Dashew fpb 64

Lately we've been looking at these Dashew boats, the 64 is the smallest of them. They seem some of the sturdiest out there, 12mm alu hull and 19mm thick windows, etc. Yet we see no mention of what seem to be very good boats here. Does anyone have one, or has had?

Totally awsome,the only way to describe them,some of the videos of Steve and Linda surfing them in some pretty gnarly stuff were getting real good speeds,I think a handful of his boats including sail have broken many records,obviously my favorite is Iceberg the 97,do you know what fpb means lol

Lostsailor13 said:

Totally awsome,the only way to describe them,some of the videos of Steve and Linda surfing them in some pretty gnarly stuff were getting real good speeds,I think a handful of his boats including sail have broken many records,obviously my favorite is Iceberg the 97,do you know what fpb means lol

Click to expand...

Fxxking Power Boat [emoji6]

Yup, Dashews have been designing and marketing fabulous boats for years, the Fast Powerboat (FPB) series in New Zealand just the latest.

When you price them, you'll recognize why there isn't much discussion of the FPB series in this forum. With all due respect, the majority of this forum's membership doesn't seem like the demographic that travels in the Dashew's circles, or can afford one of his boats. Even well used.

Regards,

Pete

They are interesting but there are far better boats for less coin IMHO.

I am surprised one hasn't been done with more of a narrow trimaran stance like earth race, cable and wireless or adastra

Simi 60 said:

They are interesting but there are far better boats for less coin IMHO.

I am surprised one hasn't been done with more of a narrow trimaran stance like earth race, cable and wireless or adastra

Click to expand...

I understand what Simi is saying but I don't think it came out right. If your sole goal is to make fast, fuel efficient, and short handed long passages, these are very impressive boats. Expensive yes. You can certainly make the same passages in far less expensive boats. It is the combination of speed, range and short handed capability that makes them stand out but this is not a combination that many are willing to pay such a high price for.

Here's a neat video

https://youtu.be/Cgv4rPDmQUY

A few for sale here

https://www.yachtworld.com/boats-for-sale/make-circa-marine/

FPB = Fast Pilot Boat. Wonderful purpose built boats. As mentioned, net worth needs to be high. Desire and ability for serious blue water work seems common amongst owners.

sunchaser said:

FPB = Fast Pilot Boat. .

Click to expand...

Nope
As above it was Fken Power Boat
Said so in the Dashew blog

It has been our habit when working on a project to give it a distinct name or acronym to be used with correspondence and drawings. In this case it came from my constant muttering of “I cannot believe we are working on a f___ing power boat.” So now you know the true meaning of FPB.

https://setsail.com/the-evolution-of-the-fpb-super-cruiser-20b/

Click to expand...

FPB Alternative

There are alternatives to the FPB, such as the LRC58 designed by Dennis Harjamaa of Artnautica Yachts, NZ.

Most impressive is Möbius which is a larger LRC being built at Naval Yachts in Turkey.
It is nearing launch day, check out https://mobius.world/

There also some of the Deerfoot and Sundeer sail boats available. One a 62 in the PNW for around 250K. Recently transited around 5500 miles from Tahiti to Anacortes in 27 days single handed. If crossing oceans is the desire, they ought not be discounted.

PS - If I recall correctly, the price on these boats from the English broker has been increasing for the last year or two. You can see they are sitting on several of them, at what I'd expect to be not much less then the original purchase price.

The series recently, within the last couple of years ended, with a bit of drama as I recall. You can likely research specifics if desired.

There are also a few fpb for sale as well if you have that kind of money

FPB is an amazing design. $1.5m - $2.0m is a lot of money. But there's a solid market for yachts in that price range. They are perhaps a slight premium over a comparable Nordhavn for example. A much different boat.

Crossing an ocean at a solid 12 kts - almost 300 nm days - is incredible.

Way back in the early days of modern sailing multihulls Steve Dashew was constantly winning races and setting records on the US West Coast in his D Class catamaran Beowolf.
I have been aboard a couple of his Deerfoot sailboats and they are impressive machines.
I was lucky enough to have several conversations with him at a Trade Show several years ago, and I can confirm from the source that FPB = Fken Power Boat

Once a Sailor, always a sailor

Simi 60 said:

Nope
As above it was Fken Power Boat
Said so in the Dashew blog

Click to expand...

The original fpb that the Dashews documented, built and cruised in, an 83', "Wind Horse" has been domiciled here in eastern North Carolina for several years, now docked on Taylor's Creek in Beaufort. I'm not familiar with the 64' fpb listed in Beaufort in the YW link above. Having been on Wind Horse a few times, I have to say it is a very cool and well thought out boat. Ann likes it too. Here are some pics I took when it was on the hard here for awhile; there are plenty of interiors on the Dashew's setsail website ( a must read for any trawler type nerd):

FPB. That is priceless!

The last 2 sailboats built by Dashew are for sale in California
https://www.yachtworld.com/boats-for-sale/condition-used/type-sail/?makeModel=dashew
If more ocean crossings were on my agenda, I would have a close look at those, rather than the FPBs
YMMV

Dashew nailed it for the serious passagemakers. Both his sail boat designs and power boats remain as benchmarks. His 78 foot ketch Beowulf clocked 32 knots surfing with Steve's wife Linda at the helm on her watch.

