What was meant to be a two-year yacht build project took four from start to completion. It is a risk for anyone of an age that circumstances will change during that period. They have for our family. A final push to make Vanguard seaworthy, tested, and Certified has been our focus for 2024 before she is shipped to Florida for a late-winter cruise in the Caribbean. In that period, I've also grown older and have another project in mind that is closer to home.
My friend, John Johnson of TJB Yacht Brokers (aka Yacht Buoy of YouTube fame), has listed Vanguard for sale; she is brand new and in fine condition. Coincidentally, not one but two FPB-70s have also recently been on the market. There is both choice and an interesting comparison for anyone looking at an available, capable, rugged, long-range explorer yacht design.
The FPB and XPM designs are contemporary; the former is from Dashew Offshore, built by Circa Marine, and the latter is from Artnautica, built by Naval Yachts. Two of each capable design were constructed and continued actively sailing. After a quick Google search, further details of each were found at:
FPB 70 - 2018 Buffalo Nickle
Fraser Yachts
2018
78' LOA
2 by JD 4045 AFM85 M1 Rated
FPB 70 - 2019 - Atlantis
Real Yacht and Ship Sales
2019
78' LOA
2 by JD 4045 AFM85 M1 Rated
XPM 78 - 2023 - Vanguard
TJB Superyachts - (John Johnson)
2023
78' LOA
2 by JD 4045 AFM85 M1 Rated
The specifications, equipment, and performance differ in detail but are otherwise remarkably similar. All have the same LOA and use John Deere 4045 engines. They also have twin rudders, strengthened aluminum hulls, similar beams, and draft. Vanguard is about 0.5KN slower but has more bells and whistles, newer, painted hybrid drives, a larger tender, and huge power batteries. Again, I am not without bias, so it is best not to labor the point.
I did find one piece of information that is otherwise difficult to track down. The Buffalo Nickle listing provided some very believable fuel consumption figures. This has a real $$ value for the long-range cruiser. Initial results from Vanguard have been published in previous blogs and track pretty well with these figures (same engines, the same length, and similar draft and beam ....... ). I have replicated them below:
Speed over ground | Engine load | Fuel NM/US Gallon (both engines) |
11.2 | 100% | 0.66 |
10.1 | 65/70% | 1.07 |
8.7 | Not measured | 1.56 |
(Note: This is a US listing, but the dimensions are recorded in Metric Units. I'm assuming that the "Gal" figure quoted in US Gallons, aka 4 Litres approximately.)
Have fun researching these listings. All three hulls can be found in the good old US of A (check the tax status). We look forward to explaining our other project!
Chris
P.S. for anyone looking at sailing instead of motoring, Merf Owen of Owen Clarke Design has this super-focused brokerage on high-latitude sailing yachts: Click the link HERE to see more and forget about those Honeydoo's for a few hours!
