ICE QUEEN

What makes a motor boat an explorer yacht? Well, for most boat builders, it’s no more than a stylistic exercise, a gentle reimagining of their otherwise conventional powerboats, courtesy of upright pilothouse windows, a plumb bow, and maybe a few overly sturdy cleats that look like they’ve been appropriated from a posh workboat. Nothing wrong with that of course; who amongst us hasn’t narrowed down our choice of car or boat or house based on looks alone, long before we properly delve into its functionality?

There is a different breed of explorer, though, the type of vessel engineered in such a way that nudging through ice floes would not give you sleepless nights, and designed so that heading off across the Atlantic will not have you suffering from the electric car driver’s ever-present paranoia – range anxiety. A boat where function is the underlying driving force behind the design, albeit that its looks may be alluring anyway. This type of explorer is a rare beast indeed.

Arksen’s new 85 fits resolutely into this category. So why didn’t it turn out like a burly Nordhavn? Or an elegant Fleming? For those of you who believe that’s its closest philosophical companions are the FPBs (Functional Power Boats) that Steve Dashew designed and immortalised, you would be right. But you would be wrong to also assume that these two serious explorer yachts are like peas in a pod – under their alloy skins they are quite different, most notably in the technical department. So exactly how did the