In this installment of “A Boat Owner’s Insights,” we speak with the owner of a 1987 Luengen 43 Ketch.
This A Boat Owner’s Insights – Luengen 43 Offshore Pilothouse Ketch is listed for sale on our Waterline Boats / Boatshed Seattle website (direct link below).
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The sailing vessel, Luengen 43 Offshore Ketch is truly the stuff of a boat builder’s dreams. Designed by a professional Naval Architect for personal use adventuring with his family, the result is a 43 Offshore Ketch that’s a model for attention to detail and style.
We had a chance to catch up with Stephen Luengen, the designer and, in large part, builder, to hear about the vessel and its story. Read on to learn the amazing story of the Luengen 43, a boat built from a deep love and appreciation for the seas and sailing.
The Luengen 43 Offshore Ketch: From Inspiration to Action
“People build boats for many different reasons,” starts Stephen, going on to explain, “I could never settle for owning someone else’s design.”
That’s easy to understand once you learn about Stephen’s background. Initially inspired to take up sailing by Joshua Slocum’s book, “Sailing Around the World Alone,” Stephen began lessons in the 1960’s and would visit marinas just to admire the boats. “In short,” Stephen says, “I caught the fever.”
In spare time outside his then job on the Apollo Moon Project as a software engineer, Stephen continued to grow his collection of marine literature. His thoughts eventually turned to how he could include boats in his career. With a little research he discovered that his alma mater, University of California at Berkeley, had a graduate program in Naval Architecture, and so back to school he went.
Upon graduation, Stephen worked for Britt Chance Jr, a Naval Architecture firm in Oyster Bay, New York. The firm was well known for fast custom racing boats, including an impressive 12 America’s Cup entries. That job led to another back on the west coast with Gary Mull Naval Architects, where he worked through the 1970’s.
With Stephen’s knowledge and passion for boats, the idea of building a boat of his own began to percolate. “Designers live in a world of paper and pencil, now computers and printouts,” says Stephen, “they can be totally unaware of critical distances and measurements required for hardware, until they get a call from the builder. I reasoned having to build and install all the complex gear would make me a better designer, and it did.”
And so was born the idea of creating the Luengen 43 from his very own design.
The Boat Concept and Design
“The design concepts were to have a classic style, flush deck with small doghouse for cockpit protection, accommodations for my family in three separate staterooms,” explains Stephen of his vessel, “I needed a bonafide chart table, a cockpit big enough to seat 6 comfortably, and I wanted the boat to be as small as possible.”
Stephen also knew he wanted to create enough storage space to make cruising realistic and comfortable. Many people shopping for boats fail to take into account the importance of storage space, Stephen explains. He goes on, “I was at a boat show one year and went aboard a boat of similar size to my own. I was stunned to see how much space the boat had. I had to study the layout for some time before I realized the answer; there was no stowage. No lockers, no drawers, maybe a few open bins under berths. Eight people could sleep here, but where would their gear be stowed?”
With these requirements in mind, the Luengen came together as a 43’ Offshore Ketch. Advantages of a Ketch, according to the American Sailing Association, are an ability to carry a good, but manageable, amount of sail on a reasonably sized hull, giving many options to react to weather and other situations while requiring limited crew. Ketches are also known for riding well in heavy winds. In short, a ketch is a great option for a shorthanded crew, or liveaboards.
To build the boat, Stephen lent his free time outside work and family to the project, in addition to hiring skilled professional craftsman for tasks like fiberglass and joiner work.
Being a vessel designed by an experienced sailor and a Naval Architect, the Luengen 43 stands out in multiple ways. Special features include:
• A layout that allows access forward and to the deck from every cabin, so shipmates won’t disturb one another as they move about the vessel.
• An interior wall in the captain’s quarters that can be folded against the bulkhead to open up the entire middle of the boat. This creates a spacious feeling and allows many more people to fit comfortably below. “I would often spend nights at anchor in the upper berth [of the captain’s cabin]”, says Stephen, “so I could look out the port and verify all was well.”
• Custom triangular doors that hinge on one side to create storage space against the narrowing hull.
• A canvas enclosure over the cockpit for comfortable cruising in inclement weather.
• A deck structure of cored fiberglass structure with a layer of teak covering to bring out the look of a traditional boat.
• A bronze Baby Blake marine toilet.
• Ingeniously taking advantage of every opportunity to create storage space, thereby creating ample stowage while maintaining a clean layout.
All this comes together to create a sailing vessel ready to take her crew on adventure in safety and comfort.
“So where have I been with this boat?”
Ask Stephen where he’s cruised with the Offshore Ketch and be ready for practically a geography lesson of West Coast destinations, from Desolation Sound, Canada to Mazatlán, Mexico. The list of destinations is both impressive and enviable.
Stephen lists with ease, “The countless peaceful anchorages like Laura’s Cove, Squirrel Cove, Grace Harbor, Princess Louisa Inlet with Chatterbox Falls, Pender Harbor, Garrison Bay, Spencer Spit, Sucia and Stuart Island,” as, “just some of the places we enjoyed.”
“The [Puget] sound has great, easy cruising with wonderful places to explore,” says Stephen, but he and his family didn’t leave it just at that. On a grand voyage to Mexico they explored outside the relative shelter of the Puget Sound and headed south, stopping for days or weeks at various bays and ports as they made their way.
It wasn’t all fair winds and following seas during this big trip, however. Yet the Luengen 43 performed perfectly in even the worse of conditions. One particularly harrowing experience was during heavy seas off of northern Oregon. As the barometer fell, Stephen recalls, “The wind, off our starboard quarter, continued to increase into the night and the next day. We were regularly doing 11-13 knots with a peak of 14, all with just the 130 jib up. The power of nature was awesome. I would look behind in the pitch-black night and sea high waves that I thought surely must break over the stern and give us a drenching, but somehow Guiding Light just lifted her quarter and the wave would gently roll by.”
“We made great memories with the Luengen Offshore Ketch, and hope her new owners will do the same.”
After the many months long expedition exploring the West Coast, from visiting tiny, welcoming ports like Puerto Magdalena in Mexico to spending time catching up with old friends in the big city of San Francisco, the Luengen 43 finally returned home to the Northwest in 2011.
“We have since returned to many of our favorite ports and anchorages, but we are getting older and it is time for us to move on from boating,” says Stephen, “we made great memories with the Luengen Offshore Ketch, and hope her new owners will do the same.”
The Luengen 43 Offshore Pilothouse Ketch is an exceptionally designed vessel, proven well capable. She now stands ready for new owners to sail her on to new adventures.
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The beautiful Luengen 43 Offshore Pilothouse Ketch featured here is at our Waterline Boats / Boatshed display docks in Seattle. For complete listing details on this liveaboard cruiser, including over 122 large format photos as well as video and 360 Virtual Tours, please view our Boatshed presentation: Luengen 43 Offshore Pilothouse Ketch Call and make an appointment to view in person! 206-282-0110
Our “A Boat Owner’s Insights” series serves to share useful and noteworthy information about the boats we currently have for sale, as relayed by their owners. This is a unique opportunity to learn intimate details and stories about the boats in our inventory from the owners themselves, and is another method by which Waterline Boats / Boatshed makes the process of buying a boat a more informative and enjoyable one. Waterline Boats – Boats For Sale Inventory
