Krogen 60 Open goes Big, so you don’t have to go Home
Kadey Krogen Wins
The Kadey Krogen 60 Open won Best New Powerboat Over 45-feet in Newport this year. We previously reviewed this quality cruiser which has been traversing the Eastern seaboard with her new owners since we got on board this spring.
The New for Newport judges agreed with our “Go big so you don’t have to go home” assessment. They commented, “From the minute we got on the boat, we were ready to move in. This full and airy ship would be an easy transition from land living to liveaboard life, with unmatched space for comfort. It brings the open layout of their 50 to a new height. Its unprecedented available space transitions from the living areas, through the galley and even into the engine room. This is the ultimate liveaboard, capable of relocating anywhere with a several-thousand-mile range. This vessel oozed confidence in every aspect, showcasing its ability to take on any adventure an owner could want.”
The Krogen 60 open is the new flagship of the Krogen lineup, and while I know it is cliché, when it comes to boats, size does sometimes matter. A popular saying is that offshore, you want the biggest boat possible, and when approaching the dock, you want the smallest boat. Since resizable boats are still over the technological horizon, the key is finding a boat that is manageable at the dock but also provides the seakeeping capabilities needed for long passagemaking, and of course, the comforts of home. The Krogen 60 delivers all this in a big way, where the size of the boat and the large spaces she provides create bigger and better cruising opportunities, but in a boat that is still manageable by a couple.
Tucker West is the President and CEO of Kadey-Krogen Group, which builds both Krogen trawlers and their new line of Summit motoryachts. I have known him for many years, and at 6’4”, he’s a big man with big ideas. The Krogen 60 Open has the big spaces I know he appreciates and was the driving force behind. I toured the boat at the Palm Beach International Boat show with a digital tape measure, as I often do, and the dimensions of the usable spaces were impressive. The headroom throughout the salon, pilothouse, and cabins is consistently 6’6”—perfect for a guy like West. The engine room has over eight feet of headroom as well as room to work around the twin John Deere® 4.5L 200 HP main engines and the Northern Lights 20kw genset, even with twin saddle tanks. There is so much overhead space in the engine room that Fran Morey, Krogen’s production manager, said he was considering adding or moving some equipment further up along the walls to provide better accessibility.
All through the cabins, the home-like spaces are large and comfortable, while abundant satin-finished American cherry provides a distinctly nautical feel. The joinery on all Kadey Krogen’s is exceptional and visible throughout the boat. Close inspection shows careful craftsmanship, precise fitting dovetail drawers with stainless steel slides, book matched cabinet door (some of which are solid cherry), and high-quality hardware throughout. The soles look like traditional teak and holly but are actually cherry and spruce to better match the interior.
Comforts of home
The layout of the main deck is perfect for cruising. A large, centrally located galley has all full-sized home-style appliances, including a propane-powered Wolf 30” range/oven, a deep stainless-steel sink, dishwasher, trash compactor, and a Subzero BI-30U/S fridge. The Silestone® quartz counter with fiddled edges connects the galley to the salon. There is a long L-shaped lounge with an expandable high-low table for dining and twin reclining chairs with ottomans. This setup allows for easy communication between the galley and salon and offers several serving options when entertaining. The salon has that home-like great room atmosphere for when you want to get out of the elements and connects both forward to the pilothouse and aft to the covered cockpit.
The teak decked cockpit is massive at 15’8”x 9’3” and offers 144.43 ft2 (13.41m2) of useable space. I picture a folding teak table and chairs for gathering or even some lounge chairs. This is also an excellent place to stage water toys like inflatable stand-up paddleboards, kayaks, snorkel, or SCUBA equipment, or even to hold electric bikes. There is a large lazarette below that is easily accessed by a hatch, so gear can be stowed below and then brought up when needed. The swim platform is only three steps down for waterplay and to board the dinghy.
