Nauticat 40

A Stout Little Ship With Some S&S Sailability

Issue 147: Nov/Dec 2022

David Chambers was about 13 years old when he first saw a Nauticat. His dad had taken him along to Anacortes, Washington, to look at a 32-foot version of the Finnish-built motorsailer.

“I remember sitting in the boat and hearing the yacht broker tell Dad she could sail around the world,” he says. “I’ll always remember that.”

After his dad taught him the basics of sailing, he continued to learn when he joined the U.S. Navy Reserve and went to Seabee school in Gulfport, Mississippi, where he rented Lasers and Hobie Cats to sail in the Gulf of Mexico. Assigned to Sand Point Naval Air Station near Seattle, he kept on sailing Lasers and Hobie Cats, then moved up to renting a San Juan 24 and a Catalina 27.

When the time came to buy his own sailboat, he was looking for a good liveaboard that could also cross oceans. Holding on to that early memory, he knew the make would be a Nauticat. But which one? The traditional full-keel Baltic beauties of the early days? Or the later, sleeker designs by Sparkman & Stephens?

Pointed to a Nauticat 40 for sale in Tacoma, David found Pyxis, which had been on the market a long time and was not in great shape but had everything he wanted. In 1985, Pyxis had served as Nauticat’s West Coast showboat for the new S&S design. Nauticat had loaded the boat with some extra features and amped up its already outstanding fit and finish, which only added to the coolness of owning a former showboat.

“I came close to buying the 44 because it was more convenient for living aboard, with a sliding side door and larger windows, but then I decided that the Sparkman & Stephens hulls would be better for sailing,” David says. He has not been disappointed. “They do sail surprisingly well.”

History and Design

Pentti Siltala started Siltala Yachts as a family shipyard in 1961 in Finland. The company focused on building traditional, heavy motorsailers in fiberglass. The look of the early yachts was reminiscent of Scandinavian fishing boats.

Siltala’s first boat was the high-deckhouse Nauticat 33, designed by Finnish engineer Wilho Aarnipalo and which became a bestseller. At the end of 1986, the yard launched another successful model, the Nauticat 35 designed by Kaj Gustafsson.

As the popularity of the Nauticat 33 and 35 grew, so did demand for larger Nauticats; the 44 and 36, also designed by Aarnipalo, followed. In the early 1980s, the company introduced three models designed by Sparkman & Stephens, the Nauticat 521, 43, and 40, in production from 1984 to 1993.

Sparkman & Stephens improved the Nauticat’s sailing and seakeeping abilities by replacing the full keel with a more modern fin keel, reducing the wetted surface area. The keels still have a long chord to give good directional stability and keep the draft fairly shallow at 5 feet 9 inches. An aft-hung rudder on a skeg gives the boats better handling and a tighter turning radius.

The other big change was above the waterline. S&S boats retain Nauticat’s essential features but have shorter pilothouses, smaller windows, less freeboard, and a flatter, but still springy, sheer. These changes decrease windage and improve handling in crosswinds and at anchor.

The three designs also did away with the original sliding side doors in the pilothouse, exchanging convenience for improved seaworthiness.

In the 1990s, Gustafsson became the manager of the shipyard and one of its owners. In 2005 the shipyard changed its name to Nauticat Yachts. After several hard years, the owners of Nauticat declared bankruptcy in 2018.

In late 2021, a group of entrepreneurs, led by an experienced yachtsman and the owner of a sailing school, Dmitry Muratov, bought the company assets and moved it to Latvia as Nauticat Yachts Oy.

Construction

Materials and processes at Nauticat in the 1980s were fairly typical of the composite boatbuilding industry at the time—E-glass fabrics set in polyester resin and wetted out by hand. There was no vacuum bagging or resin infusion, which is becoming the norm today, to capture toxic emissions and better consolidate the laminate.

While an online owners’ forum of Nauticat 33 owners reports multiple cases of osmotic blisters, David says he and other Nauticat 40 owners have seen no evidence of this problem on their boats.

Teak decks do not last forever, and if water travels down dried-out bungs covering screw heads and into the deck core (probably balsa wood), integrity of the deck can be severely compromised. A surveyor should pay special attention to the decks on a pre-purchase survey.

“The boat is really overbuilt and super solid. Both the hull and rigging are impressive. We cut a hole near the keel to install something, and it was this thick,” David says, holding his thumb and finger about 1.5 inches apart.

