The Shoe Fits

With the T60 motor yacht designed by Albert Nazarov just a month or so away from launch, a stainless steel shoe, filled with two tonnes of cement ballast was bolted onto its keel this week. Further internal ballast will also be fitted to the traditional displacement hull.
The coming months will see half a dozen yachts launched or delivered by my yard, the culmination of a hectic 2007/2008 build program. Among the vessels already awaiting delivery is an RB 34 catamaran to be sailed to Singapore, as soon as there is a break in what has been a very stormy south-west monsoon.

Floating on Air

Among my non-marine interests is flying and I have been training as a private pilot for a couple of years. However, as my enthusiasm has evolved, I no longer spend as much time as I once did in microlight aircraft. So I am selling my Amphibian Microlight with Rotax 503 engine in Pattaya, complete with integrated Lomac rubber dinghy, for just 450,000 Thai baht (just under $US13,500). If you're interested, please email me at raoul-at-loxinfo.co.th And, yes, flying lessons can be arranged!

Aft Mast moves Forward

An exciting moment: the inside of the hulls and wing-deck moulding for the 'aft mast' 40-foot catamaran, designed by Albert Nazarov, is sprayed. It looks like a UFO being prepped for inter-planetary flight by a crew in sterile suits. As I wrote in this blog in April, the vessel was conceived for cruising offshore short-handed. With its revolutionary, easy-to-manage rig, it has been commissioned by a couple in Hong Kong and should be launched early next year.

A True Thai Cruising Yacht

One of the most exciting new projects under development at my yard is one of the smallest.The Buccaneer 28 is an 8.6 metre, shallow-draft, centreboard, GRP monohull sloop designed for a small family to cruise in the 'thin' waters and light airs of the Gulf of Thailand.
If the RB34 catamaran was the first fully-fledged production yacht to be designed and built in Thailand, then the Buccaneer 28 will be the first production monohull. I'm confident it will find a wide market not only in South-East Asia but also in Australia, where the north-east coasts are littered with coral reefs and cays and a deep draught can hamper access to some of the best reef and bar-protected river anchorages.
Designed by Albert Nazarov, the small yacht will be 8.63 metres LOA and 7.13 metres on the waterline, with a maximum beam across the deck of 2.50 metres. With its centrebooard raised, it will draw less than half a metre, unladen, not accounting for its transom hung rudder. The 10.75 metre high mast will carry a maximum sail area of 37.4 metres squared.
The yacht will be relatively light, fast, and easy to sail, making quick work of coastal passages in the prevailing light airs of equatorial and tropical waters. Its modest dimensions will allow it to be transported by road – or delivered by a 40-foot shipping container to anywhere in the world. As for the price: around two million Thai baht or just under $US60,000, very competitive with even the most economical small production yachts available in the U.S., Europe, or Australia.

Stopping Traffic

Yesterday, we moved a custom-built 45-foot catamaran from the old, very cramped yard at Pattaya to our larger yard in Jomtien. The cat is almost completed but for various reasons, it can't be delivered to the customer so it has become something of an obstruction to new projects.
It's always an adventure towing a large vessel through the streets of Pattaya. None of our yards are close to the shore so every boat we build has to be trailered – very slowly – to the sea for launching. It always turns into a spectacle, a kind of street theatre in which traffic is backed up for miles (once, almost halfway to Bangkok!), locals come out of their homes and shops to watch and offer advice, and policemen gather to create their own inimitable performance art, usually a loosely choreographed ballet of gestures intended to direct traffic (which only makes the traffic worse!)
In a couple of months, my crew will have to do this again with the large TS60 motor yacht. I expect, then, traffic will be backed up into the middle of Bangkok itself.

Home on the Water

The 40-foot long, Nazarov-designed motor catamaran, pictured below at my Jomtien yard, is still some way from being launched but its attractive design is already apparent. Built in honeycomb composite and powered by two 75hp Yanmar diesels, it has been commissioned by a Swiss pilot who will use it as a second home in Thai waters. The wide beam, ample deck space, high cabin top (which accommodates a flying bridge) and spacious interior will make it very comfortable and stable, in addition to being reasonably powerful and fast.

Two Vessels, One Approach

The Albert Nazarov-designed TS60 motor yacht and the Tiki 38, a Polynesian-inspired sailing 'double canoe' designed by James Wharram (the first of this class to be built anywhere in the world in red cedar composite strip-planking) are both just a month or so away from being launched.

In many ways, these two vessels represent polar-opposite design philosophies – one a lightweight, minimal sailing multihull of an Asian-Pacific ethnic tradition, the other a robust, moderate displacement, single-screw, motorised monohull rooted firmly in a mid-20th century Northern European aesthetic and functionality.
But both have been constructed in close consultation with knowledgeable owners who understand the limitations of their budgets. These owners also have a realistic vision as to what can be achieved in a close collaboration with our yard, along with a practical understanding of design and marine construction. In once case, there is also a depth of sea-going experience. They have been able to communicate their requirements clearly in words and images at every stage.

If only every owner was the same!