N56ms the day—a whopping 13 knots—NordSail One was making a comfortable 6.5 knots. Hydraulic winches with thoughtfully placed controls made sail trim quick and easy.” The contributing editor who made the 1,100-mile (1,770 kilometers) transit from Southern California to Washington State aboard Hull # 1, thought it remarkable that something so much like a trawler on the inside moved through the water like his own 41-foot (12.5 meters) sailboat. Whether running against the wind and waves with just the main raised in motorsailer fashion or running downwind with only the jib out, the Nordhavn 56MS settled into a reassuring fore-andaft motion that was easy on the autopilot and the crew. The editors were also impressed with just how goodlooking the Nordhavn 56MS turned out to be: people are universally taken aback by the yacht’s clean lines, unique appearance and imposing presence. “Inside and out, she has the unmistakable look and feel of an ocean sailing yacht,” wrote one editor. “Yet approaching from astern it’s hard to ignore her trawler yacht heritage: a generous covered aft cockpit with opening stainless steel safety rails all around, a big Dutch door into the main saloon, a transom that would look at home on any Nordhavn, and a swim platform for easy boarding from a dinghy or Med mooring. Not to mention plenty of room for a substantial dinghy atop the pilothouse.” Another area where the Nordhavn 56MS’s functional trawler yacht heritage is also evident in her control layout and performance under power. Motoring in and out of the harbor, NordSail One handled with quiet assurance and answered the helm easily. Sound levels were comfortably low. From the Stidd chair at the centerline helm, the owner had excellent sightlines in all directions—including the sails. To starboard is a generous chart table, and to port stairs lead down to the forward accommodation. Another advantage the Nordhavn Motorsailer gets from its trawler heritage can be seen in the way she treats her crew underway. No one need stand a watch outside in inclement weather, as is often the case with a sailboat. The editor who accompanied NordSail One on her journey to Seattle wrote, “The N56’s pilothouse and saloon is not a small space but a very quiet one. Somewhere down below her Lugger engine ticked away. Distant too was the gurgle and slap of a vessel moving through wave and water. Not that you could hear a pin drop, but we did notice the hum of the autopilot motor doing its work.” The Nordhavn 56 Motorsailer perhaps is best summed up by the editor who wrote, “For an adventurer who seeks distant horizons and wants to cross oceans to get there— with the option to sail as well as motor, I can't think of a better yacht.” Contributing editors Peter Swanson, James H. Kirby and Milt Baker, and Georgs Kolesnikovs, the magazine’s editor, were all sailors in an earlier life. In fact, two still are—on sailboats with decent diesels. 48
CIRCUMNAVIGATOR I 2010
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