The Nespresso coffee machine hisses in the background as Linda makes a change-of-watch latte. The faint glow under the eastern clouds heralds another beautiful morning at sea. [Read the rest »]

We’ve worked with many interior designers over the years, but Denise is the first who truly understands what the FPB concept is all about. We think her work for us aboard FPB 78-1 Cochise speaks for itself…
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This is the story of everyday folks, who dreamed of distant horizons and made it happen. If you look at our FPB 64 owners, they are a normal group of yachties who started without ocean crossing experience, who have turned themselves into true voyagers. How did they do it? Why did they do it? What is it that makes it possible for them to accomplish what other people only dream about? Why are they out there doing it while most yacht owners sit in a marina? [Read the rest »]

We’ve been chasing the holy grail of the perfect cruising yacht for 40 years. The Deerfoot, Sundeer and Beowulf series are considered the premiere sailing yachts on which to circumnavigate. The FPB fleet is judged by the most experienced owners and journalists to be the best ocean-crossing motor yachts today. To find out why, read on:

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Our approach to yacht design (as well as investing) is captured by Nassim Taleb’s black swan theory of economics. [Read the rest »]

In case you don’t have an FPB anchored nearby, we’ve included below some brief comments from several of our owners, as well as a couple of hard-nosed magazine editors. We’ll start with Bill Parlatore, the individual many credit with the start and nurturing of the ocean cruising powerboat industry. [Read the rest »]

When you head offshore your safety depends on stability, both upright and ultimate (the heel angle at which you don’t recover from a knockdown). Given today’s software and computing power, calculating stability is a relatively straightforward exercise. This is required for commercial vessels, larger yachts, and generally for any flag state/class certification such as MCA, RINA, ABS, etc. We would not go offshore without this data, and we don’t think you should either.

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Those of you familiar with our work will know that we consider being able to maintain comparatively fast cruising speeds the most important factor in safe, comfortable ocean crossing. Get this right and you enjoy making passages. Get it wrong and you will prefer sitting at the dock reading about the folks who are really out there cruising. [Read the rest »]

Our design goal has always been to cross oceans in maximum comfort and safety [Read the rest »]

We’ve been trying to describe what it is like to have the majority of our day to day experience aboard in an area with 360-degree views. [Read the rest »]

A new video in which we reveal the secrets behind all those ocean-crossing miles… [Read the rest »]

The Next Generation of FPBs is here, cruising even farther, faster, more comfortably and efficiently than their predecessors. With the first two FPB 78s rapidly racking up sea miles, read on to find out how, in a world full of empty claims, FPBs do what they are supposed to do.

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There’s a new kid on the block, a smaller sibling to the FPB 97 and 78, and like most younger family members, this one is as tough as nails.  [Read the rest »]

Slicing through the barriers of what can and cannot be done with a large yacht, the Wicked FPB 97 redefines the cruising paradigm.

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When we wrote this introduction six years ago, during the depths of a marine industry depression, we had no idea that the summer of 2016 would have 11 FPB 64s in the water cruising. For all the latest FPB 64 updates, click here. [Read the rest »]

“…One of the coolest boats I have had the pleasure to spend time on.”
-Bill Parlatore, Passagemaker Magazine

Let us take you on a tour of the FPB prototype, Wind Horse.

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It is finally done (and we mean it this time)! In the post that follows we will detail the logic that lead us to to this new paradigm for navigation stations, and the details that evolved.

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Iron Lady and Grey Wolf have been cruising together in Antarctica, what the few truly experienced high latitude sailors will tell you is the toughest place on earth. These waters are more difficult and dangerous than Svalbard; the Northwest Passage is a cakewalk compared to this. And summer 2019 has been even more challenging than the recent past. In Pete Rossin’s post below you will catch a small sense of what it is like when there are simply no good choices. The photo above looks tame enough but think about it in 65 knots of breeze with eight to ten foot seas, and a glacier at your back.

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FPB 78-2 Grey Wolf and FPB 78-3 Iron Lady are currently having a fun summer buddy boating in Antarctica… [Read the rest »]

Grey Wolf and Iron Lady are enjoying the bustling Chilean metropolis of Puerto Williams. They are preparing for the FPB ARC: Antarctic Cruising Rally.

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Sue Grant at Berthon is running a series of posts written by the Berthon apprentices who are aboard FPB78-2 Grey Wolf II. They are both informative and entertaining, and cover their experiences right down to the bottom of South America, and eventually to the Antarctic where Grey Wolf II is at this moment. To read about these intrepid apprentices click here.

FPB 64-6 has just completed a winter crossing of the North Atlantic, which at one point featured hurricane strength compression storms in east and west regions. She did so in classic fashion, taking advantage of the weather when possible, but always with a bailout option if the forecasts turned negative. There are a number of lessons for us in this passage. [Read the rest »]

Stan and Valerie Creighton, proud owners of FPB 70-1 Buffalo Nickel II, have a brand new post published on their site about the trials, tribulations and triumphs of breaking in a new boat.  [Read the rest »]

With all the engineering tools at our disposal we still use gut instinct, based on years of experience, to size ground tackle systems. The wind speed graph above provides a glimpse at one end of the benefit spectrum. Grey Wolf II is cruising in Tierra del Fuego at the bottom of the world, and recently experienced wind gusts in excess of 100 knots, more than 116 mph, at anchor.

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There is nothing we enjoy more when cruising than meeting up with our designs and their owners. This past summer in Maine was great fun in this regard.  [Read the rest »]

With Simrad’s recent update, their forward-looking sonar has become a valuable tool, in particular when used in conjunction with their structure scan. The FLS is giving us an indication of the bottom coming up 350 feet ahead of us.

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