24 years ago, the first Hans Christian yacht was built and sold to Peter Andrews of San Francisco. Peter still owns Wanderer, a Traditional 34, but he admits he doesn't sail her as much as he did in the 70's.

800 yachts later, with 37 of them circumnavigators, Hans Christian is adding a new generation to its traditional full keel, double ender classic line. The Hans Christian reputation of building a "Bulletproof" ocean cruiser is well founded and we haven't changed the quality, nor have we changed the Traditional or Christina series. But it seems that many of our owners are getting longer in the tooth and are demanding safety features and creature comforts unheard of 20 to 30 years ago. Trash compactors, washer/dryers, built-in TVs with VCRs, SAT-NAV communications, queen berths (not bunks), etc., etc.

The evolution of the breed has taken 4 years after careful review of all our owners' comments and wish lists. And benchmarking, too! We've reviewed, copied, and perfected many of the best ideas from Oyster, Amel, Pacific Seacraft, Morris, Taswell, Hylas and Sundeer.

We chose Chuck Paine to design the hull, Nigel Calder to design the systems, and we used many of Steve Dashew's engineering concepts. You will recognize Chuck as the 1990, 1994, 1995 and 1999 design winner of one of Cruising World's Best Boat of the Year categories. Nigel, of course wrote the three most widely read boat maintenance books available today, and Steve Dashew co-authored the Offshore Cruising Encyclopedia and designed the Sundeer series of yachts.

The result of all their collective left brain efforts is a safe, practical, efficient, comfortable fast-sailing offshore yacht designed for seasoned sailing couples in their 50's and 60's. We call this next generation of cruising classics the Hans Christian Offshore Explorer Series. The first model, the Explorer 4750, only draws 5'9", and it has a mast option designed for the Ditch.

This yacht is designed for the sailor who already has owned one or two cruising vessels and is the last boat you will buy before you buy a trawler - in fact, with sufficient fuel tankage for 1,400 N.M. at a constant 8 knots, you may never buy that trawler - an extra fuel tank option takes you 1,800 N.M. without lifting the sail, an option you may need in the Med.

Ask any seasoned cruiser, and he will tell you that 9 out of 10 cruising days are spent on the hook - only 10% of the time are you actually sailing. So we spent as much time designing the interior layout to provide comfort, light, and visibility while at anchor as Chuck did perfecting the sleek hull form. It's critical to know your customers' priorities when designing the ideal cruising boat. Safety, comfort and performance were the primary owner requirements but they had to be carefully balanced with the complexity and cost of systems. Here's the result of our analysis and a stair step approach to systems.:

Safety
Starting with simple ideas such as 32" high stantions with 3 safety wires, not 2, stainless steel grab rails along the entire deck house top that are through-bolted and back-plated; leading to more complex issues, such as a built-in Dynaplate flush-mounted under the mast step for lightning protection; with all keel/hull joints and bow strengthened with Kevlar; an oversized rudder post with 3 oversized bearings, with fore and aft watertight bulkheads; to the trademarked "Double-Bow Crush Zone."

This is literally a complete FRP duplicate of the bow/cutwater/forehull section set inside the standard hull and separated from it 9" and travelling aft 7'. This cavity between the two bow sections is filled with a structural skeleton and closed cell foam and the entire inner bow is bonded to the outer bow with FRP and Kevlar. Structurally designed to take the shock of 36,000 lbs. of loaded boat hitting a partially submerged container, this extremely strong bow is the Explorer's most important safety feature.

A limited number of incoming thru-hulls, a cabin trunk notch designed to nestle an 8-man Givens life raft, solid FRP hull below the waterline, a skeg rudder with a sacrificial lower section, an external one-piece lead keel with internal structure designed to bounce off reefs, rigging with 2 aft stays and 2 forestays, a washboard that double-bolts into place, an emergency steering tiller, 31 grab rails inside, 2 bilge pumps plus an engine-driven damage control pump, dedicated engine start battery located high above the saloon sole, batteries tied in place, dorades that can be sealed shut from inside, a wet locker above the warm engine compartment, deep centerline galley sinks, a gimballed stove, high fiddles and lee cloth attachments are all standard. All cabinet doors and sole panels are positive - locked in place.

