Cape Horn: The best there ever was?

an intresting thread having owned several trawler style yachts i think i will stick with my old fiberglass delta it has been from kodiak ak to so america and throught the panama canal to nova scotia and back to ak and back down the coast to mexico with minamal problems , i almost sold it a few years ago and after spending a lot of time and money traveling around the world i felt i still have as good of boat that has been built to date JUST MY THOUGHTS

TRAVLER

Knew a fellow several years back that did much the same cruising with a Delta. He left one on a rock in Ak and I believe got another to continue on with life. Beautiful boat.

Hi,

NYCAP- Would that particular one have happenned to be named after an Animal?

if my memory serves me well it was just outside ketchkan and he now has a northern marine

travler

If you refer to a bird, yup.

The Z-drive systems were installed primarily for "tugboat" maneuverability and to eliminate potential transmission and shaft problems and were not designed to be a get-home system. Three of the five CHs that were built with Z-drives also had get home engines (Volvo 57 hp saildrives) with folding prop.

Judy Waldman
JW Yachts

The answer is YES!

I own a cape horn 75 and I reckon she is currently still in the year 2010 unrivalled for safety and comfort.
I just took her through a force 7, at times 8 with winds gusting 74kn and she loved it and asked for more.
Double steel hull, built in Canada, self righting - what more could you wish for and who can still build this in steel at an acceptable price?
Comfort? My cabin is full beam 21' and the whole interior is of solid cherry wood.

Cheers
Charles

Hi
I own Devils Advocate (formerly Lords Warrior) and can confirm that she is a formidable vessel that has safely taken me over the past years in various occasions through some serious adverse Force 9 waters without ever even coming close to her limits.
She is built in a quality which would not be affordable to replicate in 2013 and is still in as new condition.
It is a shame that only 15 ships of her kind were ever built and Cape Horn trawlers are still the elusive high benchmark set that other shipbuilders aim to come close to.

LW2010

No doubt the CHs are very nice vessels with loyal owners. My question is - with the use of weather routers and onboard skills to analyze incoming weather data, how did the vessel end up in Force 8 and 9 conditions?

I would assume that a Passagemaker making 6 knots or tops 8 knots, would find itself in the kind of conditions you mention simply due to their use as per the design criteria.
These are not weekend cruisers and would be overtaken by some weather without choice. From LW2010 posts, it sounds like he/she has done some serious voyages over the last 3 years.

Why the storms


Good question.
When I took over Lords Warrior she came with a full crew. A Portuguese 'very British' captain and an Australian deckhand with captains license as well as an Australian stewardess. They knew the boat very well and took real pleasure in doing what LW knew best - to sail in storm.
So on our very first longer trip, instead of waiting for weather to change, we crossed the Gulf of Lion in heavy weather without ever changing our set course towards St. Tropez by a single degree. I myself read the 74kn on the anenometer and the captain was quick to reply that this wind speed included our own speed. Only thing was, the wind was blowing from port side and no correction to be made.
LW ploughed through the waves and behaved very well and we arrived safely but a little shaken in St. Tropez and anchored. All night long we could see a pandemonium, including shouting on the VHF of some very large over 50m yachts whose anchors were dragging etc. LW never dragged an inch.

I learnt from this crossing, that the limits of a Cape Horn Trawler is never the boat but the passengers on board.

I like sailing in fair weather, but must admit that I also enjoy the rougher weather from time to time and have thus on occasion sailed again in adverse conditions with the weather being so bad that climbing of stairs becomes a circus act.
The boat has never taken damage minus a television being ripped out of its support due to a faulty cupboard door lock. Before a storm, we always make her storm proof, tying all movable furniture down and even placing cushions in the cupboards and shelves to avoid breakage.

I dont know about other CH yachts, but Peter Sever who built mine wrote me a short while ago saying amongst other things :"During Lords Warriors sea trial (big boat was great but he (first owner) wanted more ballast. I do not think skipper did, but 'Xxxxx' did.
Hence at no charge I hauled the boat out in another Nova Scotia yard and added a second monster 3" (?) steel shoe to keel.
Full length." end of quote.

Devils Advocate handles very well in any sea, rolling with her stabilizers on is kept to an endurable minimum and thus even though we monitor weather very closely the decisions to sail or not to sail is more a comfort issue than a security one. So depending on who I have as guest on board we sail or we stay.

