Marmalade of Manchester

Written by Carlos Serra. Photos: Dick-Holthuis -Translation: Marco Benevento.Issue Nº 44

On board

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NORDIA 70 Performance ; A praise for prudence

Between the heavy cruiser and an austere racer there is a wide range of territories from where to choose materials, equipment and constructive rigour. It all depends on how much is the owner ready to tolerate and to risk. The path chosen by Nordia prioritises safety and the ease of conservation, but they achieve a stimulating sailboat.

Whoever that might be up to date with what is happening with the design and the construction methods of nowadays yachts might well know that there is a conflict between speed and solidity, normally solved with sophisticated materials such as carbon and resorting to the simplification of the systems. This is not the way chosen by Nordia and the Van Dam shipyard for the performance range that the 70 footer Marmalade of Manchester inaugurates. The Dutch shipyard has based its credit for the reliability, solidity and endurance of all the cruises that have come from their slips, and if there is something that they can do very well it is to build boats with guarantees and to foresee from the beginning to the number of accessories and the systems that the boat will need, reserving the space and the weight that they represent. Therefore, the approach to speed, had to contain a dose of realism and prudence that is very different from what can be seen nowadays on the yachts that set the trend.
The construction material, of course, had to be the aluminium and substantial plate thickness had to be used, granting rigidity, eliminating vibrations and that would not show notches nor fold with time and heat. Combined with that and a complete isolation, the interior could use lightening tricks that the industry knows: thin bulkheads were considered, that despite being made soundproof with foam save a great amount of weight, and in many pieces of furniture a honeycomb core was used. With those pieces, according to the shipyard, a 15% of the total weight of the carpentry was saved.
On deck the coating was also lightened, eliminating a plywood layer in favour of the filler as a support for the teak strips, and modern pieces of tackle, that therefore are lighter, were used. Along with the carbon mast, that is able by itself to reduce a good amount of kilos both in its height as in the bilges in the shape of ballast , Nordia’s recipee is quite tasty to bring out some extra knots of speed. Something that, on our sea trial outside of the port of Barcelona, we could fully verify.

Power at the rudder

The profile of the yacht, voluminous and certainly eye catching for its metallic copper colour, already announces a powerful vocation for good performance and strong sensations on the water. The hull designed by Robert Van Dam and his team has the actual fluid dynamics characteristics but it maintains, as we have mentioned before, the strong desire of the make for quality such as a rudder with skeg, that supports on a bearing the weight of the rudder blade, or a keel made in aluminium into which the lead of the ballast has been introduced. Underwater it only has two openings, that communicate with the sea water inlets and the drains, which improves even more its hydrodynamic performance.
With a breeze of slightly more than 15 knots and a sea that was building up but that was no hindrance for the bow and the displacement of the Nordia, we were able to appreciate what seems an excellent combination between comfort and speed: stimulating sensations at the rudder, both from leeward as on the windward side, power for the manoeuvre trimming arranged between the binnacles and the guests cockpit, and above all an unquestionable comfort on that last area, completely free from any danger and arranged to maximise the enjoyment of the passage.
As the wind built up, the sensation of power increased, with excellent figures on the log, but the sensation of safety transmitted by the whole remained or was even more obvious. The solidity of the construction created a sensation that either on deck as in the cockpit one could feel as if sailing on an indestructible rock - a rock, we must clarify, of a gentleness and a touch that would more likely be identified with a diamond than with granite.
The excellent disposition of the already described manoeuvre was added to the complex and effective lines of the deck house, that were able to give protection and to raise the ceiling of an inner saloon that we had to access next.
The fore deck and the lazarette provided excellent relaxation spaces that, during the summer with less windy days, would have been indispensable on a category yacht.