Performance
We need to say little about performance, except that this is the ninth hull form designed by Chuck Paine in his Bermuda series. The Able Apogee 50'(#8) uses this same hull form and has achieved consistent 9-knot speeds while reaching offshore. With a 2' shorter waterline the Explorer should approach that speed.

Creature Comforts
Probably our most important innovation is the use of the deck saloon interior. This not only provides the light, panoramic view and airiness of power boat saloons (and an optional interior helm station), but provides extra space directly below so that all fuel, water and the huge 8D (can fit eight) batteries are located directly above the boat C.G. It takes living aboard out of the cave dwelling era into the 21st century. Fully equipped with Force-10 3-burner stove, a 700-Watt microwave, 11 cubic feet of refrigerator/ freezer storage with Glacier Bay components and R-50 insulation, 450 amp-hours of gel-cell batteries (can go to 1,800 amp-hours), a Heart Interface, Link 2000R voltage regulator, Balmar hi-output alternator, Hart Tank Tender, halogen interior lights, Icom VHF and, most importantly, a Trash compactor. This boat truly functions as a mobile condominium that berths six, sleeps 9. The engine, a 76 HP Yanmar - is fully sound-conditioned with 2" thick lead-shielded insulation and drives a 21" 3-bladed propeller through a vibration-dampening Aqua Drive coupling - probably the quietest interior we've produced in 24 years.

Ground Tackle and Deck
Details: Other deck safety features are two storm anchor deck lockers located at the bow - behind and in addition to the standard anchor locker - large enough to house 600' of line plus a 69-lb. Fortress or 75-lb. Luke - in addition to double anchor rollers with standard 300' Acco Hi-Test 3/8" chain (16,200 lbs. breaking strength) connected to a 75-lb. CQR (or 110 lb. Bruce option) plus a 60 lb. Danforth on 40' of 3/8" chain plus 300' 5/8" line - all of this forward of a 2"-high mud dam to keep your anchoring mud forward; wash down hose tucks into a locker. A chain counter and cockpit remote switch so you can single-hand anchor. Power Lewmar winch for your main halyard. The pulpit is designed for Med docking, the coaming has a step-through feature, cockpit seats have lumbar support and are wide enough to sleep on. The helm station is one step away from the primary winches, two from the secondary. Swim platform that houses snorkel gear, a hot and cold shower, and a 4'-long swim ladder - and 8 large deck lockers - 2 large enough for your 10' roll-up Avon and your 8 HP Yamaha - 1 dedicated for 18 gallons of gasoline, 1 for 40 lbs. of propane.

Systems
At the heart of every serious cruising boat are the refrigeration and electrical systems. The refrigerator and its insulation dictate how long you can leave the boat unattended, how often you have to run the engine, and even how often you need to make port. The battery and electrical systems, supplemented by wind or solar power, work as an integrated energy source and provide the timing parameters for your refrigerator and your on-shore adventuring.

Battery-powered refrigeration combined with substantial amp-hours of battery banks and sufficient re-charging methods provide the most efficient system. Nigel Calder designed the Explorer systems with a building block approach to support three levels of cruising: an initial Coastal Cruiser level for short interim port to port hops; a World Cruiser upgrade for long offshore passages in remote seas; and a Luxury Liveaboard upgrade for circumnavigation/dockside decadence. Simply stated, there is NO production boat available today with more well-though-out or better quality systems! Period.

Incomparable Value
Like Little Harbor, Mason, Passport and Hylas, Hans Christian Yachts has taken advantage of international low-cost, skilled labor and combined it with state-of-the-art American and English design and equipment to produce quality yachts at reasonable prices. Our low-cost labor makes customizing very inexpensive and easy to correctly accomplish.

Details, details, details
Call or e-mail us and ask for details. We'll send you a small book on the Explorer systems by Nigel Calder, details on hull shape, light air and heavy air performance, stability and "righting factor" statistics, high aspect sails and rigging, hull construction, hull/deck joint, laminate schedules, keel, sail lockers, deck layout, three interior layouts, options, etc. etc.