NORTHEAST 400 Review
by Paul Bieker
A quality motorsailer for two with room for occasional guests. As a person who has spent most of my adult life sailing high performance craft capable of 20+ knots under sail, the Cabo Rico Northeast 400 presents a real challenge. "OK Paul," I said to myself before stepping aboard, "take a deep breath, try to be mature, and think like a motorsailer." So I closed my eyes, banished the little red speed demon from my forebrain, and imagined myself to be a practical minded cruising sailor looking for a comfortable, practical boat. Then I opened my eyes and started to assess what I saw. From the dock, the Northeast 400 has a surprisingly well proportioned sturdy and traditional look. Designer Mark Ellis, well known for his Nonsuch line of cruising cat boats as well as his Niagara line of offshore cruisers, has done a wonderful job of taking a voluminous hull and tall pilothouse and making them work aesthetically. His careful attention to sheerline, house proportions, and trim detailing has resulted in a very acceptable looking exterior. Considering the accommodations in the boat, one would have to call it a miraculous looking exterior.
The hull of the boat is very full in the ends, with a width across the transom of 11 feet, about 75% of the maximum beam. The centerline of the transom is immersed about 5" when the boat is unloaded at the dock, a characteristic which is probably appropriate for motoring but can't help having a negative effect on the sailing performance of the boat, especially in light to moderate air. But I guess that those are the conditions when a motorsailer motors.
Stepping aboard, the quality of the construction and rigging of the boat is instantly apparent. I was impressed by the beautifully shaped teak cap rail with integral custom cast chocks and stem fitting, the well chosen Harken and Lewmar deck hardware, and the clever watertight line passageways through the pilothouse to the cockpit. The deck is easy to move around on, with plenty of handrails and large bulwarks to provide a feeling of security. The cockpit is both wide and deep, giving it a very commodious feel. The width of the cockpit has allowed room for a nicely finished permanent cockpit table with fold down leaves and integral insulated cooler and waste bin. A hinged transom door provides step through access to a large teak transom platform which spans the full width of the transom. You could easily stand four people on the transom platform without crowding! The boat is fitted with a 44" Edson wheel, however the cockpit is wide enough that there is still plenty of room to move around it. One of the most surprising aspects of the cockpit are it's two huge lazarettes, big enough for folding bicycles, jumbo sized fenders, crab pot's, scuba tanks, etc.. This would be a big bonus for people intending to use the boat as a liveaboard.
One of my biggest concerns with most pilothouse boats is the visibility forward. My reasoning is that if you can't sit in the cockpit and see forward when sailing on a nice day, why have sails in the first place? The designer addressed this problem by providing large windows on all sides of the pilothouse rather than by reducing it's height. By doing this, you can stand at the helm and have a pretty good view forward. In many ways it's like looking through a very well built solid dodger. This has the added advantage of putting the salon cabin sole at the same height as the cockpit sole so that you can move easily between the two spaces. This feature is accented by the fact that the aft face of the pilothouse is fitted with two sliding doors that can be left open in nice weather so that the two spaces are essentially joined. I was a bit troubled by the fact that these sliding doors are not fitted with weather seals or a high coaming for bluewater or cold weather sailing.
With its solid prop and large rudder, the Northeast 400 handles very well under power. The boat seems to respond quickly to the helm when idling away from the dock at slow speed. These characteristics should help make the boat less intimidating to handle for people who don't want to make a habit of taking desperate leaps for the dock in a crosswind. Although the test boat's knotmeter was not working, the boat seems to move along pretty well under the power of its 100 Hp turbocharged Yanmar diesel, comfortably cruising at around 8 knots. At this speed the water is still churning around aft of the transom, indicating that even for powering, the boat probably has a little too much transom in the water. Surprisingly, at about 2/3 throttle the engine noise begins to become a problem, which I wouldn't expect on a motorsailor. A little extra sound insulation around the engine and a look at softer motor mounts as well as a check to see that the propeller aperture is as streamlined as possible are probably in order.