I like the look of the fiberglass grid in the cockpit ceiling that houses stingers to strengthen the deck above, which can host a sizeable tender. The boat I was on had a 12’10″ Highfield SP390 with a 60 HP Yamaha outboard which was the owner’s choice. A Steelhead Marine ES-1500 crane davit for launching is standard. The cockpit headroom is an astounding 8’4” or more which gives you plenty of room to flip around oars and paddleboards or even rest them on an angle against the crossbeams above.
A wide covered side deck leads up to the watertight pilothouse door to starboard, but there is no side deck to port. Through the cabin, a single step adjacent to the galley leads up to the pilothouse. A convenient day head and another table that is ideal for lounging, dining, or sightseeing while underway are nice pilothouse features. The seating on this pilothouse table is long enough to create a watch berth for someone to sleep while off watch, but remain close to the on-watch helmsperson. I am a big fan of main-level day heads like the one in the pilothouse for many reasons, including convenient access from the helm and salon. When entertaining, guests on board don’t need to go down to the cabin level to use the head, especially if they are on the flybridge two levels up, and when swimming or sunning, you can duck into the pilothouse head via the side door without traipsing water and sand through the whole boat.
At the inside helm station, visibility is good forward with large windshields that are slightly inverted and thin enough mullions to see well even in the danger zone forward and to starboard. Twin adjustable helm seats are within easy reach of the large flat screen FURUNO MFDs and other controls, as well as the gorgeous cherry-clad wheel. A large cabinet with drawers provides ample room for paper charts and plotting, and there are other nooks and cabinets along the helm to stow and hold gear like binoculars. Both in the salon and here in the pilothouse, there is a sturdy handrail that runs along the ceiling, a really nice touch that will be helpful offshore in a seaway.
Performance
I wasn’t able to run the vessel, but performance numbers supplied by the manufacturer show with her twin 200 HP John Deere engines, she cruised at 1500 RPM and 8.6 knots with a 4 GPH burn rate for a calculated range of almost 3,500 nautical miles with a 10% reserve. Slowing to 6 knots, you have an ocean-crossing 5,000-mile-plus range, and if needed, she can break 10 knots, maybe even 11 on a good day. These are impressive numbers for a boat this size and will allow owners to go pretty much anywhere they want.
Hull Form and Construction
The Krogen 60 Open not only has the range to go but is designed and built to handle open ocean conditions. Kadey-Krogen’s unique proven hullform which their namesake James Krogen perfected in the 1970s is at the heart of what they call their Pure Full Displacement hull. Each vessel is created individually not simply stretched from a previous model because it is important to maintain the displacement-to-length ratios needed to ensure both the seakeeping and stability their boats are known for. They have a fine entry forward and end-to-end symmetry which winds up creating their signature “wineglass” transom. The design not only delivers a smooth seaworthy ride but allows for large interior volumes that can hold both the fuel and storage capacities, and the comfortable home-like interior spaces that are conducive to living aboard for long periods.
To maximize the benefit of their unique hullform they pay careful attention to weight distribution and build the boats to keep the center of gravity low. The hull below the waterline is solid fiberglass reinforced with aramid fiber and covered with vinylester resin to avoid blistering. There is a shallow keel filled with Lead ballast concentrated low in the hull which helps balance the boat without adding too much weight. Inside the hull a robust full length stringer system uses fiberglass and in key locations encapsulated mahogany girder inserts that provide stronger points of attachment for engines and equipment. Above the waterline on the hull and in the bulkheads, decks and superstructure closed cell foam (Corecell) cored construction is used with some areas being vacuum bagged for further weight reduction. The entire process including the use of high-tech materials in the hull like Twaron, which is similar to Kevlar but stronger, and Knytex® in the superstructure are designed to maximize strength while keeping weight in check. A well balanced but lighter weight boat not only runs better but is more efficient, which extends the cruising range.
