27. Designing the Boat You Want to Sail: Steve Dashew on Becoming a Yacht Designer

How do you become a yacht designer when your starting point isn't a drawing board, but thousands of miles at sea? In this chapter of the Dashew Talking Books, Sue Grant sits down with Steve Dashew to explore how decades of sailing, cruising, building and maintaining boats shaped an entirely different approach to yacht design. The story begins long before the FPBs, with Steve and Linda Dashew's early high-performance multihulls and their move aboard the 50-foot *Intermezzo*. Going from fast cats to a conventional cruising yacht proved frustrating, but it also provided an education that would influence everything Steve designed afterwards. Experiences offshore reinforced one lesson in particular: performance wasn't simply about going faster. It could be an important part of safety. Steve recalls difficult passages, navigating by dead reckoning, close encounters with reefs and the realisation that reducing passage times could dramatically reduce exposure to weather, navigational uncertainty and risk.  Those experiences led to a deceptively simple question: what would we do differently next time? Steve explains how conversations between cruising sailors gradually developed into ideas for a new generation of offshore yachts. Materials, hull shape, engine rooms, ground tackle, refrigeration, maintenance and accessibility all became part of the same problem. As Steve puts it, when designing a yacht, "everything is related, and nothing is for free."  The conversation follows the evolution of that thinking through the early Deerfoot yachts, collaborations with designers and shipyards, and eventually the arrival of computer-aided design. Technology allowed Steve to take greater control of the process, not only drawing hull shapes but considering virtually every component, system, plumbing run and maintenance requirement before construction began. That attention to detail came from living with the boats. Equipment had to be accessible. Systems had to be repairable at sea. Structures had to survive the realities of offshore cruising. Even decisions that seemed excessive at the time, oversized anchors, additional access or apparently unnecessary conduits, were based on situations Steve and Linda had experienced themselves. Eventually, the same philosophy would lead from the Deerfoot sailing yachts to *Wind Horse* and the FPB series. This episode is the story of how Steve Dashew became a yacht designer, but more importantly, it's an exploration of why his boats were designed the way they were: not around convention, fashion or what had always been done, but around the realities of crossing oceans, maintaining a yacht far from home and keeping the people aboard safe. As Steve explains, "The way that you get trained in how to make the right decisions is by living with your product." **Host:** Sue Grant **Guest:** Steve Dashew **About This Series** *The Dashew Talking Books* is a special podcast series exploring the life, experiences and ideas of Steve Dashew. Across these conversations, Steve reflects on decades of innovation, offshore cruising, yacht design, business, adventure and the many unexpected stories that shaped his remarkable career. To explore more of Steve and Linda Dashew's work, visit SetSail for articles, owner stories and technical resources. You can also watch more conversations and videos on the Dashew Offshore YouTube channel, and explore FPB Motor Yachts at Berthon International to learn more about the cruising yachts that grew from Steve's pioneering design philosophy. To explore more of Steve's writing, technical articles and cruising knowledge, visit: **SetSail:** SetSail.com **Dashew Offshore YouTube Channel:** YouTube To learn more about FPB Motor Yachts: **Berthon FPB Motor Yachts:** FPB Motor Yachts Steve Dashew - Dashew Offshore Iconic yacht designer and one of the true legends of modern ocean cruising. Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase, I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you. Steve Dashew - Dashew Offshore Iconic yacht designer and one of the true legends of modern ocean cruising. Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase, I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you.