New Nordhavn 41

[Zing]

All the things that usually go wrong with a marine engine then The fact is that the Kubota may be the best engine in the world but if there isnt a Beta service dealer in many cruising areas, then getting warranty service and spares is going to be that much more difficult which makes it a strange choice for a boat that is built to cruise extensively

With FEDEX you get the part in a few days no matter where you are. In the sticks of Patagonia or up the Zambezi river there are no dealers with stock of all parts for all engines, even Cummins, so a local dealer isn’t much use anyway.

 

[Bajansailor]

Here is a link to the 85 hp Beta (at 2,800 rpm, with a turbo) -
Beta 85T - Beta Marine

I think that if I was spending US$ 750,000 on a boat like this I would prefer to have a couple of John Deeres like these (80 hp at 2,500 rpm, no turbo) rather than the Betas -
https://www.deere.com/assets/pdfs/c...nes-and-drivetrain/specsheets/4045dfm70_a.pdf

The Nordhavn 41 weighs 19.5 tonnes, so she should be able to cope with the slight increase in weight of the JD engines (approx 450 kg vs 360 kg).
N41 – Nordhavn Yachts

 

[Zing]

Here is a link to the 85 hp Beta (at 2,800 rpm, with a turbo) -
Beta 85T - Beta Marine

I think that if I was spending US$ 750,000 on a boat like this I would prefer to have a couple of John Deeres like these (80 hp at 2,500 rpm, no turbo) rather than the Betas -
https://www.deere.com/assets/pdfs/c...nes-and-drivetrain/specsheets/4045dfm70_a.pdf

The Nordhavn 41 weighs 19.5 tonnes, so she should be able to cope with the slight increase in weight of the JD engines (approx 450 kg vs 360 kg).
N41 – Nordhavn Yachts

It’s not got the necessary environmental certs.

You can have a turbo common rail Deere version instead at 100hp vs the direct injection Kubota. There is a certain appeal in an off piste boat to having direct injection. I suspect that may be what swung it. The Deere has a great reputation also.

 

[TwoHooter]

does your 40 have a dry exhaust?
when you mentioned the other boats you looked at, I assume you meant Linssen and not Lurssen. They are somewhat far apart size wise ?

Yes, dry exhaust for the main engine (wet for generator and wing engine).
And yes again, Linssen not Lurssen.

Concerning support for Beta, having owned one (and I also ran a Kubota 360 degree tracked digger for many years), I am really struggling to think of anything that might go wrong that would require a Beta dealer to deal with it. Yes one would want to carry some spares, but not many, and there is nothing on a Beta that a marine diesel fitter couldn't fix. Beta supply spares kits for their engines and if you were going to cruise in a remote area you could get them to add additional items - they would advise on what one might need. On our boat I absolutely love the antediluvian non-electronic non-turbocharged solid low-revving lump that is our John Deere/Lugger 668D main engine but you can't get them now and when I heard that the 41 was going to have Beta engines I thought it was a very wise choice. To my way of thinking ruggedness, simplicity, and a lack of highly-stressed components are great attributes for engines on slow boats. If you want to do 20 knots then everything changes.

 

[Bouba]

Yes, dry exhaust for the main engine (wet for generator and wing engine).
And yes again, Linssen not Lurssen.

Concerning support for Beta, having owned one (and I also ran a Kubota 360 degree tracked digger for many years), I am really struggling to think of anything that might go wrong that would require a Beta dealer to deal with it. Yes one would want to carry some spares, but not many, and there is nothing on a Beta that a marine diesel fitter couldn't fix. Beta supply spares kits for their engines and if you were going to cruise in a remote area you could get them to add additional items - they would advise on what one might need. On our boat I absolutely love the antediluvian non-electronic non-turbocharged solid low-revving lump that is our John Deere/Lugger 668D main engine but you can't get them now and when I heard that the 41 was going to have Beta engines I thought it was a very wise choice. To my way of thinking ruggedness, simplicity, and a lack of highly-stressed components are great attributes for engines on slow boats. If you want to do 20 knots then everything changes.

Is your 41 A-rated for crossing oceans?

 

[TwoHooter]

Is your 41 A-rated for crossing oceans?

Ours is a 40, and is Category A. One of them (only one!) did a circumnavigation. But that was in the pre-Somali pirate days when you could still go through Suez.
The 41 is also category A.

 

[Deleted User YDKXO]

With FEDEX you get the part in a few days no matter where you are. In the sticks of Patagonia or up the Zambezi river there are no dealers with stock of all parts for all engines, even Cummins, so a local dealer isn’t much use anyway.

Can they FEDEX the service engineer too when some warranty work needs doing?

