The go-slow segment of the powerboat market is dominated by trawlers, which have seen sales dramatically increase in recent years as baby boomers approach retirement and trade in their cruising sailboats for more comfort and stability.

Pacific Asian EnterprisesThe Nordhavn 56 Motorsailer has a single engine and a conventional masthead rig with a 100 percent jib, all controlled by lines run aft. But not all sailing couples are ready to make the jump to a pure powerboat, even if it is a full-displacement hull offering 7 to 9 knots and a salty look. And many do not want to give up the lifetime sport of sailing. For those stuck in the sail-versus-power quandary, Pacific Asian Enterprises (PAE) thinks it has the solution in the Nordhavn 56 Motorsailer, a vessel designed from the ground up to take advantage of the latest technology in both forms of propulsion.

For most of their history, motorsailers were simply sailboat designs with a hard dodger and a large fuel tank for the auxiliary engine. Critics complained that they were the worst of both worlds: poorly-performing sailboats with lousy fuel economy. But these designs did acknowledge one seldom-spoken truth about sailboats, the fact that many sailors spend more time under power than they would like.

Mother Nature does not always provide sailing conditions, and the motorsailer accommodated that reality. Despite their sometimes lackluster performance, they were popular enough. A quick check on Yachtworld.com, shows several hundred for sale, from 18 feet up to nearly 160 feet, ranging in price from $5,000 to $13 million.

Despite their underground popularity, PAE raised eyebrows in the industry when it first announced the 56 motorsailer. After all, the company itself had made the transition from sail to power two decades ago. PAE built the Mason line of sailboats from 1978 to 1985, producing 132 boats in lengths from 33 to 63 feet at their Ta Shing factory in Taiwan. After the Mason line closed, the company turned its focus to diesel-powered trawlers, bringing the Nordhavn brand to market.

Nordhavn quickly become a symbol of the trawler movement. With their stable hulls, single Lugger engines, wing engine backups and dry-stack exhausts, they became the standard against which many long distance cruisers were measured. In the past few years, the line has grown dramatically. Four years ago, the largest Nordhavn offered was the venerable 62, well-known in ocean passagemaking circles. The Nordhavn line now includes 64, 68, 72, 75, 76, 86 and 120-foot models.

According to Pete Eunson, project manager on the 56 motorsailer, PAE saw a market niche in couples just not ready for the full leap into powerboats. The 56 is certainly not cheap. The base price is a whopping $1.4 million. But a fully outfitted trawler of a similar size can cost far more, and so the 56 motorsailer does represent a middle ground of sorts.

Indeed, if a modern motorsailer has a place in the market, PAE's success in both power and sail suggests it may be the company to put it there.

THE 56 MOTORSAILERPacific Asian EnterprisesThe Nordhavn 56 Motorsailer under construction.

The boat's design is tailored for easy handling by a couple, or conceivably even a single-hander. The pilothouse is a large, protected enclave from which to operate the boat in both sail and power modes (the boat also has an external sailing center cockpit). All the sailing lines run aft to the pilothouse and the sails are powered by hydraulic furlers and powered winches to minimize effort. The sail plan is a conventional masthead rig with a 100 percent jib. The two sails are part of the standard equipment, though Eunson says the typical buyer might add downwind sails such as a larger genoa or an asymmetrical spinnaker to the inventory.

Eunson says that he expects the 56 to be used primarily under power, with the sails deployed for additional efficiency and stability during downwind passages. In fact, it is the design of the diesel propulsion system aboard this boat that gives it an enormous range. Using a 36-inch controllable-pitch propeller from Hundested, the helmsman will be able to optimize efficiency of the Lugger L1066T diesel at any RPM, unlike a fixed-pitch prop that that is typically tuned for efficiency at a given RPM or at wide-open-throttle.

The combination of the electronically-controlled 160 HP diesel, controllable pitch propeller and twin disc transmission with 3-to-1 gear ratio will give the 56 a range under power alone of more than 3,000 nautical miles. Given that the boat holds 750 gallons of fuel, the estimated cruising mileage is almost 4 MPG. If the passage involves downwind routes, the sails could stretch that mileage even farther.

Creature comforts aboard the 56 do not appear to be compromised as is sometimes the case aboard passagemaking sailboats. Both the forward and aft staterooms feature full queen beds and separate heads, with large hanging lockers. An optional layout adds a third guest stateroom amidships, taking advantage of the increased headroom available when the on-deck sailing cockpit is deleted. The lower deck also contains the galley and dinette to starboard, with a spacious utility space to port.Pacific Asian EnterprisesThe interior under construction in the yard.

On the upper deck is the pilothouse, with the helm center-forward and a saloon area. A sturdy door aft leads to an open cockpit with plenty of room for table and chairs. The saloon features a u-shaped settee and table to starboard and two free-standing chairs to port. The aft cockpit also features a barbecue to starboard, up against the saloon bulkhead. A hatch to the lazarette is in the middle of the cockpit deck. Both side rails have gates for boarding and the transom features a centered door for boarding from the swim platform.

Forward of the pilothouse, under the main boom, is the sailing cockpit and steering station. This area is accessed via side decks to port and starboard. The pilothouse roof has been designed to accommodate an 8-foot RIB as a tender, with a powered winch set up on the boom for launch and retrieval.

There is plenty of fresh water capacity, with 250 gallons aboard and a steady supply from a watermaker chosen by the owner. The Northern Lights generator supplies 12 kilowatts of electrical power and the ship has both 12- and 24-volt DC power systems, in addition to AC power. There are six 8D Lifeline batteries for house services, providing 765 amp hours. Another two 4Ds provide 24-volt starting power for the engine and two more 8Ds power the bow thruster. The engine has dual alternators for charging house and engine batteries, and there is an additional battery in the pilothouse to provide 12-volt power for communications and navigation equipment.

STABLE RIDEPacific Asian EnterprisesArtist renderings of the Nordhavn 56 morotsailer.

Given its full displacement hull, long skeg and greater than 70,000 pounds of displacement, the 56 should be stable enough in almost any sea state. On downwind legs with the sails deployed, stability will be increased and roll decreased, as with all sailboats. No auxiliary stabilization is required. The draft is six feet, a little deeper than a powerboat of its size, but less than a traditional deep-keel sailboat.

As to how well the boat will perform under sail, Eunson was direct: "This boat won't sail to weather the way a racer would." The sailing rig, which has more than 1,200 square feet of sail, is fundamentally designed to supplement the engine.

Construction on the first hulls is coming along nicely at the Ta Shing factory, according to Eunson, who just returned from one of his frequent trips to Taiwan to check on progress. Hull No. 1 should arrive in the United States sometime in August, where it will undergo final outfitting and commissioning at the delivery center in Dana Point, California.

The second hull has been released and a third is now in the mold. Eunson said the factory learning curve was coming along nicely with the second hull much farther along in the process than the first hull was in a comparable period of time. He said only minor modifications have been made to the boat during the construction process, which is typical on a new build.

The first couple of boats feature the standard sailing cockpit forward of the pilothouse, but Eunson said two other buyers had opted to delete the sailing cockpit and go with the guest stateroom. PAE has initial plans to build six of the 56 motorsailers per year at the Ta Shing factory, and they may be on display at the fall boatshows.