Boat Focus - Ocean Navigator

Solaris 44

Solaris Yachts of Aquilea, Italy, designs and builds a unique line of state-of-the-art cruising yachts for sailors who desire the best mix of speed, stability, comfort and ease of maneuvering in all kinds of weather. With sailing vessels ranging in size from 40 to 111 feet LOA, you can sail the world’s oceans in a deck and cabin setting that embraces a rare blend of easy handling, ergonomics and simple, functional luxury. The Solaris 44 is emblematic of the company’s focus on technology and responsiveness to the needs of crew and passengers. Measuring a modest 44 feet, roughly the size…

Sharki’s Wake

After a 35,000-mile and six-and-a-half-year circumnavigation aboard their Amel 50 Wasabi, Andrew and Patty Atkins were ready for something new. So when they returned to Canada they bought Peck’s Marina on the St. Lawrence River in Ontario. They also decided to move from sail to power and bought a used North Pacific Yachts NP43 power voyager. It was their experience with the NP43 and a good old fashioned human connection with Trevor Brice, president of North Pacific Yachts in Vancouver, BC, that led them to their present NP45, Sharki’s Wake. While Andrew and Patty were still in the process of…

Away Garcia Exploration 45

Many voyagers are sure that if they’re going to take on the Northwest Passage through Arctic Canada, they want to own a steel or aluminum boat. The malleable nature of metal, bending not shattering on impact, makes these materials appealing (see our article on steel boats in this issue). An aluminum hull was important for voyager and author Jimmy Cornell, for example, who helped design the aluminum-hulled Garcia Exploration 45 for his 2015 NW Passage voyage. When Australian voyagers Fiona Muir and Adrian Foote were looking for a new boat for voyaging, a major reason they chose a Garcia 45…

Built for long range

When voyager Michael Harrington was looking for a new power voyaging boat, he had a simple requirement: it had to have long range — really long range. “I’m a former sailing guy,” Harrington, a publishing business owner, said. “I wanted to do solo stuff and wanted to go long distances.” Harrington had in mind a crossing of the Atlantic via the middle route. Another item on Harrington’s checklist was an aluminum boat. “I wanted something sturdy and resilient, that doesn’t need maintenance.” His search led him to some smaller boatbuilders in Australia and the Netherlands. Ultimately he chose Deepwater Yachts…

Boat Focus: Sorcerer II

Explorations of the globe under sail, like Darwin’s voyage aboard the ship Beagle and the voyage of the Royal Navy ship Challenger in the 1870s, were scientific milestones that greatly increased our knowledge of the planet. For biological scientist and lifelong sailor Dr. J. Craig Venter those passages provided a major inspiration for his extensive voyaging aboard his 95-foot sloop Sorcerer II. On two separate expeditions Venter, along with a group of fellow scientists and Sorcerer II’s crew, gathered biological samples from the world’s oceans. Sorcerer II sailed more than 65,000 miles and harvested a vast biological trove that is…

Boat Focus: Translated 9

When you’re preparing to sail in a race that hearkens back to an earlier age, a time when the equipment of the average ocean going yacht was much simpler, it makes sense to look for a boat that was a star of that era. When Marco Trombetti and Isabelle Andrieu, co-founders of the international translation company Translated, looked for a boat to sail in the fully-crewed Ocean Globe Race 2023, they chose a Swan 65 with a globe-girdling pedigree: ADC Accutrac was once owned and raced by British sailor Clair Francis. Aboard ADC Accutrac, Francis and crew finished fifth in…

Starr

Not many power voyaging vessels put 100,000 sea miles under their keels — a figure that includes multiple Pacific crossings. For the Northern Marine 75 Starr, owned by Don and Sharry Stabbert, that kind of mileage has become routine as the Stabberts have voyaged to more than 18 countries around the world. Starr was designed by Steve Seaton and built in Anacortes Washington in 1997. The 100-ton power voyager is currently homeported in Hawaii and Seattle. The Stabberts have owned a variety of boats, from a 17-foot Thistle sailing dinghy to a Cal 40 sailboat to 47-foot Bill Garden-designed trawler. Based in…

Twelve-Winded Sky

The prospect of racing a boat 2,000 miles from California to Hawaii can take an owner’s list of desired boat upgrades and make it considerably longer. That was the case for Mark Jordan’s Hanse 342 Twelve-Winded Sky, which is slated to start the Pacific Cup on July 4 (Ocean Navigator is a cosponsor of the 2022 PacCup). Jordan and his race partner, Randy Leasure, who will race together on Twelve-Winded Sky in the double-handed division, launched into an extensive series of refits and improvements to get Twelve-Winded Sky ready for the race. Jordan, who has been sailing for nearly 40…

Daybreak

A power voyaging boat with impressive passage-making “legs,” the Nordhavn 68, Daybreak, launched in 2021 and owned by Karen and Jerome Fisher, can easily voyage to far destinations. Daybreak is the Fisher’s second Nordhavn, the first was a Nordhavn 60 — also named Daybreak. The name is based on the first commercial fishing boat on which Jerome worked and the Fishers have re-used that name on multiple vessels. Aboard their Nordhavn 60 the couple voyaged south to Baja and north to Alaska and as far afield as New Zealand. According to Jerome, this bluewater capability was one of the reasons they purchased…

Arctic Earth

The vessel’s aluminum hull, lifting keel and swing up rudder aid it in dealing with northern ice. Some vessels just look the part and that’s certainly the case for the 56-foot aluminum expedition sloop Arctic Earth. Based in Camden, Maine, Arctic Earth is a vessel designed and outfitted to sail to high latitudes. The boat is operated by David Conover and Compass Light Productions, a documentary film company focused on science and environmental content and specially tuned to Arctic issues. Compass Light has produced more than 600 films for outlets like Discovery Channel, Science Channel, PBS Nova and more. A…