For sailors who are thinking about making the move to power, traditional styling is often a must-have quality in a new boat. The Hood 42 LM fits that description perfectly, with wood construction and styling by a design firm that has long been synonymous with the best of New England cruising.

The Hood 42 LM is a flybridge cruiser that marks the third in a series collaboration between Maine’s Lyman-Morse shipyard and C.W. Hood Yachts, which is based in Marblehead, Massachusetts. (The previous two models they collaborated on were the Hood 57 LM and the Hood 35 LM.)

“The Hood 42 LM is drop-dead gorgeous, bringing to life a timeless elegance, inspired by C.W. Hood’s classic Wasque powerboats,” according to the team at Lyman-Morse. “However, while the Hood 42 LM may evoke a Golden Age of Yachting on the outside, under the waterline she sports a modern hull shape, optimized for comfort and performance, and she’s constructed with the latest in materials and boatbuilding techniques.”

The layout includes a lower cabin with an owner’s stateroom, enclosed shower and head, and stowage for long weekends on the hook. The main deck has a single-level open living and entertaining space that combines the lower helm, galley and salon. Lyman-Morse describes this space as being open, airy and full of natural light and ventilation, with power windows, a galley to port, and a settee and table to starboard.

Up on the flybridge, there are reportedly 360-degree sightlines. Power for the Hood 42 LM comes from twin Volvo DPS drives that Lyman-Morse says provide a comfortable cruise in the mid-30-knot range. Top speed is listed as 39 knots for days when a squall is moving in and owners need to hustle back to their homeport.

Lyman-Morse builds the Hood 42 LM in cold-molded wood composite, using a combination of Douglas fir and western red cedar as the hull material. Key specs include a length overall of 42 feet; a length at the waterline of 38 feet, 8 inches; a beam of 13 feet; a draft of 3 feet, 4 inches; and a displacement of about 21,000 pounds fully loaded.

When will Lyman-Morse start construction on Hull No. 1 of the Hood 42 LM? It’s already happening as you read this. The first Hood 42 LM is being built now at the Lyman-Morse yard in Thomaston, Maine.

Where to learn more: click over to lymanmorse.com.

The post Thinking of a Shift to Power? appeared first on Cruising World.

Broker Eric Roos at Lyman-Morse is promoting the Morris M36 Masquerade, a 2006 build that’s for sale out of Vineyard Haven, Massachusetts, at an asking price of $310,000.

The Sparkman & Stephens design is a one-owner vessel with a modern fin keel and carbon-fiber spade rudder. “Masquerade is very competitive on the race course, yet easily handled by one,” Roos states in the listing. “Adorned with just enough high-gloss varnished teak, she is easy to maintain and still turns heads in every harbor.”

Features include in-boom mainsail furling and a self-tacking jib. All control lines run belowdecks and directly to the helm, a setup that allows the skipper to easily raise the main, roll out the jib, adjust the vang and backstay, and trim both sails from the helm.”

Inside, the cabin includes a day head; a galley with a stainless steel freshwater sink, a 12-volt refrigerator and stowage; and settees for lounging or sleeping. There’s additional stowage in the forepeak. Masquerade’s décor is done in Herreshoff style, with mahogany trim and white bulkheads.

Construction-wise, Masquerade has a handlaid composite hull. Layers of fiberglass and three-quarter-inch structural foam core material are hand-laminated and hand-rolled with Hydrex vinylester resin. The hull is reinforced with two pairs of continuous longitudinal structural foam stringers that are fiberglassed to the hull’s interior. There’s also a fiberglass-reinforced L-frame keel floor that’s laminated into the hull and bunk faces.

All the major bulkheads are glassed into the hull. Nonstructural bulkheads and furniture are affixed with 3M urethane adhesive. The deck has a reinforced fiberglass foam core and is built with one-piece construction.

For cruisers in locations where overhead clearance is an issue, the mast head of Masquerade is 49 feet, 8 inches above the waterline. (Add another 2 feet, 6 inches for antennas.) Bridge clearance is listed as 52 feet, 2 inches.

Additional power can be created through a removable solar panel, which plugs into a waterproof DC plug to power a 7-amp battery charge controller. This setup also feeds the house battery bank. 

