SPECIFICATIONS
MAKE Nordship
MODEL 420 DS
PRICE FROM €646,318 (approx. £566,325 inc VAT)
DESIGNER Lars Buchwald/Arne Borghegn
BUILDER Nordship Yachts
Boats like the Nordship 420 DS are rare. On paper, centre cockpit, deck saloon yachts, with full-beam aft cabins have everything; a vast full-beam owner’s aft cabin that can be ensuite, a raised saloon with 360º views out, and a well-protected centre cockpit. On top of that, you get everything else you expect to find on a 40-45ft yacht (second heads, large galley and a vee berth forwards). So why aren’t there more on the water?
OK, they are not cheap. You can find many aft cockpit deck saloon yachts lacking a full-beam aft cabin, and centre cockpit yachts with full-beam aft cabins but no deck saloon. By combining all three features in its range of cruisers over 38ft (it does make the 360 DS but the aft cabin is not full beam), Nordship creates an enigma that few others offer.
Hull Number 1 from any builder is often a work in progress, but after four hours poking around the 420 DS, the only issues I could find were (spoiler alert) a few upper corners in cupboards that hadn’t received the grey flow coat, a few odd placements of lights, and a spring strut in the engine compartment that was desperate to detach itself. Hull Number 2 was in
