Ready to cast off, head off and explore the world? One of the most iconic explorer yachts ever built, the 83-foot Wind Horse could be yours for its next world-girding adventure.
Built in 2005 for long-distance sailors Steve and Linda Dashew, this quirky, pencil-thin, military-looking motoryacht covered over 60,000 miles in the seven years the Dashews owned it.
Top up the 2,600-gallon fuel tanks and, at 10 knots, it can cover 9,800 miles. That’s a third of the way around the globe without refueling. At the sweet-spot 12-knot cruise speed, it can run for an equally impressive 6,000 miles covering an easy 250 miles a day.
In one eight-month voyage in 2008, the Dashews cruised from Southern California, through the Panama Canal, north to Canada and then across to Greenland. And because they could, they carried on to England. That trip was almost 10,000 miles in total—compared to maybe 500 miles most yacht owners with a similar-sized vessel cruise each year.
On another voyage, the Dashews ventured farther north than they’d ever been on any of their sailboat adventures, ending up in remote Svalbard, between mainland Norway and the North Pole.
“We will always have a soft spot in our hearts for Wind Horse. She was truly our magic carpet ride,” says Steve Dashew who designed the yacht as the first-of-many, look-alike Dashew Offshore FPBs—short for Functional Power Boats.
Built from lightweight aluminum by Kelly Archer Boatbuilders in New Zealand, the yacht was designed to be capable of tackling the most extreme weather and roughest seas. Measuring 83 feet, but with a beam of just 19 feet, the hull is adept at slicing big waves.
And, remarkable for an 83-footer, the vessel is designed to be handled by just two people. In fact, most of the Dashews’ cruising was done with just the husband-and-wife team.
To reduce maintenance, Dashew left the exterior surfaces bare and unpainted, giving Wind Horse a love-it-or-hate-it, oxidized cinderblock-gray, appearance.
“The bare aluminum exterior with its military-commercial look, really opened doors that would have been closed to a typical shiny, in-your-face motoryacht,” he says.
To reduce the risk of flooding in a collision, the boat also has a double bottom and series of watertight bulkheads in the hull. And to increase stability in rocky seas, there are 6,500 lbs. of lead ballast encapsulated in the double-skin hull. Fitted, huge fin stabilizers also reduce roll.
Powering the yacht is a pair of near-indestructible, commercial-grade John Deere 150hp diesels that spin 32-inch-diameter propellers. They push the yacht to a top speed of 14 knots. The engines currently have around 7,000 hours.
Despite the minesweeper-like exterior, Wind Horse is surprisingly big on liveaboard comfort. The spacious salon, with its ring of 19mm-thick tempered glass windows, is lined with golden Burmese teak that took New Zealand craftsmen over 3,000 man-hours to finish to a high gloss.
The salon includes an open helm station—rather than a separate pilothouse—which does away with the traditional steering wheel in favor of joystick control. And, as a nod to the vessel’s extreme cruising ability, all of the seating, including the sofas and helm chair, come with seatbelts for use during passages.
Belowdecks is a spacious owners’ stateroom forward, with a king-sized bed and two ensuite guest cabins aft.
To ensure self-sufficiency on long voyages, the yacht carries almost 2,000 gallons of water, has a massive battery bank with no fewer than 15 high-capacity batteries, a 33-gallon-per-hour watermaker. The deck is designed to catch rain water.
Wind Horse, currently in Beaufort, North Carolina, is listed for $3.995 million with brokers Berthon International.