The main 12-volt  distribution panel is fitted with a BTM panel to provide battery status. It includes individual breaker switches for all 12-volt functions.

At the transom, Masquerade has a 21-horsepower Yanmar 3YM20FC engine. Fuel capacity is 12 gallons.

Catch Cruising World‘s review of the Morris M36 HERE.

How builder Morris Yachts describes the M36 model: It’s a traditional, classically styled boat intended for short- or single-handed sailing. Whether you are going for a day sail or a weekend, this S&S design will deliver performance sailing that is fun, comfortable and simple. 

How to take a look at Masquerade: contact Roos at www.lymanmorse.com 

The post For Sale: Morris M36 appeared first on Cruising World.

The arrival of the cold front could not possibly have been more surreal. At precisely 5 p.m. this past October 17, coinciding exactly with the official pronouncement that the annual US Sailboat Show in Annapolis, Maryland, had concluded, a fierce thunderstorm rolled over Chesapeake Bay, generating sideways rain and powerful gusts. Chaos ensued. Exhibitors on land breaking down tents and packing up displays were left doused and scrambling. The crews on boats untying lines to depart the docks ducked for cover. It was a mess for everyone. 

Except, that is, for our team of judges for the 2023 Boat of the Year contest, the sea trials for which were scheduled to begin early the next day. For us, hiding out from the fray, the timing couldn’t have been better.

We knew that the front was also bringing a fresh breeze—a couple of days of pumping northerlies before a welcome swing to solid southerlies. Game on.

Full disclosure: It’s not every year that every nominee in our yearly BOTY competition gets tested in superb conditions. Chesapeake Bay can be a fickle test bed in mid-October, particularly on flat-calm mornings, when it takes some time for the capricious sea breeze to fill in. Truthfully, sometimes it never does. But not this year. And while the winds did fluctuate somewhat over the next 72 hours, when our panel conducted sea trials for this year’s fleet of 17 entries, overall the conditions were almost ideal—some of the best, most consistent pressure in the 20-odd-year history of the event. Each entry got a fair opportunity to strut its stuff. 

And it was a great year for that to happen, because while the fleet may not have been the largest ever, in terms of sailing prowess and performance, it was exemplary across the board. The sailing, quite simply, was outstanding. 

But about those numbers: It’s safe to say that the effect of the pandemic on worldwide sailboat manufacturing is lingering. Last year in Annapolis, builders were inundated with orders, and for some companies, order books were full for the following two or three years, or more. Which meant that if you laid down a deposit for a new boat in 2021, it was by no means unusual for delivery to be scheduled for 2023, or later. That trend is slowing, but it has not ceased. What seems to have been shelved for many brands is the R&D that goes into new models. It makes sense. In the meantime, many marine-industry stalwarts from whom we’re accustomed to reviewing new boats on an almost yearly basis (Jeanneau and Leopard leap immediately to mind) were absent for 2023. Almost everyone is still playing catch-up. 

All that said, even in years with two dozen entries or more, it’s rare to be presented with a fleet with such a resounding international presence. The 17 boats that comprise the BOTY ’23 field were produced in nine different nations: Denmark, France, Germany, Poland, South Africa, Slovenia, Sweden, the United States…and even Ukraine, where the manufacturing of a sweet, trailerable pocket racer/cruiser, the L30, has continued despite the ongoing conflict. Whoa. Sailors by nature are known to be a resilient lot, but so too are those who create the craft we sail. We salute them.

The makeup of the entry list was also noteworthy. In recent years, we’ve seen a proliferation of large monohulls, in the 55- to 65-foot range, many with price tags in the hefty seven figures. But there was no Luxury Class for the high-end set in 2023 (though the cost of several entries did crest the million-dollar mark). In fact, unprecedentedly, the largest monohull we reviewed this year was the Elan Impression 50.1 (the Lagoon 55 catamaran was the biggest multihull among the competitors).

And there were a couple of exceptionally strong classes, which certainly reflects the current state of the market. Both the Performance Cruiser division of dual-purpose racer/cruiser and the Multihull class drew a quintet of entries (the latter with four cats and a trimaran). Neither was particularly surprising because versatile boats that serve multiple purposes are always in fashion, and the trend toward multihulls is one that has seemingly become stronger for more than a decade and shows no sign of reversal. But it did not make the judges’ tasks any easier; both classes were formidable from top to bottom. 

