MK I boat, when you are sitting in the main saloon of your boat, you feel very closed off from the outside, or at least I did when I was on one. Your boat has more sleeping accommodations and more, as you call it, "remarkable privacy" than most other B-40's, but once again that isn't free and the cost is a very small "feeling" interior. "Remarkable privacy" or wide open or somewhere in between, to each their own. If you like yours or a potential buyer likes yours, I have no argument with that at all, but I was just saying what I prefer and what my immediate and strong impression was when I went aboard a sistership to your boat.

Perhaps your belief that this is a "coastal" sailor betrays a more timid approach to sailing than most who own B40s. That or you don't have that much experience sailing a Bermuda 40. She is rugged, sea-kindly, and even under 'ginnie and jigger' steers herself in the most robust offshore conditions without the need for the mainsail. In foul weather and heavy seas, or for a lengthy ocean passage, there is no other sailboat I would rather sail – and I've been sailing for 45-years. LOL, a more "timid" approach than most B-40 owners.... I've known very many and would never want to question their courage, but THAT is a pretty humorous statement. I suppose you might be right that I have gotten "more" timid as I've gotten older but then, one probably wouldn't have been possible without the other. As a teen, I used to only sail my Sunfish only when every other boat on the lake of any size had gone in due to the extreme conditions, and in my twenties I used to regularly fly fighter jets 50' off the ground at 500mph, but I prefer to look at it as having a slightly more "mature" approach to risk taking than I used to have, but not quite "timid." Certainly, compared to you, I don't have much experience sailing a B-40 but I have sailed several of them and I lived aboard summers in Northeast and then Southwest Harbors for 6 or 7 years so became quite familiar with them. I don't question its sea-kindliness a bit and the same was true of my Pilot 35. The heavy weight, ruggedness, and hull shape of both of them yield a very comfortable ride with absolutely no banging in the worst conditions..... once you get used to living life at a 45 degree angle.

As for the reason she has not sold, Pathfinder is not listed with any brokers nor advertised elsewhere, perhaps evidencing a lack of incentive to part with her. You may also have missed how she was taken off the market several times, including for the Summer and Fall sailing season, and due to a sale that fell through after several months. But now it is our hope that another family will own Pathfinder and enjoy her as much as we have. If someone had made you an offer close to your asking price when you considered it off the market would you really have refused to negotiate with them? I think your boat is beautiful to look at and was very finely crafted and is a good value for a particular buyer and probably has already depreciated about as much as it ever will as long as its properly maintained. But in order to market it towards someone who will actually put their money where their mouth is, I think it's important to understand and emphasize its actual "distinguishing features" and not try to pretend it's something that it's not. The B-40 doesn't need that.

My thoughts are in orange.

[Kim Petersen]

Jtsailjt:

I've found that it's futile to engage with internet warriors such as yourself who are intent on proving themselves right despite their lack of facts or experience with the subject at hand.

As an example, your claim that the shower is simply "a handset (connected) to the sink spigot" is simply untrue - though accuracy doesn't seem to be a priority for you. Indeed, I find it bizarre that you choose to challenge my statements despite never having seen the boat.

This is a custom yacht (as many Hinckleys are), built to special design requirements of the previous owner who prepared the boat for a four-person, multi-month cruise through the Caribbean. Hinckley plumbed separate hot and cold water lines to a beautiful teak bulkhead-mounted Moen shower-head during a major deck-off refit at Southwest Harbor. It is both aesthetically pleasing and quite efficient, and you are the first to find issue with it. (Of course you've never been on my boat, but lack of first-hand knowledge rarely impedes folks like you.)

All that said, I have no interest in turning this into an internet battle; clearly you have an agenda – facts be damned – so have at it. I'll just cross your name off my list of potential buyers and move on ...