TRUANT is a blue-water cruising yacht of the first quality.  Van Dam Nordia are world renowned for producing semi-custom yachts with extraordinary joinery and superb systems.   The owners of TRUANT were very involved in the build and TRUANT set the benchmark for the Nordia 55, which was one of the most successful yachts ever produced by Van Dam.   She has had one owner from new, and has always been exceptionally well maintained.  Her latest refit at Berthon bought her right into the 21^st century.  She is in immaculate ready-to-sail condition and offers comfortable, capable sailing for a family, and with her flexible layout forward she is also perfect for 2 couples to cruise in great comfort.

When deciding to commission the build of Truant, we carried out extensive research to find the right yard. We chose Van Dam for their engineering skill, their craftsmanship in aluminium and wood finishing, their flexibility, and their overall attention to detail.

We wanted our Nordia 55 to be a new, more modern yacht than the existing Van Dam 54 and the team Van Dam were ready, willing and able to help us with that.

With Robert Van Dam we modernised the hull shape, to achieve improved performance and enhanced aesthetic appearance. This increased interior volume considerably in the saloon width and length, and in the owners’ aft cabin and sugar-scoop stern width. We also moved the backstay off the stern and onto the deck, uncluttering the bathing platform.

On deck forward we moved the anchor windlass from electric to hydraulic, put on a pulpit seat, and a flush hatch for the forward lazarette. The cockpit was lowered by 4 inches, to make it safer and the combings more comfortable; a new design of integrated sprayhood and bimini fashioned; and the 16mm teak deck added to all flat surfaces, coach roof, cockpit sides, and stern.

However the most major changes to a traditional Nordia were in the interior. We really liked the skill of the yard, but not their traditional rosewood and detailing. We commissioned UK designers, Fieldwork Design, to create a wholly new, cherry wood interior, with a high level of investment in wood design and the creation of the feeling of space. We created flowing lines of sight with runs of ebony inlay and bull-nosing in cherry. We used panelling on larger surfaces in all cabins, to bring out the curves and contours in contrasting cherry woods. We softened the interior lines by using curved surfaces throughout, with beautifully crafted entrance steps, curved forward cabin doors, and curved cupboard doors, which transformed the traditional harder edges of the traditional Van Dam design. Fieldwork’s skill with lighting and mirrors, plus all white bathrooms and white spaces in the external cabin walls throughout also enhanced the overall feeling of light and space.

On the floor we chose cherry and holly, to harmonise with the rest of the woodwork. Again detailing was key with curved lines around curved furniture and staggered line endings to emphasise the shape of the interior and furniture. The chart table and saloon table were inlaid with ebony in a simple compass design, drawing all the design elements together.

The overall effect was a totally new style of Van Dam, using the great skills of their craftsmen to transform their brand. Truant’s interior then formed the basis of the new Van Dam yachts going forward, but no other Van Dam had nearly so much intricate woodwork detailing or such extensive woodworking time investment. From the outset Truant was recognised as a unique vessel, the result of a unique investment in crafted care and attention to detail. She was quickly voted the Most Beautiful Boat by all other boats in the 1995 ARC (Atlantic Rally for Cruisers) and has been much admired all over the world ever since. 

When Truant was launched in 1995, our intention was to sail to the Caribbean and back with our two children, then aged 3 and 6.

We all so enjoyed living on board Truant that this plan evolved into a full circumnavigation of some five years.

We had sold our UK home and were therefore truly free. Truant was our only home. We planned each successive sailing season shortly before we finished the last, restocking, refitting and maintaining the boat as we went. We educated our children with a USA home-schooling programme, with the annual boxes arriving in places like Tonga and New Zealand.

The boat made us truly self-sufficient. We were able to live without touching a dock for over three months at a time, coming in for a refill of diesel, when we needed to. We made enough water to live comfortably, including using our washing machine. The freezer carried enough meat for several months and was supplemented by fishing. We always had ice in the ice-maker. We kept tinned and dry goods in bone-dry storage, boxed out under cabin floors and seating. We had spares for our spares, also in fully dry storage, and much servicing, cleaning and polishing kept the boat in constant state of match-fit readiness for whatever was coming next. Then, when we arrived in an appropriate place, more substantial servicing and upgrading works would prepare her for the next ocean leg of the trip.