Another happy occurrence was a pair of excellent homegrown entries from the USA—once a powerhouse in the boatbuilding world but more of a footnote in recent years. The fine entries from Maine builder Lyman-Morse and a new Tartan from the resilient Midwest crew were heartening additions. 

There was one final, unique aspect to the Boat of the Year 2023 competition: the number of owners aboard the yachts that we tested for the sea trials. Manufacturers reps and designers are our usual presenters, but having the sailors who purchased and commissioned the vessels always adds a new and fascinating dimension. Hearing what they chose and why is valuable input.

In that vein, we’d like to recognize Erik Asgeirsson on the J/45, a lifelong sailor who’s the very definition of a racer and cruiser. He enjoys competing aboard the boat but also sailed it across the windswept English Channel after taking delivery, and he cruises with his wife and four girls all over New England. Jim Eisenhart, aboard his Moody DS41, was about to swap sailboats for a trawler until he took one look at the yacht’s sweet deck saloon and realized it would extend his years as a sailor. Chantal and Denis Rosa’s Impression 50.1 is the couple’s second boat from the Slovenian builder, and this year they’ll be sailing it to Grenada to visit their daughter and her new baby.

It was fascinating listening to Bob Frantz and learning about the choices he made with gear and charging systems on his Hallberg-Rassy 400; an avid ambassador for the brand, he circumnavigated on an earlier model from the Swedish builder. Of course, Drew Lyman loved his Lyman-Morse LM46; his company built it. He’ll be rolling down to the Bahamas aboard the awesome performance cruiser this winter with his clan. And a special tip of the cap to Ukrainian sailor and entrepreneur Alexander Ivanov, the importer and force behind the one-design L30, who took us on one of our best sails of the week on the windswept bay.

Spoiler alert: These boats largely did very well in the competition, and it probably was not a coincidence.  

As always, the contest was conducted in two parts, with a series of dockside inspections of overall build, systems and layout preceding the sail trials. And, as always, we want to thank all the participants, who were gracious with their time and very accessible, even when we closed down their boats for viewing at busy periods during the Annapolis boat show. 

Eventually, as they invariably do, the winds calmed and Chesapeake Bay was placid. Which meant it was time to convene, deliberate and choose some winners. This year, in particular, that was the hard part. What follows is a roll call of the winners, and a closer look at each and every nominee. For our team who puts it together, our Boat of the Year program is always some of the best sailing we ever get to do. And this year, breeze on, was special indeed.

 2023 Boat of the Year: Best Overall Winner

Two for the Blue

When the spray had settled, at the top of the leader board was a pair of yachts destined for blue water and beyond: the Lyman-Morse LM46, the Domestic Boat of the Year, and the Hallberg-Rassy 400, the Import Boat of the Year.

Domestic Boat of the Year: Lyman-Morse LM46

It’s an understatement to say that Drew Lyman, president of Lyman-Morse Boatbuilding Company—the estimable midcoast Maine semicustom builder with facilities in Thomaston and Camden—knows a thing or two about cruising boats. After all, his father, Cabot, founded the firm in the late 1970s, and several years later, circumnavigated with his family on a Sparkman & Stephens-designed Sequin 49 produced in his yard called Chewink, with Drew aboard for significant legs of the journey. Many lessons were learned; many memories were lasting.

When Drew decided he required a boat for a similar rite of passage with his own family, at first he was drawn to the notion of a cruising catamaran, and for a while, he leaned heavily in that direction. But when push came to shove, he decided to move forward with a monohull; one in size and in spirit was a descendant of the Sequin 49 of his youth.

That yacht is the Lyman-Morse LM46, a striking performance cruiser from renowned New Zealand naval architect Kevin Dibley, who created a light, fast sailboat that’s both strong and sleek, and a testament to the skilled craftsmen who built it. Lyman then added his own personal touches, including many features he borrowed from legendary skipper Stan Honey, whose Cal 40 took overall honors in this past summer’s Newport Bermuda Race after a refit at—where else?—Lyman-Morse.