Saloon over the engine room

The designer team did not consider accepting any compromise as far as comfort or systems, which lead to locate in the centre an engine room with perfect soundproofing where pipes, valves and tanks are placed and within reach as if on a motor yacht, an unusual but comforting vision on a sailboat that is not even 22 meters. No floor pane nor a closet has to be lifted, nor there is a piece of equipment that covers another or needs to be disassembled to access the many systems included in it.
To keep for the technique that large volume located amidships was only possible if the saloon was positioned above it, in the shape of a deck house with large windows, and that was arranged so. The atmosphere accessed through a large companionway with sliding doors is luminous, comfortable and above all luxurious, but at the same time very practical. On the starboard side there is a dinning room corner where a stool sofa and some revolving chairs make the most of the available space, whereas on port there is a sofa and an ample navigation and control console. It has enough controls to allow steering the boat from it, turning that room into the operating bridge, but it plays with the possibility of turning it into another piece of furniture when making it disappear, raising the console with these instruments by means of a lifting mechanism.
The amplitude obtained in that space, that necessarily suffers by the loss of width that a raised deck house implies, is impressive just as the good layout of the furniture and the cabinetry. The natural light and the ease way through form an alliance to turn the space much more profitable, and the result is excellent on a sailboat of the size of Marmalade, we would almost say that is equivalent to a raised deck house obtained on a five or six meters larger sailboat.

More accommodation inside of the hull

The second level of accommodation, already inside the hull, contains a second saloon that consists of two armchairs and a table that creates an atmosphere of additional privacy, sufficiently separated from the space that acts as a lobby, but in perfect communication with the cabins and the yacht’s galley. In front of it a double cabin, with a large bed, and towards the bow there are other two guest cabins one them with a large double bed and the other one with two superposed bunks. The bathroom of the first cabin has an independent door and at times it is used as courtesy toilet.
The galley unfolds in the shape of a corridor towards the stern and, and as it has the access to the engine room, its counter extends in L shape providing all the imaginable services, including a complete fridge and a large freezer. The granite counters, the work top, the cupboards for the glassware and the crockery or the stowage spaces for the provisions find their place there without hindrances, and there is even space for a washing machine and a dishwasher.
The end of that corridor-galley opens up to the stern cabin, a full beam noble stateroom where two pillars that support the deck frame a large double bed. The cabin is well centred on the boat to guarantee the comfort in any type of movement of the sailboat, and has in its sides enough closets and auxiliary furniture to be described as a luxury bedroom. Among its exclusive touches stands out a screen that is hidden behind the mirror, that is only visible when the television is turned on. In addition, its bathroom is large and is equipped with the best facilities, with separated shower by a specially large glass screen.

Magnificent execution

The cabinetry work in all those cabins produces a splendid effect, in a combination of maple and walnut that by all means can be replaced to the owner’s taste on a future unit. But the quality of that work, to a level that is repeated on all the details, from the upholsteries to the handles, is only the visible tip of the work done by Van Dam. In our opinion some of the invisible elements are more important, but of great importance for the use of a yacht, such as the insulation sewn all over the inside of the hull, the integral tanks covered with epoxy paint for the grey and black waters, the inlet pedestals and the drains mentioned above and equipped with their corresponding safety valves in all their connections, or the fuel system equipped with a day tank and a double transfer pump.
Both the engine and the generator have their own water separator for a more silent running. The propulsion is ensured by a variable pitch propeller that, on its port manoeuvre position, maintains an engine regime that is enough to power the hydraulic bow thurster and allows to play with the main propeller pitch to give the most subtle forward or backward thrust. That same propeller has an under sail navigation position, with the blades aligned to have the minimum drag, and another conventional position where the skipper can graduate the regime of the engine and the propeller pitch as he pleases. The bilge pump has a good flow capacity and has intakes all through the boat and a properly signalised set of valves.
Anodes inlaid on the hull, anodised chainplates, on deck scuppers, shore power transformer with separated bodies that eliminate galvanic risks, automatic furler for the shore power cable, 15 millimetres thickness teak deck, made to measure stanchions in special diameters, pulpit and pushpit and other many details turn this yacht into an exceptional unit.
Van Dam explained that its manufacturing had kept the shipyard, after the reception of the aluminium hull and the superstructure, exactly ten months. Last October, when we had the pleasure of sailing her, a second unit whose launching is foreseen for May of 2009 was being completed. After that the shipyard had to work on an 82 footer schooner, to then continue with the Nordia Performance concept with a 120 footer sailboat whose project is almost complete. <<

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Comments  

 

0 #2 Derk Jan 2010-09-06 14:37

A pocketsize superyacht,

built to the highest Dutch standard

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0 #1 Randf 2010-07-31 22:42

hello World!!

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