The Van de Stadt 77 continues a tradition of handsome offshore cruising yachts by applying advanced technology and new thinking to improve performance, safety and comfort, including an optional fractionally rigged mast and bulbous keel that combine to assure stability, reduce motion, ease handling, enhance top-end speed and promote safety.

Van de Stadt's designs are based on the well-established premise that speed and safety go hand-in-hand: a fast yacht should be able to outrun heavy weather or, more important, if caught in a blow it should be controllable at speed in a seaway and not be forced to heave-to. Van de Stadt, therefore, gave the Van de Stadt 77 an easily driven, stable hullform, with moderate sheer, short but graceful overhangs, a long useful waterline and a generous waterline beam. This shaping provides good speed potential, excellent form stability and valuable load-carrying capacity. In fact, the Van de Stadt 77 hull will carry a payload up to 20 percent of its design displacement with little effect on performance, an important factor for bluewater sailing families who inevitable accumulate too many kilos of gear, spares, gadgets, stores and "toys".

Above the sheerline, Van de Stadt sculpted a low, functional superstructure to give the Van de Stadt 77 a graceful profile, adding a short pilothouse with settees and table that can serve as an intimate entertainment area, breakfast nook or for the off-watch to enjoy the view. Underwater, the Van de Stadt 77 has an easily rounded forefoot and full U-shaped forward sections for good buoyancy. The canoe body's maximum draft of 1,20 meters is well forward, just abaft the mast step, and the deep bilge area it creates is ideal for a midships engine room where the machinery, mounted above the keel, supplements the ballast and concentrates weight amidships where it belongs. The hull shape then gives rise to a long, flat run to ease quarterwave generation; the powerful after sections prevent "squat" at high speeds, stabilise offwind balance in a strong breeze and create sufficient volume for a spacious owner's stateroom set well away from engine noise.

The Van de Stadt 77's long, shoal keel (3,00 meter draft) has a swept-back leading area and vertical trailing edge to minimise disturbed flow to the balanced rudder, which is hung on a partial skeg for strength and protection. The ballasted bulbous keel lowers the hull's center of gravity.

To further ease handling, the Van de Stadt 77’s fractional (7/8) rig carries a high-aspect, full-battened (174 sq.m.) mainsail, with a full roach to add driving force. And the large foretriangle requires no overlapping headsails, making sail handling easier (though a masthead reacher or spinnaker can be set for light air). The mainsail is raised by a hydraulic halyard winch, furled on a boom with lazy jacks and trimmed by hydraulic mainsheet and traveller winches. The genoa and staysail are furled on Reckmann hydraulic roller-furling units, and trimmed by hydraulic primaries. As all these Lewmar winches are self-tailing, the efforts of setting, trimming and furling all sail are easy, routine tasks for a typically short-handed family crew. (All hydraulics, including a bow thruster, are powered by Lewmar Commander 5 power packs.)

The sailplan also calls for chainplates set outboard at the rail to simplify underdeck construction, save weight in the scantlings and permit clear passage on deck. Outboard shrouds also significantly ease normal rig compression, adding a margin of safety to the buckling load on the mast. With this hullform, rig and sailplan, Van de Stadt's velocity predictions give the boat an optimum design speed to windward of 9 knots with a top speed of 13 knots in smooth water. With a moderately Displacement/Length ratio enabling the Van de Stadt 77 to readily reach and maintain its hull speed, and a healthy Sail Area/Displacement ratio that enables it to accelerate well in moderate winds, you have a cruiser that promises fine all-around performance.

As with all Van de Stadt designs, the Van de Stadt 77 hull, deck and superstructure should be build of high-quality aluminium alloy to Lloyd's rules. Fuel, water and sump tanks are integral to the hull, and a collision bulkhead forward and a watertight bulkhead aft (forward of the lazarette) are standard safety features. Hull interiors are insulated against condensation and noise; main deck, cockpit sole and seats are covered with 10 mm marine plywood and finished with 15 mm teak decking, which enhance appearance and further absorb noise.