Our judging panel was thunderstruck by both the formidable sailing prowess and the exacting level of execution, and unanimously awarded it the title of Domestic Boat of the Year. Judge Mark Pillsbury sums up the collective opinion of the judges: “Cold-molded construction, top-notch systems, a powerful sail plan, and an interior that is both practical and lovely at the same time. Wow! The Lyman-Morse LM 46 is a heck of a boat. Purpose-built for an experienced owner, for sure, but in terms of a pure sailing machine, the 46 was the standout boat in this year’s lineup of new models.”

Import Boat of the Year: Hallberg-Rassy 400

As cruising sailors, we’ve long been enamored with Swedish builder Hallberg-Rassy, and that respect has been reflected in past editions of our Boat of the Year contest, where the company has enjoyed numerous successes. The latest offering continues a trend introduced since noted Argentine naval architect German Frers has become the line’s principal designer. It’s oftentimes not easy for a company with proven results to change what’s already a successful formula. But this latest 40-footer is a yacht that has certainly evolved, and in doing so, it’s the 2023 Import Boat of the Year.

The cockpit windshield is a feature that warms the heart of every Hallberg-Rassy owner, and it’s continued here. But the aft-cockpit configuration is certainly a departure from the brand’s earlier iterations (including the yacht the 400 succeeds in the line, the center-cockpit 40C), and so too are the twin wheels and corresponding twin rudders. Those matching helms provided the judges with one of the best sails of the contest, a jaunt that began in light airs, and just got better and better as the wind filled. It was a winning performance.

The versatile layout, with a variety of options, is also unusual in a 40 footer, and it sealed the deal. As judge Herb McCormick said during deliberations: “This ain’t your old man’s Hallberg-Rassy. It’s a lot better. It just is.”

View all of the winners by category, meet the judges, and more…

The post 2023 Boat of the Year Awards appeared first on Cruising World.

The cold front had passed overnight, and even though it was the middle of July, the fresh northwesterly off the coast of Camden, Maine, had the crisp, clear aura of an early-fall morning. In other words, it was a perfect day to go for a sail. Happily, given that I’d found myself aboard just about the ideal yacht to do so: a slick new Lyman-Morse LM46, a semicustom homegrown beauty constructed at the longtime Maine builder’s facility in nearby Thomaston. 

Hopgrasser, the first of two LM46s to emerge from the shed, was company president Drew Lyman’s personal ride, so named by his young daughter, who’d found it linguistically challenging to put the “grass” in front of the “hop.” 

The unique name is in keeping with a special, quite inimitable sailboat. Designed by New Zealander Kevin Dibley, a naval architect renowned for his flat-out race boats and graceful performance cruisers, the LM46’s objective is fourfold: light but solid build; handsome yet functional lines and accommodations; prowess in light, inshore breeze; and the power and strength for offshore sailing, including events such as the Newport Bermuda Race (which Hull No. 2, Arcadia, knocked off this past summer). 

We’ll start with the build, the first of many things that separate the LM46 from the majority of contemporary cruisers; after all, these days you don’t see many wooden boats at your typical boat show. Lyman-Morse earned its reputation and butters its bread by employing cold-molded, infused-epoxy construction with Douglas fir and Western red cedar. An internal carbon frame stiffens the structure, and ties in the shrouds and titanium chain plates (the rudder and stock are also carbon). The composite deck is laminated with a foam core, again in the dual interests of less weight and more strength. My question about what wood was used to fashion the lovely cabin top was met with a laugh: Turns out it’s all composite (keep it light!), to which a vinyl adhesive with a wood pattern is affixed. Tricky.

In profile, this is one of those rare yachts that looks extremely quick and maneuverable just sitting alongside the dock. The understated sheerline dips ever so slightly from bow to stern, accentuating the low-slung, minimalist coachroof. A dedicated carbon sprit forward is home to both the ground tackle and the tack fitting for off-wind runners and reachers, and gives the profile a businesslike effect. Unlike so many modern boats, there’s no hard chine; in fact, the hull tapers inward in its after sections, a design that does the opposite of a chine and narrows the beam, the thinking being there’s less drag when sailing off the breeze. There’s also less freeboard than we’re used to seeing in most new production boats. To my eye, it’s all very striking. 

