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The Classic Motor Yacht
MOXIE 43
Links to the Moxie web page and to other similar designs:
36' Molly | 43' Moxie | 49' Quinn | 50' Renegade | 60' Peregrine
The Soundings Magazine Article
By Steve Knauth
As a boater, boatbuilder and designer, Michael Kasten knows the cruising wonders of the Pacific Northwest and appreciates the boats bred for its challenging waters. Over the last year or so, Kasten, known for his rugged motor cruisers, has distilled his ideas and brought them to life in the 43-foot Moxie, a design for what he calls the ideal Pacific Northwest power yacht.
With its narrow semi-displacement hull, single-engine power and cruising-couple layout, Moxie is well-suited for the backwaters of the San Francisco Bay or a coastal cruise to Alaska, says Kasten. It's long and lean with low propulsion requirements, has plenty of room for a couple and occasional guests, and a large deck aft, the 52-year-old Port Townsend, Washington designer says.
It won't cost much to build or equip, yet it could cruise the islands from Seattle to Juneau and make an open-water passages if handled correctly. It's a very versatile type.
Moxie is intended for steel construction, with cold-moulded fore deck and pilot house top. Moxie's design lends itself perfectly to construction in aluminum. The design can also be built of plywood with epoxy / fiberglass sheathing, or even entirely of composites. If kept simple it would cost perhaps $250k to $300k if professionally built in the United States from steel and plywood, Kasten estimates (2002) - possibly a little more if built in aluminum or fiberglass.
Here's how Kasten has put his 43-foot Coastwise Cruising Yacht together…
Basic parameters: shallow draft for cruising the region's backwaters; low clearance for getting under bridges; single-engine power for economy; cruising comforts geared toward a couple; and ease of construction, maintenance and fitting out.
"As you can see, I wanted a simple, practical boat right from the start," he says.
Hull shape: Kasten adapted the lines of the shoal-draft Cape Hatteras sharpie, a narrow, flat-bottomed fishing sailboat type. "I felt that narrowness of beam would be a virtue in Moxie, for slithering through narrow waterways," he says. "It would also make the boat easy to power."
"It's also a shape that's friendly to build in plywood, aluminum or steel. That's another sharpie advantage," he says.
Interior space: The narrow hull left interior space at a premium. To get the needed room for his couple's cruiser, Kasten went back to a Pacific Northwest icon from the 1920s, the Lake Union Dream Boat. It was a style of powerboat, 35 to 50 feet, around Puget Sound, with a long flush foredeck, the wheelhouse mounted aft of amidships, and a large aft deck, he says. The 80-year-old flush-deck concept was made for Moxie. With the deck extending across the width of the boat, a lot of room is added to the interior. Kasten says, "With the raised fore deck, there's enough room to swing a cat in Moxie's Saloon!"
Interior layout: Kasten, who built and cruised his own 34-foot steel schooner, gave Moxie a traditional sailboat interior: a double berth forward behind a bulkhead with a keyhole opening. The saloon and galley are combined in one central cabin, and the head is aft, near the centerline companionway. The saloon has settees on either side of a fold-down table, he says. With the galley divided port and starboard, the main cabin becomes a large socializing area. And yet the galley is kept amidships, away from the main traffic area at the foot of the companionway.
Deck: The Dream Boats' aft deck is re-created on Moxie to form what Kasten calls a 'party deck.' It's big enough for a central table and chairs, either built-in or free-standing, and could be closed in by screens or vinyl, depending on climate. The pilothouse offers a protected helm station and additional seating. What's special on Moxie is the foredeck, says Kasten. Because it extends across the whole beam of the boat, the foredeck is immense, he says. So it becomes a great area to sunbathe or hang out. And you can set up davits and chocks, and store your dinghy there.
Moxie's Original Sketch / Design Study
Performance: Moxie's sharpie-influenced hull is designed to function as a semi-displacement type, says Kasten. The inboard-powered vessel will exceed trawler-like speeds with minimum power.
The ideal engine would be about 75 hp or so, says Kasten. Thus powered, Moxie would cruise at 10 knots using a minimum of fuel. Designer's estimates list the boat's range at 2,500 nautical miles with a 450 gallon fuel load.
Kasten did the hull modeling and hydrostatic analysis by computer. His renderings for the design are quite detailed. "I've investigated this design thoroughly, and I have to say... Oh yeah, this is pretty darn cool," he says. "The next step is to build one of these critters and start cruising...!"
"Really, I haven't invented anything new here," says Kasten. "The sharpie contributed the hull shape, and the traditional Lake Union Dream Boats of Puget Sound contributed the accommodations and cabin plan. It's been a fortuitous collision of ideas in order to create something easy to build, slippery and easy to propel, and that is suited to living aboard."
Kasten says, "I can see myself in this boat…"
Moxie's Final ProfileOther Moxie Links:
36' Molly | 43' Moxie | 49' Quinn | 50' Renegade | 60' Peregrine
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Above Article Originally Written by Steve Knauth of Soundings Magazine
Numerous Corrections and Revisions by Michael Kasten
© 2002 - 2011 Soundings & Michael Kasten
Please see the AVAILABLE BOAT PLANS web page.
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