Kadey-Krogan Vs Nordhavn

[M. Shul]

Good Morning all, I have owned and cruised in the Carribean a Grand Banks 42 for years and fortunately sold it just before our most significant hurricane. I am looking to get back into the boating world and am looking for a true displacement hull vessel, with a smoother chine and less flotation in the stern for better handling while going downhill.


I have been looking for a while and I have been looking at a Nordhavn 50 and a Kadey Krogran 48 North Sea.



I would be very interested in hearing (reading really) on the worlds comments,


Thanks

 

[SailorGreg]

Good Morning all, I have owned and cruised in the Carribean a Grand Banks 42 for years and fortunately sold it just before our most significant hurricane. I am looking to get back into the boating world and am looking for a true displacement hull vessel, with a smoother chine and less flotation in the stern for better handling while going downhill.


I have been looking for a while and I have been looking at a Nordhavn 50 and a Kadey Krogran 48 North Sea.



I would be very interested in hearing (reading really) on the worlds comments,


Thanks

If you know this much about hull design trades then I suspect you already know the answer to your question. A quick look at the underside of both boats will display the designer’s approach to these trade-offs
Smooth chines and a rounded stern quarter will provide a more tractable ride while running with the seas. But at the same time, that hull design will squat more when approaching hull speed than one with flattened buttocks, flared quarter or dropped transom. And it will be more tender at anchor in a swell; less initial stability.
There may not be too many members who have driven both boats, so an apples to apples comparison might be hard to find. As a Krogen owner ( (K52) I can attest that she does well in following seas. Better from the quarter than directly from behind. Most we have experienced is 10’ at 8 seconds or so from the quarter. Ride was smooth and stable, stabilizers were not working that hard and autopilot had no problem steering.
That said, we have flopper stoppers that we use quite a bit at anchor.
There are a number of N50 owners on TF, so they will have their own experiences to relate. For what it’s worth, the N50 was on our short list, way back when, and I am sure it is a fine boat. Just different.

 

[danderer]

We looked extensively at both the N47 and N55. Neither was appropriate for us. We really liked the KK48 due to the hull design, layout, relative proportion of interior/exterior space, etc.

We love how the hull design works - feels more to us like a full-keel sailboat going through the water. Very comfortable in quartering seas.

During our search we were made aware of the N50 as a possibility. From what we could see that might have been a strong contender for us - we much preferred it to the 47/55. We never actually saw an N50 because they were/are somewhat rare. (I think they built less than 30 of them.). That would have also made our desired configuration very hard to find - a 2-cabin, widebody with a flybridge.

Based solely on word-of-mouth, our concerns with the N50 would have been the air draft and the hull form (did I mention we really like the ride on the KK?)

But those concerns are unique to us. We still think - never having been on one - that an N50 would have been a choice we could have lived with.