 

[jordanbasset]

I have always liked the way the Nordhavn 43 looked, if I moved over to the dark side and had the money it would be the one I would want.

 

[Deleted User YDKXO]

I have always liked the way the Nordhavn 43 looked, if I moved over to the dark side and had the money it would be the one I would want.

Youre spot on. The N43 (now N475) just looks right and its a perfect size for a couple to go long distance cruising without being stupidly expensive as some of the larger Nordhavn models are

 

[Portofino]

This one arrived opposite me last summer .Swedes , she hated sailboats esp in Baltic weather and this is there first Med boat .
Family of 4 teenage kids .
Picking up on MapishM s points I did detect a bit of “ we are making do with it “ .
Envious looks at us loafing on the stern sunpad , or sat next to our huge cockpit table fully place set etc .
Conversation from him to me seemed to rotate around time to get anywhere for day trips .
First season he did not want to blow it with wife re epic trips in weather etc .
7 knots Vs my 100 miles in 3 hrs so I had to quickly recalculate ( was a sailer once btw ) in my head .

Although I did blurt out “ Monaco is 2 hrs away “ and his kids said “ please daddy can we go “ !!!
Buts that’s 10 hrs for him !
Thats the problem .

eg Varraze is a nice marina about 1 hr for us but with a stop for a swim it was a overnighter for him .
They haven’t been as far as the CdA yet or Corsica / Elba .

In the 3 moths of the season left since we arrived in ( 2/8/19 ) Liguria last year .....it’s was flat calm every day ......so neither him or me for that matter ever were put into trying seakeeping situations anyhow .
Normally in the CdA the weather is mixed wind speed / wave wise ...3/4 days idillic followed by a couple of choppy days out with the odd Mistral tossed in .....mixed passages so a good sea boat wether P or D is useful unless you want to be port bound .

Anyhow he is still there ( moved berths ) so hopefully when it all kicks off he will venture out more .


Pancake flat every time !

So 7 knots I this .......?
Anyhow nice boats etc etc I guess it all boils down to intended use age in the end .
Even that island took him over an hr to get too for swimming day trip etc .All the best pitches we’re gone and he was last home .
Horses for courses and all that .
Its just @7 knots and that €€€ layout I can’t help thinking a large Yacht with geny Aircon + water maker + tender garage etc + seasonal skipper “to do the Med “
Or enthusiastic family + friends for longer passages .

 

[Zing]

Can they FEDEX the service engineer too when some warranty work needs doing?

You won't get warranty cover in the sticks with any small engine. If you were worried about warranties you wouldn't go far. The worst case is you have to buy a new engine, which in this size costs buttons in the scheme of things. Furthermore the main engine parts won't break and if anything does, it's a Kubota. There will be an engineer in the jungle behind you. Just shout, he'll be there in minutes. All that said, you won't need one anyway - you can fix most stuff yourself. If you can't you probably ought not to be there. And contrary to what you suggested above, marinised components are extremely reliable unless you defer maintenance. (like not replacing an exhaust injector nozzle or impeller pre-emptively). I'd carry a spare pump though.

Don't worry, be happy.

 

[Deleted User YDKXO]

You won't get warranty cover in the sticks with any small engine. If you were worried about warranties you wouldn't go far. The worst case is you have to buy a new engine, which in this size costs buttons in the scheme of things. Furthermore the main engine parts won't break and if anything does, it's a Kubota. There will be an engineer in the jungle behind you. Just shout, he'll be there in minutes. All that said, you won't need one anyway - you can fix most stuff yourself. If you can't you probably ought not to be there. And contrary to what you suggested above, marinised components are extremely reliable unless you defer maintenance. (like not replacing an exhaust injector nozzle or impeller pre-emptively). I'd carry a spare pump though.

Don't worry, be happy.

If I have an engine still under warranty I am not going to lay a spanner on it myself, even if I was very capable, because that might void the warranty so the question still remains who is going to do the warranty work? And then there is the 2nd question. If servicing work is not carried out by a Beta dealer during the warranty period, will they still honour the warranty? I suspect not. So if you get some backstreet grease monkey to service your Beta engine and it blows up a week later, best of luck getting Beta to take any interest

As for getting warranty cover 'in the sticks' for any engine, I can assure from my experience with construction machinery, the first question any customer asks, wherever they are based, is where am I going to get warranty and service help with the engine. Thats one of the reasons Caterpillar do so well because they have service coverage nearly everywhere

I still think its a very strange decision by Nordhavn and it might put buyers off

 

[Bajansailor]

Re 'favourite' Nordhavns, mine would have to be the original 46 -
N46 – Nordhavn Yachts

There was one, Starlet, here four years ago - she is now in Auckland, New Zealand.
https://www.marinetraffic.com/en/ai...d:446596/mmsi:367470230/imo:0/vessel:STARLET/

She was (coincidentally) here with a couple of other Nordhavns, Dirona and Southern Star - I mentioned the three of them in post #69 in this thread -
Spotted this... perfect livaboard long range cruiser which isn't a Nordhavn?

