Ever since Robert Beebe published his transformational work Voyaging Under Power, boaters who are interested in a long-distance explorer yacht have followed a similar path. The consensus has been that the best boats for long-distance power cruising were heavy, displacement-speed monohulls.
Stephen Weatherley, the founder of Archipelago Yachts, has different ideas.
Two years ago, he began a search for a 45- to 60-foot explorer yacht with long range, good seakeeping characteristics and speeds in the upper teens to mid-20 knots. It was a combination of features, he came to realize, that virtually no current boat fully embodied. There were plenty of durable, high-speed boats capable of handling adverse conditions,
