Boat Design/Selection

The debate is incessant in the cruising community: what is the best cruising boat? John comes up with an answer that may surprise you.

Meeting up with Steve and Linda Dashew is always both fun and fascinating, with a lot to learn about offshore voyaging in boats of any size, even though their designs are way beyond the reach of most of us. John shares two of those lessons.

In Part 3 of his analysis of the Golden Globe Race, Colin examines the boats selected, cost of refits, and most importantly, how that relates to realistic budgets for cruisers planning to buy an old boat and upgrade it for ocean voyaging.

Colin’s eagerly anticipated update on his involvement in the 2018 Golden Globe Race as project manager for one of the competitors.

In the last two chapters we looked at whether we even need a get-home option for an offshore motorboat and concluded we do, so we looked at six options. In this chapter John reveals his winner, and why.

There are benefits and drawbacks to all get-home backup power options for offshore motorboats, which makes this vital decision surprisingly difficult. John shines a bright light on the tradeoffs of each option.

When designing an offshore motorboat one of the first decisions we must make is what we intend to do if the main engine fails far from land or help. John takes a deep dive into this complex issue.

Four Artnautica LRC 58s are already launched or in build. Here are some new storm survival and layout options based on John and Phyllis’ decades of living on and sailing an expedition sailboat.

Offshore motorboats could be safer, faster, and much, much, more fuel efficient. John looks at how, and some innovative boats that are making that happen.

The latest developments with the Adventure 40, a great offshore voyaging boat at an incredible price.

No question that cruising sailboats have been getting bigger in recent years. And that begs the question, what’s the safe top end for a couple to handle? John has a simple answer.

Colin’s report on testing some of the latest and coolest gear on a brand new Boreal 55: autopilot, plotter, radar, stove, hydrogenerator, it’s all here. A real gear-heads article.

John has long been a critic of the current state of motorboat design but now he’s seeing some exciting new designs that bode well for the future.

Now we get to the payoff. In this fourth and final post Andy summarizes what he has learned from the three refits he’s done, and provides some solid hard-earned tips for anyone considering refitting an old boat.