31 July 2017

Promising to be “a true blue water cruiser”, the Kraken 50 is expected to be launched in January 2018.

The Hong Kong based yacht firm commissioned award-winning New Zealand designer Kevin Dibley to produce the yacht, which offers as standard a range of safe and comfortable blue water cruising features.

It has a twin headsail rig which promises to adapt well to all weather conditions. Standard electric winches means it is also easily handled from the cockpit by a small crew.

For offshore safety and protection against UFOs (unidentified floating objects), the Kraken 50 incorporates a tough full-length skeg that is moulded as an integral part of the hull – something which is missing from many modern yachts.

Saloon of the new Kraken 50

The Kraken 50’s Zero Keel ™ (so called because it has zero keel bolts) is also an integral part of the hull with the lead ballast encapsulated in a long bulb.

Kraken Yachts says that it cannot become detached, unlike an iron keel bolted beneath a flat-bottomed hull.

The Kraken 50 has a deep, well-protected centre cockpit with high seatbacks for security. An internal raised navigation station also enables crew to stay warm and dry when on watch in bad weather.

The Kraken 50’s builder Xiamen Hansheng has been manufacturing award-winning yachts and motor cruisers since 1984 and is one of few yards to have ISO 9001 certification for quality control.

Continued below…

Pictures: the revolutionary design of the Jenneau Sun Odyssey 440

Philippe Briand and Jeanneau have announced their latest collaboration, the 44-foot Sun Odyssey 440. View the yacht inside and out!

Pictures: browse the first photos of the Hallberg-Rassy 340

Ahead of its world premiere in August, Hallberg-Rassy has released photos of the new 340. You won't want to miss…

Bénéteau to build Figaro 3 in the former Jeanneau site of Nantes Cheviré

Following successful sea trials of the Figaro Bénéteau 3 off France’s Atlantic coast, the French boat builder has announced that…

Kraken chairman and founder Dick Beaumont has over 100,000 miles under his keel and sums up the Kraken ethos saying: “There is no such thing as ‘one yacht for all purposes’… You cannot have the best of all worlds, whatever the salesman tells you.”

“When purchasing a new yacht, you should look at the build and design and how the yacht will perform in heavy weather, how comfortable its motion is and how easily it can be controlled. Why risk sailing across oceans in a yacht that is only suitable for recreational shoreline sailing or racing – rather than for true blue water cruising?” he adds.

The first Kraken 50 will be launched in January 2018.

Meanwhile its large sister – the Kraken 66 White Dragon – has already reached Madagascar on its maiden blue water cruise.

31 March 2017

Production has now started on the first Kraken 50.

This is the second model from the Hong Kong-based Kraken Yachts, which launched the Kraken 66 in December 2016.

Designed by Dibley Marine Yacht Design in New Zealand, Kraken yachts are marketed as “true blue water cruisers” and the Kraken 50 is no exception.

It is promising an easily handled twin headsail rig to give outstanding upwind and downwind performance for a small crew in all weathers.

The Kraken 50 is fitted with the firm’s integral Zero Keel – so called because zero bolts are needed to hold it in place – to give comfort, stability and safety at sea.

The lead ballast is inside the keel bulb and the hull, keel and rudder skeg are just one piece.

As a result, this design, according to Kraken, has eliminated any possibility of the keel falling off the hull.

The very first Kraken 66 – White Dragon – which has just cruised 2,000nm from Hong Kong to the Philippines and back

“It has long been accepted that a blue water cruiser needs a long keel rather than a short one to gain good directional stability,” explained Kraken chairman, Dick Beaumont.

“All Kraken yachts are designed this way. But we do not believe that the keel should be bolted onto the hull. Because it can (and too often does) come off,” he stated.

11 Most anticipated launches of 2017

This low centre of gravity bulbed Zero Keel™ is a unique feature on all of its yachts. Older integral keel designs did not incorporate bulbs.

Kraken believes the Zero Keel is “even more valuable now that the world’s oceans are becoming littered with hazardous floating objects”.

It is estimated that 10,000 shipping containers fall in the sea every year, many of which remain afloat for a long time.

“The Kraken 50’s Zero Keel and robust skeg-supported rudder greatly reduce the risk of severe damage to the integrity of the hull and rudder if severe impact occurs…and the integral keel cannot fall off,” stated Kraken in a media release.

The Kraken 50 is due to be launched at the end of 2017.