I'm neither a broker with an interest in promoting Cape Horn Trawers nor is there any sense in promoting them as they are no longer built, but each and every one of the 15 hulls that were built in Canadian boatyards are a tribute to their ability and know how to build real North Atlantic Trawlers that will take you anywhere in safety.

A little melancholically I would say 'they don't make them like that anymore'.

Greetings
Charles

and you are obviously right in saying that some of the weather we encountered was not of our choice. We soon sail 1800 miles to Cyprus and even though we will be looking for a 'window of opportunity' in the weather, meteorology can change which might result in us either seeking safe harbor or deciding to plow on.
In any event these decisions, as on any boat are not taken lightly and if in doubt we head for port.

I envy your lifestyle!
Safe Sailing.
Cheers.
Kafue.

Since I'm new here and all the posts on Cape Horn are dated...I'll share my experience with them. Cape Horn made a good boat...but she had a few problems, they were never tank tested to my knowledge, but the sterns had a tendency to squat under power. Over many conversations with Peter Sever, which totaled probably close to 30 hours, I can say he certainly had a vision! Unfortunately, he ran into either health problems or money problems, and the "gentleman" who was building one, ending up owning Cape Horn. I met him at the Ft. Lauderdale show that following year. We sat in the pilothouse and had a nice conversation. Afterwards, as I strolled down the docks, I came across a steel trawler designed by Vripack of Holland and built by Kuipers shipyard...it was a 92 ft "Doggersbank"! I took a very extended tour of the boat even down into the belly of the ship to inspect the different tanks and inspection ports, etc. The engine room was a complete work of art! I had never experienced such precise engineering, and workmanship in a boat before. After a two hour tour, and another hour talking with Dick Boon, I was thoroughly convinced that the Dutch made the finest boats in the world! I made my way back to the Cape Horn excited as a school boy, got an audience with the new Owner of Cape Horn and said "You want to build me a boat? Then you need to come with me, and let me show you what I expect." He then basically told me to go screw myself. Seems like what goes around comes around about six months after the show I learned that he had died and his house in the Keys and his Cape Horn were in an Estate sale. And I believe his boat was the last Cape Horn ever built.

Did you offer to pay the same for the CH as for a Dutch built Doggersbank..?

Never mind the civility of asking that question!

"He then basically told me to go screw myself. Seems like what goes around comes around about six months after the show I learned that he had died and his house in the Keys and his Cape Horn were in an Estate sale. And I believe his boat was the last Cape Horn ever built. "

NEO56 is so important and needed in our Universe that he believes the person that offended his persona died for it!

NEO, this forum is not the local fish market where you can offload your poison gossip.

Most Dutch built yachts are always quality but you do pay a premium for this. It's interesting that Vripack have taken to having yachts projects built in China with there own supervises. There have been teething problems but one thing, the more they make the better they get.

I agree you can't ask for Mercedes quality and expect to pay a Chevy price for a yacht......

I also wouldn't wish bad things on a human because they disagreed over a build of a yacht.

Corrections and clarifications on Cape Horn trawlers:

All models were tank tested several times with tweaking as needed. Cape Horn was continuously improving their models, not willing to be satisfied without the search for what could be better so, yes, there were some differences in bulbous bow shapes, degree of bow flare, owner preferences, but the basic hull shapes were based on the most successful commercial trawler designs and built by Canadian yards specializing in serious vessels. I never heard of nor experienced squatting. Was there one yacht with an issue that I don't recall? Would like to know in pm more details such as a hull # or name (private, but I will post here if it is true).

I had posted on another thread the history of the new owner which I will paste here. But not only was the client the wrong buyer of The Cape Horn Trawler Corp, but I worked that boat show with him and after the 2nd day of the show, I knew Cape Horn was not being run the Peter Sever way and I quit. His 82 was the only boat that was built and does not carry the Cape Horn name.

Many of the Cape Horns are still owned and actively cruised by their first owners worldwide, many by their 2nd owners. That speaks volumes in itself. Of the 16 yachts built, only 4 or 5 have had more than original or second owner in over 17 years. And Peter Sever is still in contact with most of them.

From my YF post of 11-06:

As a follow-up, I know what the personal circumstances were that lead to his abandonment of the project and death. A sad story that perhaps explains, but doesn't justify, his rudeness to clients.

Judy Waldman

I would never wish any harm to anyone...ever. I later found out that he had been sick for quite some time. It wasn't my intention to beat someone down, it's the fact that if I had been in his shoes, and it was my intention to sell more boats, and someone came up to me with ways to improve my current product, I would be all ears.