The 120 is being produced in Nordhavn’s Xiamen, China, yard, where they also build their 40, 42, 43, 52, 55, 60, 63, 75, and a total of seven 86 models so far. When the first 120 is finished, in April 2012, she will be ABS certified and make the 6,500 mile voyage from Xiamen to Vancouver on her own bottom. It’s not bad as shakeout cruises go.
Nordhavn is ready to go on production of the 120. They’ve invested over $2 million in tooling alone and expect future builds to take between 28 to 30 months from start to finish and cost $19 million.
“The N120’s 28-foot beam is close to those of many yachts in the 150- to 160-foot range,” Smith notes, with a similar stateroom layout, albeit smaller in scale. There’s a greater emphasis on outdoor living spaces here then there has been on the smaller Nordhavn builds, as well.
Part of the deal Nordhavn reached with Conconi on the 120 is that this will be a turn-key vessel. When Conconi and his wife Diane take delivery, their yacht will be furnished, decorated and equipped right down to linens on the berths and silverware in the drawers.
It will also include some special modifications. The “Christmas tree” supporting the radar and other equipment will be hydraulically operated to fold down, reducing Conconi’s bridge clearance from 56 feet to 41 feet, so he can continue to use his boathouse, which is something of a hard-to-find treasure in the Vancouver area.
“I’ll be spending most of my time thinking about the electronics outfitting,” Conconi notes, who is choosing all of his bridge gear. “But one call will fix it all,” with Nordhavn providing service for anything he needs. Conconi thinks it’s likely Nordhavn will move to a standardized electronics package on future 120 builds, much the way Westport and some other turn-key builders do.
Conconi jokes that he and Diane have used their 86 for mostly local cruising, “if you call local 2,000 miles of coast from Seattle to Alaska.” Their most memorable trip, he says, was a six-week trip around Vancouver Island. The outside of the island is largely deserted, with about seven out of 10 houses empty now that logging and mining have died out there. “It was absolutely beautiful, though. A whole different part of Canada, and we could have easily spent another month there.”
The Conconi’s new 120 will hold 17,500 gallons of fuel, 2,500 gallons of water and will cruise at 10 knots. Twin MTU Series 2000 M72 engines, with 965 horsepower each at 2,250 rpm, will enable a cruising range of 3,000 nm at reduced speeds.
Looks like the Conconis might have to extend their cruising grounds, but they’re certain to go on enjoying the stunning waters of the Canadian southwest, where they have served as the Swiftsure Race Committee boat for the last three years.
As we came back down the evergreen coast of Indian Arm and past the shoreside residential neighborhood of Deep Cove, I asked Conconi what he liked best about his Nordhavn.
“Piloting it,” he said without hesitation. “I can put it in neutral and coast into the slip just using the bow thruster. Aurora tracks straight and is just a wonderful boat to steer.”
That’s something Smith had mentioned, too. “Bob and Diane love how strong the Nordhavn is. She’s just got a wonderfully heavy, solid feeling when you’re at the helm, unlike some other builds that size.”
“I like Nordhavn because they’re proud, they’re committed to what they do,” Conconi nodded. And he is clearly committed to Nordhavn, too. I’m tempted to say this romance has a happy ending, but I suspect there’s more to come. As long as Nordhavn is making boats, my guess is Conconi will buy them.
LOA: 87’2”
LWL: 77’11”
Beam: 24’0”
Draft: 7’4”
Displ.: 299,436 lb. (half load)
Fuel: 7,000 gal.
Water: 900 gal.
Holding: Gray 190 gal., Black 185 gal.
Construction: Fiberglass
Design: Jeff Leishman
Interior: Dee Robinson
Naval Architecture: Jeff Leishman
Generators: Onan 40 kW, 27.5 kW
Stabilizers: Trac 370
Bow Thruster: Hydraulic 50 -hp
Watermaker: Village Marine 2,000 gpd
Engines: 2 x 600-hp MTU Series 60 model
Speed: 12 kts
Range: 4,000 nm @ 9 kts
Price: $6,750,000
Nordhavn, 949-496-4933; www.nordhavn.com
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