Dirona appears to be isolating themselves now at the Isle of Gigha -
MV Dirona

I also wrote a couple of posts about these Nordhavns in this thread (posts #73 and 85) when they arrived here in February 2016.
Nordhavns - the Marmite motorboat

 

[Deleted User YDKXO]

Re 'favourite' Nordhavns, mine would have to be the original 46 -
N46 – Nordhavn Yacht

Dirona appears to be isolating themselves now at the Isle of Gigha -
MV Dirona

Starlet I dont know but Egret and Dirona are both very famous Nordhavns. The anchorage in which Dirona is currently parked looks very well protected from everything the Scottish weather can throw at it!

 

[Portofino]

Does that Beta 75 , or Kubota rely on a lot of electrotwackery ?
Perhaps if it’s as simple as they can get .I suspect so .
If the demo graph of owners is longer term ownership and as said travelling to the arse end of nowhere ......then warranty aside the motor needs to be either very DIY er able or as said ANY oil monkey can fix .

Needing a vodia tool or other lap top to say reset the expansion tank level after a change out of coolant , or having to re calibrate a new sensor with a Bill Gates level of computer understanding is not gonna go down well with the potential buyers .

So I get the kubota simplicity.

All warranties have exclusions like lack of oil and coolant ...the more catastrophic stuff from numbties.
If you ceased your engine from not nipping up a oil filter and trashing the big end bearings .
Instruction manuals are quite explicit on pre start checks etc ...correct fluids etc and I suspect a seasoned Nordy owner by month 6 * should be confident after a few hundred hrs to be able to move away from a dealer network safe in the knowledge....it’s not blown up and he can mend it in the Bearing straights .

Otherwise it’s a Florida boat only ....safe in the knowledge the rocket scientists at NASA can understand the manual of the all singing n dancing latest tier Z super economical, tree hugging friendly marine diesel made out of recycled cans

* If he hasn’t called Beta back in 6 month / hundreds of hr maybe first 1000 then there is no production issues like chocolate big end bearings or oval cylinders etc .

 

[Portofino]

John Deere went down the electrotwackery route a few years ago .....agriculturalists like efficiency too in the field .

 

[Bouba]

and I suspect a seasoned Nordy owner by month 6 * should be confident after a few hundred hrs to be able to move away from a dealer network safe in the knowledge....

Sooner than that. A new Nordy owner picks up his boat in China and then drives home in it

 

[MapisM]

This one arrived opposite me last summer

That's an old N57, like the one in the article I posted!
Niiice vessel indeed, of which they threw away the mold - literally.
And even better with the very rare white hull, imho.

The reason why they (or their kids) might be envious of your "2 hrs to Monaco" is that they are in the wrong place.
In fact, having said that if there's one thing that a N'havn is NOT, it's a Med boat for day trips, I would have still preferred her to any P boat.
BUT, most of my favourite day trip spots are now 20 mins away from my marina, and the fact that with the old lady they were (as well as they would be with the N57) one hour instead, doesn't really make a meaningful difference.
If anything, the 60 mins trip can be even more enjoyable.

Bottom line, should their kids insist that they want to go faster, feel free to tell them that you know someone who would be happy to swap their boring and slow vessel with a fine piece of Italian boatbuilding, capable of sustained cruising speeds up to the high 20s.
I might as well throw in a full tank of diesel, to sweeten the deal!

 

[Bouba]

That's an old N57, like the one in the article I posted!
Niiice vessel indeed, of which they threw away the mold - literally.
And even better with the very rare white hull, imho.

The reason why they (or their kids) might be envious of your "2 hrs to Monaco" is that they are in the wrong place.
In fact, having said that if there's one thing that a N'havn is NOT, it's a Med boat for day trips, I would have still preferred her to any P boat.
BUT, most of my favourite day trip spots are now 20 mins away from my marina, and the fact that with the old lady they were (as well as they would be with the N57) one hour instead, doesn't really make a meaningful difference.
If anything, the 60 mins trip can be even more enjoyable.

Bottom line, should their kids insist that they want to go faster, feel free to tell them that you know someone who would be happy to swap their boring and slow vessel with a fine piece of Italian boatbuilding, capable of sustained cruising speeds up to the high 20s.
I might as well throw in a full tank of diesel, to sweeten the deal!

If the kids want to go fast they can take the tender

 

[MapisM]

Oi, which side are you on? ?