It was 24 years ago today that I sailed away from Great Britain in Red Hackle our own 60ft German Frers designed cruising ketch. And so we began our lives as blue water sailors.
We were to spend the next six idyllic years cruising up and down the eastern sea board of America spending winters in the Eastern Caribbean and summers either on the northern coast of South America or up in the North Eastern states of the USA.
Reminiscing about our time as sea gypsies I had just made the comment that there were few blue water cruising yachts being built today when news of this new yacht fell into my inbox.
Unlike many modern cruising yachts, the new Kraken 50 does not set out to be ‘all things to all people’.
Kraken Yachts commissioned award-winning New Zealand designer Kevin Dibley to produce a yacht that is ‘Built for Purpose’.
That purpose is to be a true Blue Water Cruiser.
Kraken chairman and founder Dick Beaumont has over 100,000 miles under his keel and sums up the is company ‘ethos’ saying ‘There is no such thing as “one yacht for all purposes”… You cannot have the best of all worlds, whatever the salesman tells you.
‘When purchasing a new yacht, you should look at the build and design and how the yacht will perform in heavy weather, how comfortable its motion is and how easily it can be controlled. Why risk sailing across oceans in a yacht that is only suitable for recreational shoreline sailing or racing – rather than for true blue water cruising?’
The Kraken 50 does not cut corners or compromise. Unlike many production yachts, it offers – as standard – features that ensure safe and comfortable blue water cruising.
It has a twin headsail rig. This sail combination adapts well to all weather conditions and – thanks to the standard electric winches – is easily handled from the cockpit by a small crew.
For offshore safety and protection against UFOs (unidentified floating objects), the Kraken 50 incorporates a tough full-length skeg that is moulded as an integral part of the hull. Whereas many modern yachts have no skeg at all.
The Kraken 50’s Zero Keel (so called because it has zero keel bolts) is also an integral part of the hull with the lead ballast encapsulated in a long bulb. It cannot become detached; whereas an iron keel bolted beneath a flat-bottomed hull can.
The Kraken 50 has a deep, well-protected centre cockpit with high seatbacks for security. These are carefully angled for maximum comfort in a seaway.
An internal raised navigation station enables crew to stay warm and dry when on watch in bad weather.
The yacht’s builder Xiamen Hansheng has been manufacturing award-winning yachts and motor cruisers since 1984 and is one of few Chinese yards to have ISO 9001 certification for quality control.
The Kraken 50 – a quality semi-custom built blue water cruiser – has a generous standard inventory and costs little more than a run of the mill mass-produced yacht … and considerably less than an expensive European semi-custom cruiser.
The first 50 will be launched in January 2018. Meanwhile her large sister – the 66ft White Dragon has already reached Madagascar on its maiden blue water cruise.
- Length Overall 15.24 m
- Waterline Length 13.74 m
- Beam Overall 4.50 m
- Draught 2.30 m
- Displacement 16,850 kg (Lightships)
- Ballast Weight 6,327 kg
- Sail Area 143.53 sq.m
- Engine Power 80 HP
- Fuel Tank 860 litres
- Fresh Water Tanks 700 litres
- CE Certification RCD Category ‘A’ Ocean