The boat is powered with a straightforward 12-volt system with a Mastervolt Combi charger/inverter, a 60-amp alternator, a solar panel atop the cockpit dodger, and a set of lithium-ion batteries. The B&G Vulcan 7 instrumentation package is standard. A Yanmar 80 hp diesel with saildrive, coupled with a Max-Prop feathering propeller, supplies the propulsion under power. 

As a semicustom boat, the LM46 has quite a bit of leeway in the belowdecks layout and accommodations, but the rather traditional setup on Hopgrasser suited me just fine: galley and nav station at the foot of the companionway, opposing settees/berths in the main saloon, a head and shower forward, and an owner’s stateroom forward. (And a real sea berth to starboard, for which I’m a total sucker.) A single head on a 45-footer is also unusual these days, but a second head is an option. 

I wondered aloud about the two quarter berths aft, both wide open and not stashed behind doors, which I thought was in keeping with the airy quarters but something you’re more likely to see on a racer than a cruiser. “If you want privacy,” Drew Lyman said with a laugh, “get yourself a hundred-footer.” 

I guess for some folks, that might be an option. But they’d miss out on a fantastic sailing experience on a package dedicated to just that. 

This I discovered rather quickly as we motored out of Camden and hoisted sail, beginning with a powerful square-topped, full-battened Doyle mainsail. Lyman-Morse promotes simple sailing, with the ability to be off the dock with sails hoisted in less than five minutes. With that norther coursing off the mainland, the seaway in the lee was flat and fast: pretty perfect for trialing a boat that accentuates performance. 

Surprisingly, there’s no backstay on the LM46, but rather a pair of check stays that require regular attention. The twin wheels, with Jefa steering, are situated just abaft the cockpit-wide traveler, and a double-ended German-style mainsheet arrangement trims the main, which has three deep reefs, which is my preference for long-distance sailing. It’s all smart and efficient, befitting a true racer/cruiser sensibility. 

Hopgrasser draws 6 feet, the shoal option that replaces the standard 7-foot, 7-inch composite fin with attached lead ballast bulb (the Bahamas is definitely in its future; alternatively, there’s also a 10-foot version for owners of a more competitive nature). 

Sailing the boat is loads of fun, and certainly athletic. Lyman said he’s still learning the boat but has discovered that the sweet spot when sailing upwind is a 20- to 22-inch heel angle, which you dial in by constantly playing and tweaking the traveler and vang, as you would on a dinghy or certain one-design classes. The Doyle headsail is sheeted in not on tracks, but instead on movable leads with multiple trimming options, which on the LM46 is certainly an enjoyable part of the exercise. 

On our test sail, the puffy breeze was all over the place, dipping to around 10 knots in the lulls and kicking in at over 20 knots in the gusts. The one consistent factor in all this was the sheer joy in driving this ultra-sensitive, highly responsive sailing machine. In the lighter airs, Hopgrasser registered about 6.5 knots in upwind mode; that ratcheted up to nearly 10 knots just cracked off slightly when it filled into the upper teens. As far as top speeds are concerned, Lyman said that the second LM46, Arcadia, saw 19.9 on its speedo during the dash to Bermuda. No question—it’s a slippery hull indeed. 

The LM46 is not inexpensive, but it epitomizes what my wise old sailing mate Alvah Simon referred to as “heirloom quality,” something so fine and lasting that it might be passed along in one’s family for years and generations to come. Those are high aspirations, certainly. But in the case of Hopgrasser and her sisterships, they’re attainable ones as well. 

Lyman-Morse LM46 Hopgrasser Specifications

Herb McCormick is a CW editor-at-large.

The post Sailboat Review: Lyman-Morse LM46 Semicustom Performance Cruiser appeared first on Cruising World.

Construction is underway at Lyman-Morse Thomaston on a 65’ sailing yacht designed by Stephens Waring Yacht Design of Belfast, Maine.