When going through the design parameters and tank testing for Windhorse his goal was to improve upon the sea keeping and efficiency of fast pilot boat designs. Windhorse burned 7gph at 11 knots, not bad for an 83 foot hull.

The FPB designs were designed to withstand a full roll over and with tankage to go many thousands of miles. So much thought and experience from all quarters went into his vessels, with the expertise of NZ and Aussie designers and builders behind him.

If I were crossing oceans and had $2m+ to spend I'd also like the vessel to be aesthetically pleasing on the outside. Those options look like research vessels for the study of the reproduction life cycles of jelly fish. Lol

South of Heaven said:

If I was crossing oceans and had $2m+ to spend I'd also like the vessel to be aesthetically pleasing on the outside. Those options look like research vessels for the study of the reproduction life cycles of jelly fish. Lol

Click to expand...

They were going for sturdy, fast, efficient, comfortable. If you wanted pretty as well, that's probably another million on top. Personally, I don't hate the look though. Better than a lot of modern bubble-boats.

rslifkin said:

They were going for sturdy, fast, efficient, comfortable. If you wanted pretty as well, that's probably another million on top. Personally, I don't hate the look though. Better than a lot of modern bubble-boats.

Click to expand...

Yeah, I can't talk. My last boat was a glorified clorox bottle!

I have never been aboard one, just a dockside visual once and reading their website articles. Cool boats for sure. I like the utilitarian exterior looks of them. I also think that aspect is helpful while traveling around the world so the boat blends in better and wont draw as much attention while anchored or docked in secluded places.

Got to check one out while cruising the leewards. Can assure you specular inside and out. Form follows function so aesthetically pleasing to me as well.
Find there’s a huge difference in the output of NAs who cruise and actually use boats and those who don’t. The Dashews as a couple have more miles under their keel than the majority of NAs and it shows.
Dennis does as well. Hence the Artnautica 58 (and his 64) LRCs are just magnificent.

I had a friend who supervised the build of a Deerfoot in NZ, then delivered it to the owner on the Great Lakes. Impressive boat. They were making 300 mile days in the S Pacific with 3 crew.

That was in the 1980s. The Dashews have a long track record. I'm sure their powerboats are perfect, if you buy into their priorities and goals. I would if I had the $$.

Is the FB enclosure poly?

Jeff F said:

I'm sure their powerboats are perfect, if you buy into their priorities and goals.

Click to expand...

This is the key, I think. I've spent some time with both Steve and Linda on Cochise which is their current and latest (and I think last) boat. I love all the thought Steve puts into his boats, and as someone else said, it's remarkable how much better boats are when the designers actually use them.


But I didn't care for it at all, and it's all because of the priorities. If you wanted to be constantly making ocean crossings, i.e. spending the majority of your time in open ocean, then I'd get it. But who wants that? Even the most adventurous cruisers who I know spend maybe 5% of their time at sea making crossings. I want a boat that's optimized for daily use, and is also capable of ocean crossing. Not the opposite. To me, the FPBs are optimized for ocean crossings, and capable of daily use. It's backwards.

twistedtree said:

But I didn't care for it at all, and it's all because of the priorities. If you wanted to be constantly making ocean crossings, i.e. spending the majority of your time in open ocean, then I'd get it. But who wants that? Even the most adventurous cruisers who I know spend maybe 5% of their time at sea making crossings. I want a boat that's optimized for daily use, and is also capable of ocean crossing. Not the opposite. To me, the FPBs are optimized for ocean crossings, and capable of daily use. It's backwards.

Click to expand...

They do optimize for offshore work first, followed by anchoring out and only then in port (they don't like marinas).

I guess it's partially dependent on your choice of cruising grounds: the Dashews love the South Pacific, with wonderful areas separated by big stretches of not always pacific ocean and with the nearest first-world bases (Australia, New Zealand) only reachable through treacherous stretches of ocean.

In addition and most importantly, they believe that unless you feel safe and comfortable offshore, you won't use the boat to get out there. Sure, it's the smallest amount of time you spend on the boat, but with the biggest emotional impact when not feeling safe and comfortable.

To state the obvious: Nordhavns from the 40 up have made long ocean voyages and even circumnavigated, and the 68 in particular is big and capable. Still, for use including offshore work, I'd rather have a FPB 78.

My wife and I considered the FPB about a decade ago. We traveled to their build site in NZ and talked in detail with the build team and staff. There was nothing about the vessel that turned us off. To be fair, it is a purpose built vessel that many an older sailing couple would gravitate to in attempting to prolong their cruising years but with less effort.

We chose to forego the long term cruising route and for similar reason a few years later chose not to go with a new build Nordhavn as well. We've too many non boat interests to tie up time and money in a vessel that would not enter into its chosen mission.

Steve Dashew grew up on boats cruising the world with his father and other family members. He pursued his dream to the nth degree. Along with superior NZ build quality and engineering, they built the FPBs so other like minded hard core cruisers could enjoy the same. Bravo.

Twisted tree...you said..."*If you wanted to be constantly making ocean crossings, i.e. spending the majority of your time in open ocean, then I'd get it?" For some of us that "constantly" can be replaced with.......'WHEN we cross oceans'.....then we want a much safer boat than those that are just used in millponds, inshore, etc. I would like the feeling of knowing my boat is safer than most others out there.