Rig

Most Nauticat 40s come as staysail ketches with a total sail area of 948 square feet spread over three sails (main, #2 genoa, and mizzen). But standard calculations using 100% foretriangle yield a sail area-to-displacement ratio of a low 12.9. This is a motorsailer after all.

Pyxis, however, came as a cutter rig, with the same sail plan, sans the mizzen. The mast is stepped on the keel. The main and working jib are just 552 square feet. The sloop or cutter rig with a large roller furling genoa seems like enough to drive her in all but the lightest conditions. Not having the additional windage from the mizzen also seems to help.

“I’m happy with the cutter,” David says. “The mizzen would go right behind the wheel in the cockpit, and all the extra standing and running rigging ends up being a lot of clutter and would really be in the way.” David has replaced all running rigging and will replace the standing rigging before making a planned passage to Hawaii.

“I am a casual sailor,” he continues. “I like setting the sails and then hitting the autopilot button so I can go below to get a cup of coffee.”

On Deck

The cockpit on Pyxis is comfortable and feels secure except aft, where it turns into an elevated open deck. This is an outstanding feature at anchor or during the relatively calm conditions we enjoyed on our test sail. But should conditions get wet or hairy, the helmsman may want to retreat to the inside pilot station with all the instruments, a comfy chair, and good 360-degree visibility. Oh, and forced-air heating should the weather turn cold.

Besides exposure, another problem with a high center cockpit is the difficulty of getting a fair lead on the foresail sheets. While the two-speed winches handled the job well, there seemed to be excessive friction while trimming the headsail.

The sidedecks are wide enough for good passage to the mast and foredeck. Overall, the decks are uncluttered, and the teak decking provides secure footing.

The mast step and partners for the mizzen mast rise a few inches above deck level just behind the wheel. They looked to be a tripping hazard, but the arrangement did make for a comfortable footrest while manning the helm.

As much as he loves the beauty of the teak decks, solid teak rails outside, and beautiful joinery inside, it is a lot of wood to take care of, David says. “I prefer to use the boat.” Pyxis will soon be 40 years old, which brings a lot of the usual problems. “The teak decks are about shot, and the Danish hatch manufacturer is out of business,” he says.

Below Deck

When David bought the boat, he intended to live aboard and wanted “something spacious, light, and fun.” He got all that and gorgeous teak woodwork that Finns are famous for.

Four steps down the companionway brings you to the pilothouse with a nav station that should satisfy any Baltic old salt. The wooden wheel is beautifully made. There is a 360-degree view from the helm. A hatch above the station allows a decent view of the sails and rigging, as well as ventilation.

To port is a raised dinette that puts the large windows at eye level when diners are seated.

Going forward between the helm station and the dinette, a few steps down lead to a compact galley to port and another dinette to starboard. The starboard dinette can convert into a small double bunk with a privacy curtain that closes it off from the galley and passageway.

Forward is a head and cabin with a small double bunk and a seat that would be just right for two kids.

Back in the main cabin, aft of the helm station is a passageway to the large owner’s cabin aft with a full-width berth. A seat and what could be a small vanity or desk complete the furnishings. The en-suite head is a comfortable size and has a separate shower stall, although David, who is 6 feet 4 inches tall, says the shower stall is one of the few places that lacks standing headroom for him.

Throughout, the boat provides massive areas for storage.

“The Jeanneaus and Beneteaus have everything inside pushed right out to the edges of the hull,” David says. “It makes them look huge inside but doesn’t give you many places to put things.”

The boat carries 230 gallons of fresh water in two tanks located under the galley.

Pyxis is powered with a 90-hp Ford Lehmann paired with a 22-inch Max-Prop.

“It smokes, but it has 4,300 hours on it, and I’ve put on about 500 of those,” David says. “I usually keep her at 1,600 rpm, and she will do 7.5 knots in flat water. It’s a very pleasant ride. She carries a little over 200 gallons of fuel and burns about 1.5 gallons an hour. That gives us pretty good range.”

The engine and fuel tanks are under the pilothouse and easily accessed by removing three panels. The stuffing box can be tended to from the engine room and from under the berth in the aft cabin.

Upgrades to Pyxis’ electrical system are in the works: a new isolation transformer, which protects the boat (and crew) from potentially deadly stray currents in a marina, and a new inverter/charger.

Underway

For our test sail, my wife, Virginia, and I met David and his partner, Robyn Vilhelmsen, on the guest dock in Friday Harbor Marina on San Juan Island, the namesake of this enchanting cluster of islands sandwiched between the southern tip of Vancouver Island in British Columbia and the top of Washington State. They had sailed from their summer anchorage at Cayou Quay Marina in Deer Harbor on neighboring Orcas Island.

