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Building a Custom Aluminum Sailboat Part 1 - From Plans to Plates to Assembly

Have you ever dreamed of building a custom aluminum sailboat? Follow along with the building of our custom aluminium Enksail Orion 49, Distant Shores IV. In this episode we explain the process of taking our design from plans to plates - the engineering, cutting of aluminum plates and assembly strategy for the hull using on location footage, interviews and time-lapse video.

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Stadship Noordkaper Orion 49

This time on Distant Shores we test sail a Stadship 56 aluminum sailboat on a very breezy day, investigate the meticulous craftsmanship on a steel Noordkaper 46 and tour an aluminum Orion 49 before finally coming to a decision about our new custom aluminum sailboat.

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Bestevaer test sail - Yacht Designer on board!

This time on Distant Shores we're excited to be test sailing 2 different aluminum sailboats - both built by KM Yachts. We're thrilled we were able to sail with the yachts' designer legendary Gerard Dykstra.

First we get out on the brand new Bestevaer 45 aluminium sailboat - built by KM Yachts of Makkum in the Netherlands. She's so new she hasn't even flown all here sails yet and we get a change to see her large Code-0 as well as her lovely huge spinnaker.

Next we get out aboard the very first Bestevaer - the model 53 designed by her owner Gerard Dykstra and still going strong nearly 20 years old. Gerard is a famous Dutch designer who has been responsible for some of the most beautiful and innovative designs of the past 40 years. We have a windy day perfect for putting Bestevaer II through her paces.

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This Yacht is Sinking! Loading on a Ship for Yacht Transport

This time we save a boat from sinking in Panama, evaluate a boat monitoring system called BRNKL and load Distant Shores III onto a ship for yacht transport to her new owners.

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Custom Sailboat Design



This time on Distant Shores, we meet the design team and see preliminary drawings for Distant Shores 4, created by KM Yachtbuilders and Dykstra Naval Architects, based on our discussions.

During lockdown in Panama aboard Distant Shores 3, we began video calls with Eeuwe Kooi, owner of KM Yachtbuilders in the Netherlands, renowned for their aluminum sailboats. We’ve been doing a design feasibility study with him, outlining our criteria, listening to his suggestions, and looking at examples of other yachts KM have built with similar features.
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Centreboard or Lifting Keel

Ever wondered about the pros and cons of a centreboard versus a vertical lifting keel? In this session of our design feasibility study with KM Yachtbuilders, we do a deep dive into keel options - how they operate, how each affects interior space and the importance of rudder depth. We consider a Bestevaer 53, look at features of a Stadtship 56 including telescoping rudders and study stability curves and polar diagrams.

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Should we Build a Bigger Boat

We continue our design study for a 50-foot custom aluminium cruising boat with KM Yachtbuilders in the Netherlands who build Bestevaer and Stadship sailboats. In this session, we go over the details of a customized Bestevaer 49 and two Bestevaer 45's that KMY has built for other customers. All have features similar to the ones we're looking for and by the end we wonder if we should build a bigger boat.

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Buying a New Sailboat

Are you interested in buying or building a new boat but aren't sure where to begin? This video is the first in a new series about the design and build process of Distant Shores IV, the new custom-built aluminum e-boat we are planning to build. Determining criteria for your dream boat is the start of the process and Paul and his alter-egos, Traditional Paul and Future Tech Paul, hash out ideas together. Although entertaining, this video provides guidelines for determining important steps and considerations to help you make good decisions when searching for a new boat.

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