Foredeck
Dutch doors open on either side of the pilothouse with a Portuguese bridge forward and a wing station for better sightlines while docking. The large foredeck hosts twin Maxwell VWC 4,000 windlasses, one hydraulic and one electric for redundancy. The hydraulic windlass is standard and comes with a chain wheel and 400’ 1/2” high test chain and a 121lbs. Rocna Vulcan anchor—even the anchor is big! There is also both a freshwater bib and saltwater washdown for the ground tackle but with the raised pedestal that the anchors deploy off of I wonder if mud will sometimes wind up on the foredeck. There is also a nice forward-facing bow seat, which makes for a quiet place to talk or read when on the hook.
Flybridge
To port a walkway leads aft to stairs that go up to the flybridge, which, like pretty much everything else on this boat, is large and inviting. The aforementioned 13’ tender is aft, but there still is a lot of room on this bridge deck with a complete helm station under the hardtop, a very large lounge with twin tables, a wet bar, full-sized gas BBQ, and more. One of the lockers up here holds the twin 20-lb. propane tanks, which vent overboard and are controlled by a solenoid for safety. I really like having the gas appliances like the stove and BBQ because I think they work better and are more like what most people have at home. The recurring theme of large spaces and all the conveniences of home will help owners feel comfortable even when spending long periods of time aboard.
Sleeping Cabins
I make my way back down to the cabin deck. This particular boat has two sleeping cabins and one cabin that is set up like an office. The office can be used for sleeping as it has a pull-out bed and a door. As a liveaboard or long-term cruiser, I prefer having an office-like space as I think it will provide more use to owners as an office or sitting area most of the time. A third twin bed cabin with its own head is the alternative. The forward VIP has a center queen-size bed, large drawers for storage, hanging lockers, twin reading lights, nightstands, and twin overhead hatches. It’s a spacious cabin, great for friends and family, with its own head and a large separate shower compartment.
The master stateroom has a king-size island bed, a walk-in closet complete with drawers, hanging space, and cabinets, a head with his and her sinks, and a large shower with a bench. Large rectangular opening portholes that dog down (not hull windows) bring in light, which seems safer to me than the fixed windows you see on many boats today. The cabin stretches the full beam if you include the head on one side. This cabin, like the rest of the boat, invites you to stay for a while with its size and home-like comforts.
The Krogen 60 Open is a big boat that opens up big possibilities for cruising. The layout and comfortable accommodations will allow you to cruise further and spend more time aboard without feeling cramped. With twin engines and a bow thruster, the boat can easily be handled by a couple, or if you want, there is a crew cabin option. Are bigger boats really better? I will leave that up to you, but to me, this big girl is a beauty!
Krogen 60 Open Specifications
Length Overall (LOA) 63′ 1″ (19.23 m)
Length on Deck (LOD) 60’ 2″ (18.34 m)
Length at Waterline (LWL) 54′ 2″ (16.51m)
Beam (Molded) 18′ 11″ (5.77 m)
Beam (Over Rub Rail) 19′ 4″ (5.89 m)
Draft at Design Water Line (DWL) 5′ 8″ (1.73 m)
Displacement (DWL with Half Load) 120,000 lbs. (54,400 kg)
Ballast (Encapsulated Lead) 8,800 lbs. (3,990 kg)
Fuel 1,800 gal. (6,814 l)
Water 450gal. (1,700 l)
Bridge Clearance to Top of Hard Top 21′ 3″ 6.48 m) (Approx. does not include mast/antennas)
Bridge Clearance with Arch/hardtop removed 17′ 8″ (5.38 m) ( Approx. DWL to top of flybridge coaming)
Standard Power 2X Tier III John Deere®#4045AFM85, M3 200 bhp at 2500 rpm
Gear ZF Marine 3.000:1 ratio gear.
Krogen 60 Open Performance Data (Supplied by the manufacturer)
Sea trials were conducted in Taiwan, offshore sea conditions 3’ – 6’, ambient temperature 90° F, seawater temperature 84° F, winds 15 – 20 knots. No tender onboard. All testing data conducted with 50% fuel and water. Range calculated with a 10% reserve.
Power: 2X Tier III John Deere®#4045AFM85, M3 200 bhp at 2500 rpm