Drew Lyman, President of Lyman-Morse and his team spent the spring and early summer months working closely with SWYD and the owners fine-tuning the design and construction process. LM built a full-scale mockup of the boat in March plus an alternative mockup of the master stateroom and guest cabin. This set up enabled the owner, LM Team and designers to walk through a couple of different layouts of the project to further fine tune the cockpit and interior layout according to the owners wishes.

“The owner came to us for our expertise in systems engineering and installation; our attention to detail and responsiveness to owners’ requests,” said Lyman. “In addition, our strength also lies in quality and cost management, both of which are crucial in a project this complex.”

The mission of this modern classic sloop is first and foremost on easy day-sailing, and having fun with friends and family. The roomy cockpit flows into the raised saloon that features large, drop windows in the aft bulkhead for easy socializing and communications between exterior and interior spaces. Accommodations provide for 6, though overnights and cruising are not top priorities for the owners. However, purposeful crew accommodations for delivery up and down the eastern seaboard were specified. And the owners’ cabin forward has all the creature comforts commensurate with a yacht of this caliber.

While the owners’ racing agenda is light, this boat will no doubt perform around buoys and make efficient passagemaking the norm. The sloop-rigged yacht is fitted with a large main and self-tacking jib for easy everyday sailing. The yacht is made race-ready by switching to a manually tacked jib along with downwind sails and cruising spinnaker to help round-out the inventory for racing; or sailing on lighter days.

The talent of every LM department will be tapped. Precision on every front is required in such a highly engineered boat. Hull is built of composite cold-molded wood laminates over laminated Douglas Fir frames and sheathed in fiberglass for abrasion protection. The deck is engineered of foam cored plywood skins and teak planking on the exterior. Deep bulwarks make a graceful deck and add offshore security. Interior partitions and bulkhead are of marine grade plywood with high-quality wood veneer and solid wood cabinetry; all interior components are acoustically isolated from hull structure and machinery. Anna will be certified ABS / ISO construction standards.

The cold-molded hull construction is a transparent one in that the hull and structure is left exposed on the interior rather than being covered up with ceiling and hull panels. Douglas fir deck beams, traditional raised and v-groove paneling, bright varnish and white painted surfaces will make it a light, airy interior. LM Fabrication will manufacture the gorgeous gleaming, custom designed deck hardware including the rail systems, butterfly hatch hardware, amidships boarding step and various structural components.

LM systems team is on task installing push button hydraulic systems, including the amidships boarding platform and the anchor launching system. To deploy the anchor, one simply opens the hatch and presses a button. While underway the anchor stows neatly and flush below the teak deck hatch. Once at anchor, the amidships board platform can also be deployed. Boarding steps will fold out automatically into position as the platform is lowered. This all in one platform and provides for the easiest access to tenders, docks, and whatever waters invite you for a swim.

Expected launch date is Fall 2017.

Specifications

LOA: 65 ft. – 6 in. (20 m)
LWL: 47 ft. – 10 in. (14.6 m)
Beam: 16 ft. – 10 in. (5.1 m)
Draft: 7 ft. – 6 in. (2.3 m)
Displacement: 57,000 lbs. 25,850 kg
Sail Area: 2040 sq. ft. (190 sq. m)

The post A Modern Classic from Lyman-Morse appeared first on Cruising World.

On Saturday, Dec. 7 at 1415 Zulu (International time based on Greenwich, England and also known as GMT and UTC), or 9:15 a.m. back home in St. Augustine, I crossed the line 0.8 nm due east of St. David’s Lighthouse to begin my challenge on the 150-day, – hour record, as well as to become the oldest and the first ever green. Bermuda Radio tracked the start and the “black box” issued by the World Sailing Speed Record Council was also monitoring. In addition, I forced an update on my Yellow Brick, which can be seen on my website. Yes, I was a little emotional, but it soon passed, and I got on with changing my course to bear away from a group of coral reefs that were fast approaching. The start was as Dodge Morgan, the record holder set it, one mile from the lighthouse. However, I noted only this morning that on his return he was three miles off shore when he re-crossed the line to finish. I shall follow suit, especially should I come in at night.

The voyage from St. Augustine was uneventful, and the time of five days and two hours was my best to date.

