We were working through photos this weekend, putting together more slide shows for our web stream, and came across this photo which might be of interest. It was taken in July of 2005 at Musket Cove in Fiji, a great place to start your winter cruise. The water is just as inviting as the lovely blue sky.

The three boats represent historic milestones of sorts for us.

To the left is the 73 foot ketch Wakaroa. She was one of the first of the Deerfoot Series, and is still under her original owners almost 30 years later. When Wakaroa was built her short overhangs, clean flush deck, aft engine room, owner’s suite forward, and shallow draft were considered radical. Today she is very mainstream.

The cutter in the center is a Sundeer 64, Raven. She has been back and forth across the Pacific numerous times and will shortly be headed from New Zealand to Panama and then to the Caribbean with new owners. Some of these designs have circumnavigated three times (possibly more by now). In 1994 this was still a controversial concept. We delivered 30+ of the Sundeer Series during the last great yachting depression in the mid 1990s. Today they are sought after on the used boat market and sell quickly, even in the present economic climate.

The yacht to the right is of course, Wind Horse, the FPB Series prototype. The reaction this time is different, in particular within the yachting press. Without exception the commentary has been extremely favorable. The FPB concept has been judged on its merits rather than current fashion, in particular by editors who have been on sea trials with us in boisterous conditions.

We are no longer considered “radicals”. Now the label is “realist”. Whatever the label the goal is still the same. Efficient, safe, and comfortable cruising with minimum maintenance and crew hassles.