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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Having grown up in Southern California, with a sailing and surfing background, riding the waves  a natural part of being in or on the water. Our sailing and FPB designs have reflected this from the beginning. Recently we were surprised to learn that some of our owners are afraid of what is actually. one of the best things you can do with our yachts. [Read the rest »]

For a link to the video which show and tells it all [Read the rest »]

Following on the success of their Antarctic cruise in company, FPB78s Iron Lady ll and Grey Wolf ll are going to do another jaunt to the ice summer of 2020, this time to nearby Greenland. Several other FPBs are planning to join, so this is a semi-official call for all FPBers to give this opportunity serious consideration. Greenland is a relative easy destination to reach for our FPBs. Having made this life-changing cruise in 2008 we offer a few comments on the route we took.

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How do you create the best possible cruising yacht? Read on and we’ll share our formula. [Read the rest »]

I spent my first six decades on earth despising powerboats and those who operated them. In my early days of sailing dinghies, powerboats would always speed up to cross ahead of us leaving a huge wave to wreak havoc with us and our compatriots. My earliest recollection of the single finger salute was from such encounters. As cruisers, if there was a “stinkpot” around they inevitably would anchor close by and then run their genset 24 hours a day. And the lack of seamanship was stunning.  [Read the rest »]

We are standing at the forward end of the great room aboard FPB 78-1 Cochise. It is eerily quiet as we watch the steam gauge climb from 13 to 20 knots, linger for a moment, before peaking at 22. A fast-rising SE gale has kicked up a steep sea, now confused with a reflected crossing wave pattern as we rapidly close with the Southern entrance to New Zealand’s Bay of Islands. This 60 metric ton motor yacht is surfing under autopilot control. The seas are perfect for Cochise and she rides the better waves for several minutes at a time, at speed length ratios above 1.6. Cochise is the most recent iteration of the perfect yacht, at least for us. Aboard Cochise, and the rest of our yachts, the key design ingredient upon which all else rests is steering control. We are warm, dry, and very comfortable. 

It wasn’t always so. [Read the rest »]

It is late spring in the Bahamas, water temperature is 83/85F and air that or more. Humidity often is in the 80% range. We are making water, staying comfortable with air conditioning in the evening, generally leading a carbon neutral existence. Welcome to the new world of solar panel cruising.  What follows is a bit of data and several suggestions that might help on your own vessel.

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For those of you who want to experience cruising at its best, if you live in Europe or the East Coast of the US, in your back yards is some of the very best cruising on this planet. We speak of the Exhumas group in the southern Bahama Islands.

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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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