A reefaway mast and genoa furler are standard equipment, and setting and stowing the sails are easily accomplished from the cockpit. The unfortunate side of the main furler is that the main has no battens and hence is quite small. But for most people who would be interested in this boat, this would be more than compensated by the convenience of the reefaway mast. To make up for the small main, the genoa is large, about 150% of the foretriangle. Considering that the boat won't need to reef until over 20 knots of wind, this sail is a lot of work to tack in the conditions in which the boat is fully powered up. I think I would prefer a taller mast with less genoa overlap to make the rig a little easier to handle in fresh conditions.
On the day of the test sail, we had a solid 15-18 knots of wind, which seemed to be just enough to get the boat moving nicely under sail. Upwind, the boat sailed at 5 - 5.5 knots with the apparent wind at 45 degrees. The boat responded quickly to inputs from the helm and seemed well balanced on all points of sail. I tried the outboard helm seats which are placed so that you can look forward around the pilothouse, however I found that the all around visibility was better (and perfectly satisfactory) standing on centerline looking through the pilothouse windows. Considering the bulk of its hull underbody and the amount of windage in the topsides, the boat handled just fine under sail. However, I suspect that in anything less than about 10 knots of wind all but the most patient would resort to the "iron genoa."
In inclement weather the inside steering station can be used. This steering station is fully appointed with its own set of engine controls, windshield wiper, a comfortable seat and space for a chart. This would be a welcome spot in rainy weather or especially during winter cruises. In nice weather the centerline pilothouse window can be opened for increased ventilation. The interior of the boat is split into two levels: the salon area under the pilothouse and the lower level forward of the pilothouse which contains the galley, head, owners stateroom and a space which can be built as a guest stateroom or"den". As you might imagine, the salon area has great visibility. The settees are arranged so that they can convert into comfortable (but short) bunks. All of the interior joinerwork is very nicely executed with Costa Rican teak finished with a satin varnish. There is plenty of convenient storage under and behind the settees. This is another nice result of the pilothouse arrangement: all of the tankage can be located beneath the cabin sole rather than under the settees as is common with most modern boats. The engine is located in a large compartment which is also below the salon sole.
The galley is well appointed but a little short of counter space. Corian countertops are a nice standard touch. Because it is under the forward edge of the pilothouse, the galley has about 8.5 feet of headroom which gives it a very light and airy feeling that helps make up for its compactness. Forward of the galley is the head which comes with the option of a separate shower stall. The head has its own dorade vent for good ventilation as well as an opening portlight and hatch. Forward of the head is a large owner's stateroom with plenty of locker and drawer storage. Across from the head and galley is the space which is available in a couple of different configurations. It can be fitted as a guest stateroom, but it is most commonly fitted out as cozy "den" with comfortable seating for two, reading lights, a table, and often a small fireplace. I imagine that this space would be a very nice place to take refuge on a cold night when the salon might seem a little exposed and drafty. I suspect that liveaboards (and many others) would find that the ability to have this and other areas of the Northeast 400 customized to fit their needs a very attractive feature.
Mechanically, the Northeast 400 is well outfitted. With 150 gallons of fuel capacity, the boat should have a cruising range of around 550 nautical miles. The engine space is well appointed with a big Racor duplex fuel filter, a large bronze sea strainer, an 80 amp alternator and fixed lighting. 220 gallons of fresh water capacity should preclude the necessity of a watermaker in most cruising areas. The through hulls are easily accessible and labeled. All of the wiring looks to be well installed and well labeled.
The construction of the boat is very robust and uses high quality knitted unidirectional cloths and vinylester resins which are not subject to blistering. Nice laminating quality is in evidence throughout the boat. The structural stiffening of the hull below the cabin sole is well thought out and should be capable of resisting a hard grounding without significant damage.
With all of our rain, lack of wind, and potentially good Winter cruising, you can make a pretty good argument for motorsailers in the Northwest. Experiencing this boat from the point of view of a person looking for a motorsailer, I have to say that the Cabo Rico Northeast 400 is a very cleverly designed, well thought out, and beautifully built boat. If a comfortable motorsailer for two with occasional guests is what you're looking for, this boat would be the quality answer.

Thanks to Mark Gilbert at Alliance Yacht Sales for providing the test boat.

Alliance Yacht Sales
2130 Westlake Ave. N.
Seattle, WA 98109
Fax (206) 283-4200
Phone (206) 283-8111

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