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Polar 65, a new concept in cruising boat design
Two years ago the Ukrainian engineer and three times solo round the world cruising sailor
Aleixo Belov visited our office to commission us to design the boat he wanted to build as his
definitive yacht. He intended to construct a cruising boat with which he could do things difficult
to be accomplished by most other yachts, like for instance, sailing in very shallow waters
in places of difficult manoeuvrability, or facing bad weather against the wind hardly heeling
at all, as if she were a multi-hull.
He brought with him a sketch of the boat he had in mind; a twenty metres long ballasted swing
keel yacht. He came to our office already knowing that we had a long term involvement with
ballasted swing keels, a feature we really believe to be one of the most desirable options
for mono-hull sail boats.
We took this challenge with great enthusiasm, since we knew we were having an exceptional
opportunity to test some new ideas. And so was born the Polar 65 design, the stock plans we
were willing to produce someday.
The first suggestion we proposed to our client, which he promptly accepted, was to adopt
twin rudders behind two skegs with apertures for twin engine propellers. We hadn’t seen
that configuration in sailing boats up to that day yet, and we knew it was very desirable,
since this duplicity enhanced manoeuvrability, besides being a safety factor, with one engine
serving as back-up of the other. Besides, the two skeg tip beams being parallel to the floating
waterline would allow the boat to rest in a horizontal position when lying on a flat bottom,
a very assuring condition when aground. These two skegs would serve another important function;
they would also perform the role of keel-coolers, eliminating the need for raw water strainers
and allowing the engines to operate even when the seawater is frozen.
We designed a twelve ton swing-keel which hides entirely inside its trunk. With the addition
of six tons of internal ballast, together with a generous beam, we obtained an excellent stability
index, even when the keel is lifted. (See Polar 65 stock plan, technical data, static stability
curve and STIX calculation.)
The internal layout we chose for the design emphasized accommodations for a large crew.
A boat with the characteristics of the Polar 65 will most probably be employed as a charter
or expedition yacht. The internal arrangement has an after saloon with a handy internet and
radio communication centre at starboard. The engines room is lodged under the pilot-house and
the cabins are placed in a corridor which surrounds the keel trunk. We believe that each Polar
65 owner will wish to customize the interior layout to suite his preferences, as was already
the case with Fraternidade, Aleixo’s Polar 65.
After two years of intensive work, Aleixo’s ultimate cruising machine is nearly completed
and soon will be launched. We received a few queries from Norway, Scotland, Canada and Alaska,
but only now that the French yachting magazine “Loisirs Nautiques” n°470, October
2007, published a note about the Polar 65, it seems that people really discovered our design.
As a consequence we have already the second unit under construction, this time at Metallic
Boats, a boatyard located in Southern Brazil, a builder who works with our designs since a
long time. As the owner of the factory, www.metallicboats.com , Mr Jose Antonio Moeller has
a large experience in metallic construction, we expect that not too far from now another well
built Polar 65 will be in the water.
Rendered Images by Frederico Vecci
Photos of Fraternidade, Aleixo’s Polar 65.
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THE POLAR 65 FRATERNIDADE IS ALREADY SHOWING HER BEAUTY.
The first Polar 65 to be built, Fraternidade is presently concluding its
metallic construction. With the steel plating already in place, she will
now be sand-blasted and painted. The reason why this boat attracts so
much attention are the many unique solutions adopted in her design. In
the first place, what surprises most visitors is her impressive retractable
keel. Pivoting around a 200 mm diameter stainless steel solid pin, this
gigantic steel box filled with lead ballast is operated by a simple button.
Observe how Aleixo Belov, the owner and builder of "Fraternidade" ( Fraternity
in Portuguese ), looks like a Lilliputian standing besides the keel.
Her stainless steel superstructure is no less impressive, with its custom
fitting details, designed to operate in the most inhospitable regions.
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FIRST POLAR 65 HULL ALREADY CONCLUDED
Aleixo Belov, builder of the first Polar 65, sent us these photos of
the preparations for turning his boat upside. Aleixo is a civil engineer
with extensive experience as a cruising sailor, once he is one of the
few persons who managed to sail around the world single handed, for
three times consecutively.
Finding his 37 foot sailboat too small for a more socialising type of
cruising, he came to our office to order a larger yacht capable of taking
his family and friends along with a degree of comfort he can't afford
to proportion with his present boat. Besides upgrading in size, Aleixo
also was looking for a specialised boat with shallow draught possibilities
and a thorough thermal insulation, qualifying her for high latitudes
sailing.
The design we developed for his "Fraternidade"( fraternity
in Portuguese ) is our stock plan Polar 65, a yacht with a swing keel
with ratchet and hydraulic brake, two rudders and two engines ( see
more details in Polar 65 stock plan ), which are innovative solutions
for rudder control, manoeuvrability and ultimate shallow draught capabilities
for a monohull.
We are specially impressed by the high standard of the steelwork, demonstrating
his strong know how in metallic boat building. With all the equipment
already purchased and taking into account the short time spent in reaching
this stage of construction we expect to see the "Fraternidade"doing
its first sea trials at the end of this year.
*Photos: Nilton Souza - www.niltonsouza.com.br
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