I see that the winds for the next few days will be light and so I expect to fall behind Dodge Morgan’s average of 171.84 miles a day. Tomorrow, I will get out a spinnaker (light air sail) and see if I can go faster. But for now, I am enjoying the moment. Four years of planning and execution…it’s game on.

Continue reading at StAugustine.com

Read more about Stanley Paris’ boat, Kiwi Spirit.

The post Follow Stanley Paris’ attempt to sail solo around the world appeared first on Cruising World.

Lyman-Morse 55

At last fall’s U.S. Sailboat Show in Annapolis, Maryland, we had the pleasure of meeting naval architect Ed Joy and learning of his latest project, a collaboration with his longtime colleague Chuck Paine on yet another intriguing vessel that will be built in Maine, the Lyman-Morse 55. Here’s a brief overview from Ed’s design brief:
“The Lyman-Morse 55 is the culmination of all the insight Cabot and Heidi Lyman have gained from circumnavigating the globe with their children, as well as building 102 offshore boats and maintaining many more. Adding the experience of the designers, there are over 250,000 ocean miles in the wake of the team behind this remarkable yacht.

“The Lyman-Morse 55 is designed and built to go to sea—and looks the part. An accomplished sailor will recognize that every detail has been conceived and executed with the needs of those who venture far offshore foremost in mind. Moderate in displacement, the hull shape provides a fine entry at the bow, a midship section for maximum stability, and a stern that minimizes squeezing and makes for an exhilarating turn of speed in a strong following breeze. Logbook entries showing 200-mile days will not be uncommon.”

Take a look at those lines. Whoa. They’re not kidding. For more information, check out the Lyman-Morse’s website.

The post More Maine Magic: The Lyman-Morse 55 appeared first on Cruising World.

New Zealand sailor Stanley Paris is a rare character, equal parts doer and dreamer. By profession a highly successful educator and physical therapist, he has also completed the grueling Ironman Triathlon in Hawai’i and twice swum the English Channel. So it’s safe to say his record as a guy who gets things done is well established.

Like all sailors—and with a circumnavigation to his credit, he most definitely qualifies on that count—he is also prone to bouts of reverie, imagining in his mind’s eye his next distant landfall. But it’s also no exaggeration to note that Stanley’s daydreams are much bigger and bolder than your average mariner’s. For a little less than a year from now, he will set off from his home in St. Augustine, Florida, to begin a truly epic voyage, a non-stop spin around the planet that he hopes to complete in 120 days or less.

By the way, when he hoists sail to start his trip, he will be 76 years old. If his dreams come true, when he returns he will be the record-setting, “most senior” sailor ever to complete such an arduous journey.

As I discovered late last month during one of his initial sea trials off Newport, Rhode Island, he certainly has the tool for the job—a stunning, 63-foot 8-inch state-of-the-art offshore cruiser, the Paris 63, designed by the engineers at Farr Yacht Design and lovingly brought to existence with extraordinary attention to detail by the craftsmen at the Maine shipyard of Lyman-Morse.

Stanley’s boat—the appropriately named Kiwi Spirit—is a unique vessel on several fronts. For now, the yacht is fit out as a lavishly appointed cruising boat with full amenities, including staterooms, a powerful diesel, a generator, refrigeration, and just about everything you’d want in a long-range voyager. However, when Stanley takes off for the high seas, almost all of it will be gone.

Yes, nearly everything down below—the modular furniture and the heavy-duty machinery—can be removed via the companionway, and that will be the fate of nearly all the gear and creature comforts before Stanley departs. Among his many goals will be the first-ever completion of a completely green, non-stop and non-assisted passage, with nary a drop of fuel aboard. Instead, for power, he will rely on a suite of solar panels, a series of wind generators, and a quartet of hydro-generators, the juice from which will be stored in a bank of ion phosphate batteries.

Afterwards, all the good stuff will come back on board and Stanley will take his wife cruising. Kiwi Spirit, with a lifting keel and a convertible interior, is most certainly the definition of a dual-purpose boat.

We’ll get into more detail on Stanley and his steed in the February issue of Cruising World. For now, all I can say is, as I drove Kiwi Spirit upwind at 10 easy knots on Narragansett Bay, I had a dream of my own. What would it be like to be a stowaway?

For more on Stanley Paris and his quest, visit his website.

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