Splashdown!

Nordhavn’s 56-foot Motorsailer (see “The Return of the Motorsailer?” July 2008) splashed this week at the company’s headquarters in Dana Point, California. The boat was unloaded in San Diego Harbor after being shipped from it’s construction in Taiwan. The sailing rig will be added later.

According to Jim Leashman, Pacific Asian Enterprise’s chief of design, ““She’s more slippery and sleeker than what we’re used to. With the sailboat underbody she effortlessly and quietly motors along at nine to ten knots.”

The vessel will be make it’s debut at the San Diego Boat Show in February. For more information, visit Nordhavn’s Web site here.

Rounding Cape Horn, Part Deux

Talk about adventures in cruising...

Nordhavn announced this morning that, last week, the Nordahvn 57 Ice Dancer became the company's second vessel to successfully round Cape Horn, the southernmost tip of South America. The news comes just three weeks after the Nordhavn 46 Egret did the same—the first-ever Nordhavn to do so.

Due to the challenges posed by strong winds and currents, icebergs, and large waves, few production boats make it to Cape Horn, according to Nordhavn. And, interestingly, rounding Good Horn was not something that the crew on either vessel had intended to do; in fact, it was an afterthought for Egret's crew who, while cruising South America from the Med, fell so in love with the area that they decided to postpone cruising to their final destination of New Zealand in favor of exploring the region further. "We simply can't leave this last unspoiled cruising area...without spending time here," the owner said.

Is Cape Horn the next hot cruising ground? That remains to be seen, but Nordhavn's Jim Leishman sure thinks so. "A fabulous cruising ground awaits those inclined and equipped with the right vessel," he said, adding, "I think next year we'll see our boats in Antarctica."

Stay tuned...