After some small talk in the cockpit and a safety briefing that would make any airline flight attendant proud, David crept through the skinny water at the guest dock to San Juan Channel. The Ford Lehman diesel was fairly quiet, buried beneath the boat’s beautiful woodwork.

Once out of the channel, all aboard were pleasantly surprised to feel a breeze. The day exceeded our expectations— and those of the weatherman— with winds reaching nearly 10 knots toward the end of the sail, a nice change from the usual dead air of a Pacific Northwest July.

I helped Robyn raise the mainsail, a job made more difficult by the halyard exiting the mast from nearly deck level. The only workable way to hoist the large sail was using the two-speed winch, a slow process compared to jumping the halyard from above head level. Were it my boat, I would check other mast openings to see if it could be changed.

Once the main was up and the genoa unfurled, Pyxis heeled over slightly and got to business, reaching 5 knots on a close reach in only 7 knots of wind. The wind seemed just right for evaluating such a heavy boat. I’m sure she would do well in a blow.

The question I wanted to answer was: How does she sail in the light winds typical of Pacific Northwest summers? The answer is, very well, indeed. Boat speed was usually between 4 and 6 knots, depending on the point of sail, with the wind rarely reaching above 10 knots. Respectable in my book.

She also came through the eye of the wind smartly on tacks. Hydraulic steering is about the only option on a boat like Pyxis, whose entire stern is devoted to a plush master’s cabin. It has good and bad points: the steering is easy, like the power steering on a Buick, but it doesn’t allow feedback like a tiller or cable-andquadrant steering systems.

The autopilot worked seamlessly, as it should in flat water and light air. There is a provision for an emergency tiller should the hydraulics fail, but the helmsman would need to be below, standing on the bunk with her or his head sticking out of a hatch. Doable, but I would hate to cross an ocean that way. David replaced the hydraulics cover on Pyxis with clear Plexiglas so he can keep an eye on things.

A primary mission during a test sail is to get some good photos of the vessel underway. David was a champion host. First, he launched his Mavic drone off the stern deck. Hopes were high as it flew behind the boat and then passed us, pointing its camera at us. Our excitement turned to dismay when the little drone flipped upside down and pancaked into San Juan Channel.

Undeterred, David brought the inflatable up to the stern boarding ladder and got in with his SLR camera. I took the helm of Pyxis and put her through her paces.

At the end of our sail, David brought Pyxis into an anchorage near the dock where Virginia and I would pick up the ferry from San Juan Island back to Anacortes. Dropping the hook was easy with a vertical electric windlass and a wireless remote.

David, Virginia, and I scrambled down the stern ladder into the inflatable for a quick dinghy ride to the ferry dock. As the ferry pulled away from the dock, I looked longingly at the smoke from Pyxis’ barbeque, knowing I was missing out on good bratwurst on a good old boat.

Conclusion

David says that recently, he watched a new Beneteau Oceanis 46 sail into Deer Harbor.

“It’s a better-looking sailboat with the sexy bow and wide stern with a fold-down swim deck. It just looked fast!” he says. Still, he’s happy with Pyxis, noting, “It’s kind of like pistachio ice cream. Most people like chocolate or strawberry, but there are some of us geeks who like pistachio.”

And who love Nauticats. True to their purpose as comfortable, “little-ship” motorsailers, they are solid choices for liveaboards or full-time cruisers, and the Sparkman & Stephens pedigree of the Nauticat 40 provides an extra measure of sailability.

That said, one must not expect the same performance from a heavy-displacement, high-sided motorsailer that one would have on a mainstream cruiser/racer. The tradeoff is inside steering and liveaboard accommodations.

There aren’t many used Nauticats on the market. Most notable on yachtworld. com is a 1986 model in Cartagena, Colombia, listed for $120,000, and a 1985 model in the United Kingdom for $144,000. Other sites have old U.S. listings ranging from $125,000 to $155,000 for mid-80’s models.

Brandon Ford, a former reporter, editor, and public information officer, and his wife, Virginia, recently returned from a two-year cruise to California, Mexico, and seven of the eight main Hawaiian Islands. Before their cruise they spent three years refitting their 1971 Columbia 43, Oceanus. Lifelong sailors, they continue to live aboard Oceanus and cruise the Salish Sea from their home base in Olympia, Washington.

 

Thank you to Sailrite Enterprises, Inc., for providing free access to back issues of Good Old Boat through intellectual property rights. Sailrite.com