Motorsailer

This boat is a true motorsailer, but what does that mean today? Forty years ago motorsailers were sometimes called 50/50s. That meant 50 percent sail and 50 percent power. Doesn't that sound lovely?

Today we have learned to give a boat excellent performance under both sail and power with really no compromise at all. We can thank lightweight construction for this. We can also thank modern, full-sterned hull forms and lightweight, high powered diesel engines. What makes this design stand out is the fact that the designer-I'll call him Paul because I know he'd prefer that-has pushed this design toward the power side of the equation.

This involves reducing the side-deck width and increasing the volume inside the pilothouse. This cabintrunk is so wide the chainplates have been moved up onto the top of the cabintrunk. The beauty of this is that it leaves the narrow side decks clear. The genoa tracks are also well inboard and up against the side of the cabintrunk.

The height of the pilothouse may take some getting used to, on paper at least. But it is very nicely proportioned and the photos show the sides tucked in ever so slightly at the lower cabintrunk edge to create the impression of reduced bulk. No, you cannot see over the pilothouse from the cockpit, but you can easily see through the windows. This high pilothouse allows for only two steps going below and a tremendous amount of volume in the bilge for the engine and tankage. Paul makes the point that this is a true "full pilothouse" and not a "deck saloon."

With 13 feet of beam, this boat is not a fatso, but it's not svelte either. As we push and push for more interior volume, beam tends to grow. In terms of performance this is not good. Skinny boats are "better" boats. They may be wetter, tippier and more confined, but boy do they sail nicely.

Still, competition among cruising-boat marketing groups has pushed beam to levels that would have been considered obese in the old days, and by today's standards I'd call this one medium with an L/B of 3.07. This hull is quite full in both ends. There's enough volume aft for each quarter cabin to have a double berth. Paul, however, knows hull shapes. His boats have been race winners. I suspect this full-figured beauty performs just fine.

The interior is laid out with three staterooms, two aft and one owner's stateroom forward. The forward double is not the standard V-berth type, but off to one side. This stateroom also features a desk, although I'm not sure I know why you would want a desk on a boat. "Take the wheel, I'm going below to pay the bills."

The pilothouse features a settee and dinette with 360-degree visibility, just like a motorboat. There is also inside steering while a pair of "boxes" come off the back side of the pilothouse to intrude into the cockpit space and provide headroom in the aft cabins. As in most designs like this, the lazarette has been eroded to the point where it only holds your fenders, and only if you deflate them! "Blow up the fenders dear. We're approaching the dock." That's funny, but not fair to Paul. This design, with the engine under the pilothouse sole, has room between the two aft cabins for a pretty good-sized lazarette that can be reached through an inconvenient hatch in the cockpit sole.

This boat represents a skilled designer's quest for an ambitious blend of performance and comfort. I'd be surprised if we saw the 40 marketed in the United States, but it would make a very nice boat for my own drizzly Puget Sound. Bring one up Paul. We'll throw a cougar on the barbie and I'll show you the Northwest.