Now that we are discovering fixed wing sails and hydrofoils, the world is starting to accept canting keels as standard equipment. Super accomplished sailor, Jean Pierre Dick’s new yacht building company designs us a blue-water cruiser with an ocean-racer soul. Not only does the JP 54 claim sea worthiness to circumnavigate the globe, but it is also one of the fastest production monohulls on the cruising sailboat market today.
Seriously, it is about time that we make the blue-water cruisers of yesteryear a bit faster; JP-Dick Yachts has done it! I love the transom door to stow the dinghy, no more ‘wonky’ dinghy davits. The anchor chain wash down is also a genius feature. The modern open cockpit is very reminiscent of the Open 60’s or Volvo 70’s; a great space from which to sail the boat. At first I was perplexed by the rotating salon, but it turns out that its function is to help effectively reduce the draft from 3.5m by to 2.5m. It does so by offsetting the ballast to the opposite side of the canting keel, resulting in a flat boat with a shallower draft – pretty neat. The boat is also apparently equipped with a sail inventory that will cover all wind ranges and directions; easily handled by a crew of no more than 2.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-dTYQXyE7jM&w=560&h=315]
Having said that, what fail-safes are there for the canting keel/ keel box mechanism (As any good VOR/ Vendee Globe follower should know…..they can have issues)? I would also just like to add, that although there plenty of slick features like the rotating interior and built in boom awning, I have seen no mention of wind generators or solar panels. I am sure that these are features that most distance cruisers would like to see addressed.
None-the-less, this a very cool unique yacht indeed, nice work!
