Ultra Light Displacement Trawler is born !

Here is Acharne, our latest : “ Ultra light displacement trawler”  or ULDT

We took an interlude from building boats and crossed the pacific via Fanning Island with a fast cruising sailing boat.  It was a incredible experience and some of the best diving of my life.  I knew that when we arrived in Fiji, it was time for Sam to hang up his sails and ropes and that he was done with the business of sailing. Sam had been the founder of the Wooden Boat Festival in Port Townsend and is an obsessive, compulsive boat builder (There is such a disease!) with a few miles on the water and a couple of chisels up his sleeves.

 He wanted to get back on the water with a power boat.

“ I am done going up on deck reefing sails “was his lamentations… He said that he wanted a boat to  be  run by two people without crew, no fancy systems, use no  diesel (about 3 gallons an hour ,… you must be joking…), be about  80 feet and weigh less the 45000 pound… ouch!!!!

Is that too much to ask ? Hmmm…  

Well here she is : Acharne ex “Sagamore” a 1999 famous all carbon  racing sailboat built by New England Boat works. Pfff !! it is out.

Sagamore was on the racing circuit for many years till we purchased her. Designed by famous late designer Bill Lagan, she was light, very strong, beautifully built and with a massive 105 feet carbon rig was frankly, kind of scary.

She appeared to us at first as an incredible sailing racing machine .But after much consideration and calculations, Guy decided that the boat had a real potential to be a great power boat. The temptation was too great and the rest is history in the making. The ULDT is born.

The use of a sailing hull, modified and used as power boat has been done already by Steve Dashew, who has very innovative design work and his boats are quite impressive.  But Guy did not want elaborate systems, a fancy varnished interior or anything that added unnecessary weight or required high maintenance.  He didn’t want to run a generator 24/7, and finally wanted a very large uncluttered aft deck for outside living and water toys.

How do you downsize and still have it all !!!  Guy wanted to cruise economically  (impossible on the big trawlers) , have no generators running all day, ( just like “Lara”) be tough, functional, minimalist and most important have no crew (Unfortunately our kids are nearly gone and cannot be used as unpaid slaves anymore!)

This is where we stand at this point :

Rig and deck hardware have been removed, a 210 hp beefy Cummins installed, 800 gallons tank of diesel installed, the keel shortened to a stubby 5 feet . A little comment about the keel : Sam felt that if the stabilizers ( two large fins used to stabilize the hull while underway)  stopped working he would need a reliable way of keeping the boat stable. This is of course offshore when things can turn ugly.  Sam feels that with a this type of hull shape keels are important, because systems do brake.

So back to the business of conversion :

Interior is done, with a mixture of composite panels, aluminum and light weight high quality plywood. It will be a commercially finished interior with attention given to all systems access, no ceiling panels or traditional joinery.

Everything on Acharne is recycled,  including its rig and all the sailing gears, which have found a happy new owner in Australia, who is building himself a rugged sailboat.

 Most wiring is in place (done by Master Electrician Allan, known as being relaxed and laid back off work,  but relentless and meticulous on Acharne. )

Solar panels and "Guy" green proven electric system are nearly complete, watermaker is in, major batteries bank, and so much more.

 The TRAC stabilizers have been received and they are massive. The rudder shortened and the keel is almost to be ready to  be bolted back on

Some paint is done on the hull. The deck is next and soon the aluminum t-top, and radar mast will come. We have decided to get a catamaran dinghy, see “Takatak” built in New Zealand. Cool stuff !  So we will have 12’ dinghy, pulled easily on deck by a small winch but able to carry dive gear for up to 5 people and be stable in rough landing.

Ok got to get back on the boat

Virginie