Toby Hodges takes a first look at the new Oceanbel 128 explorer, an entirely recyclable 128ft two-master from man who set up Nautor's Swan

The man behind this new Finnish brand set up Nautor’s Swan in the 1960s and then built 41m luxury monohulls in Thailand as Concorde Marine. Now Pekka Koskenkylä has teamed up with his nephew Sami for another roll of the dice, and the result is an entirely recyclable 128ft two-master, the Oceanbel 128 explorer, which can be sailed singlehanded.

The Oceanbel 128 explorer sports a curious rig, which sets two large roller-furled jibs, but no mainsails – the aft boom is just for supporting an awning.

She has a lot of weight in the bilges, as well as a deep swinging ‘keelboard’, which also serves to dampen rolling. Koskenkylä argues that the keel design will give access to shallow waters and allow for cheap slippage when the boat needs to come out the water.

Twin decks offer cabins for up to 12 guests, as well as a raised saloon with wraparound windows and a dining area aft. Outside space is on a raised aft deck, which gives the boat a bulky motoryacht-like aspect.

She has twin electric propulsion with six hours’ range, supplemented with 30kW of solar panels, hefty regeneration potential and two big diesel gensets. She is described as a solar assisted plug-in hybrid electric vessel.

Oceanbel 128 explorer specifications

LOA: 39.00m / 128ft 0in
Beam: 10.00m / 32ft 10in
Draught: 2.00m-7.00m / 6ft 7in-23ft 0in
Displacement: 200 tonnes
Builder: oceanbel.fi


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