On deck, the Van de Stadt 77 is equipped with numerous hatches, cowl vents and opening ports for maximum air and natural light below. As befits a cruiser designed for serious offshore sailing, the Van de Stadt 77 has twin cockpit steering wheels with "armchair" helm seats adjustable to any heel angle to give the helmsman a comfortable, full view of the rig and seaway on all points of sail and in all conditions. A hydraulic steering station is located in the snug pilothouse, which can be closed off in inclement weather or opened to create a semi-protected lounging area for the enjoyment of life at sea or in harbour. All steering positions have duplicate autopilot, engine and thruster controls and performance instruments.

Belowdecks, the Van de Stadt 77 is a wonderland of fine, stylish joinery, detail and innovation. Coming below from the pilothouse, one enters the saloon to find an eight-seat dining area to port and a cosy lounge corner to starboard, each with a central table. The settee clusters on both sides have been carefully angled to the centerline to open the space, encourage conversation and permit unimpeded traffic flow through the center of the boat.

The galley (with two sinks, four-burner ceramic cooker, microwave/hot-air oven, dishwasher, two fridges, freezer, icemaker and more) is abaft the dining area, two steps down. It is a convenient L-shaped work area, small enough to safely enclose the cook in the motion of a seaway, but open to the saloon for good line-of-sight communication while at anchor. Opposite the galley is an efficient forward-facing navigator's station, with blackleather instrument panel awaiting a client's choice of navigation gear and radios. Forward of the mast and saloon there are two large double-berthed guest cabins, each with ensuite head and enclosed cylindrical shower stall. Further forward, toward the forepeak and chain locker, are crew quarters, with toilet and separate access through a deck hatch that also serves a general emergency escape route.

Abaft the saloon to starboard is a walkway with access to a utility room under the pilothouse that contains air-conditioning, pumps, watermaker and other peripheral machinery. (From the utility room there is access to the engine room where a 171 kW (230 hp) MTU 8V-183 AA61 diesel, 25 kW generator, dive compressor and pressurised hot-water system are soft-mounted and thoroughly sound-insulated from the living space above.) The walkway continues aft past the main electrics panel to a spare cabin (with upper/lower pilot berths and day toilet) situated where hull motion is appropriately low for crew use during offshore passages.

Further aft is the owner's private suite, a luxurious space with king-size double berth, plush seating, vanity and bath all surrounded by warm, satin-varnished teak, foamlined overheads covered with Alcantara and the reassuring pattern of teak-and-holly soles, which extend throughout to tie the decor together. In the Van de Stadt 77, bulkheads, furniture and cabinetry are constructed of first quality marine-grade plywood with teak veneers carefully selected for grain match and quality. Bathrooms are appointed with Granite counters and plumbing fixtures, cabinetry fittings and decorative elements are of first grade quality.

At the after end of the owner's stateroom is another unique Van de Stadt idea. A bulkhead, curving vertically above the berth's pillows, cleverly disguises the forward end of a large stern garage where a fully inflated 12-foot dinghy with outboard can be stored, ready for quick deployment through the hydraulic transom door (which also serves as a swim platform). Adjoining the garage, in its own watertight compartment, is the emergency raft, spring-loaded for safe and rapid launching, a clean solution to an age-old sailing dilemma.

The Van de Stadt goal in drawing the Van de Stadt 77, was to create a world cruiser that is fast, safe, stable, comfortable and lovely to look at. That of course, is every designer's goal and every builder's desire. But few design offices have achieved those results with such consistency as E.G. van de Stadt & Partners. And few builders have realised so many fine designs with such care.

All sailors have a deep respect for the power of the sea and must have confidence in the "little ships" they sail upon it. The new Van de Stadt 77 is the sort of yacht you can take offshore with such confidence. It will welcome anything the sea hands out.

The images show a Van de Stadt 77 under construction at Bos & Carr Boatbuilders / Kelly Archer Boatbuilder supervised by Mr. Graeme Henry.