Aluminium hull of Pelagic 77 turned at KM Yachtbuilders

Makkum, 25 November 2019 - On a chilly Friday morning in November an important milestone was reached in the building process for the new Pelagic 77. The aluminium hull was turned over with two mobile cranes. 

Skip Novak was present as representative for Pelagic Yachts, as well as Jordi Griso, the marine representative of the owner, Nicolás Ibáñez Scott, a Chilean entrepreneur and adventurer.

A centerboarder rather than a full lifting keel, the Pelagic 77 will be a modern schooner with two carbon masts to split up the sail area, therefore keeping all sailing systems, eg., winches and furlers manually operated. Her two Yanmar engines of 150hp ensure redundancy. The large pilot house and comfortable living area and galley aft are the main areas where guests will spend their time when they are not on the deck. Six double cabins are forward of the pilot house with two heads and showers shared among them. The interior styling is light with bamboo furniture.

After delivery at the end of 2020 followed by an extensive sea trial in the North Atlantic through the summer of 2021, the Pelagic 77 will be sailing down to Puerto Williams in Chile to be used as a private yacht but also to serve an educational purpose. 

This small town of only 2400 people is the starting point of many of Skip Novak’s expeditions, as well as the place where Mr Ibanez has developed a sailing school with the ambitious goal of educating children through sailing. It was there where Mr Novak and Mr Ibanez met, and as a result of that connection, the idea of combining both exploration and sail training was born.  Tony Castro, who designed Skip Novak’s well known Pelagic Australis, was engaged and between the two of them developed this concept.
 
At the same time there was the need to find a shipyard able to materialize that idea,
that design. When Mr Griso attended the Düsseldorf Boot show back in 2018, he visited the KMY stand and met Eeuwe Kooi and Jildou Huisman, who explained the yard was building a very similar ship in terms of concept and dimensions: a polar expedition yacht.
This obviously drew attention and when Mr Griso visited the Open Day in April at the yard he came out with a very positive impression, which led to KM Yachtbuilders being the elected builders of the Pelagic 77.

Mr Ibanez says: “And that is how in an international project with Portugueses, Spaniards, British, etc involved, we added the only maritime power missing, the Dutch. Different cultures and perspectives that I’ll say enrich and add value to the project. A project that in my opinion brings together highly qualified professionals in their different fields.”

Mr Novak adds to that: “This expedition vessel is an evolution from Pelagic Australis and was conceived and designed for expedition sailing mainly in high latitudes. This implies enhanced autonomy, ease of handling with respect to sail areas and of course, given our Pelagic philosophy, simple systems that a yacht crew, operating in remote areas can service without specialist help.”