Our younger child was under the impression that most people lived on boats. Both children became totally at home on and in the water, and inured to the inevitability of bad weather. In 65 knots, hove to for forty-eight hours off South Africa, we all wished we were somewhere else, but always trusted in the strength and security of our boat.

When we came back to the Caribbean from South Africa we hatched a plan to go to France (and school), and kept the Truant in Antibes, sailing on weekends and in school holidays. In 2003 we sailed the boat back to the UK, and decided that long distance sailing would have to be postponed for the last years of the children’s education. We therefore prepared Truant for long-term storage, as detailed below, decommissioning her fully, and personally keeping a constant check on her well-being throughout those years.

After an eight-year rest, in 2011 she emerged again for her most substantial refit to date at Berthon Boatyard, UK, of which details are below. Following that we took her back to the Caribbean, where we now use her for three to four months a year, storing her in Antigua.

Since build, Truant has been through a number of upgrades and modifications, as she has travelled the world. We have always maintained the boat to a high professional standard, in care and systems. Our aim has been constant maintenance and improvement from the time of build, with the budget to match.

The interior has been treated with the utmost care, with protective covers and wrapping when appropriate for ocean crossings and local passages. The floors have been protected with fitted covers and rugs.

Refits were carried out in Wayfarer Marine, USA; Orams Marine, New Zealand; Little Harbor, USA; Antibes, France. Truant was then stored under cover in a storage shed in the UK for c. 8 years, with a full winterising programme, prior to a most extensive refit at Berthon Boatyard in 2011.

1996 Wayfarer Marine, USA:

The most significant part of this refit was a keel alteration, which is unique to Truant among Van Dams. With international yacht designer, Chuck Paine, we refined the foil shape of the keel; this was done with much discussion with the Van Dam yard, following our first year of sailing. We all agreed that Truant was performing well downwind, but that a smoothing of the front edge of the keel and in-fill on the rudder stock would add to her upwind performance, which indeed it did.

At this time we also added several secondary, backup systems, such as a second Robertson auto pilot and a second 150hp alternator on the main engine. We also carried out our usual programme of in-depth servicing, varnishing and replacing, as necessary.

1998 Orams Marine, New Zealand:

Here we had a full exterior Awlgrip repaint; the rig was removed and the whole boat repainted in, including the cockpit. (There is now a special British Racing Green colour at Awlgrip called Truant Green).

As we were in New Zealand for half a year, we were able to carry out a major programme of servicing, replacement or upgrading throughout the boat.

1999 Little Harbour, Rhode Island:

This was an opportunity for some renewals, servicing and maintenance, on our return to the Atlantic.

2001 Antibes, France:

 We had planned to take the boat back to New Zealand therefore used 2001 to upgrade a number of the systems and pieces of equipment. We put on a new Vectran mainsail, new tender, and replaced or modernised the comms and navigation systems. As usual we carried out a programme of mechanical stripping and full servicing, as well as varnishing of all cabin soles.

2003 Berthon Boatyard, UK:

In 2003 we decided to store Truant for eight years, while we were finishing the children’s education in the UK. This required a well-planned programme of decommissioning and preparation to preserve and care for her machinery and systems over the long-term. This involved close working with appropriate manufacturers, for example, when decommissioning the engines, using calibration fluid. She was fully-shrink-wrapped, and kept inside a storage shed. We kept a constant watch on her well-being, in readiness for her relaunch in 2011.

2011 Refit:

In 2011 we undertook the most substantial refit for Truant to date at Berthon Boatyard, UK. This followed a well-planned, eight-year, inside storage period.

All machinery and equipment was either replaced, or stripped and fully serviced. For example, all the Reckmann furlers were sent back to the manufacturer in Germany and returned as new. All main engine pipes were changed, the heat-exchanger removed, oil samples were taken and the injectors serviced. Steering cables were replaced. The Maxprop was manufacturer stripped and serviced. All deck hatches, front-opening windows and port lights were replaced; the sprayhood and bimini were replaced; new loos were fitted; and so on.

All the electronics and communication systems were upgraded and modernised with a PC-based navigation system, with Maxsea chart-plotting software. In addition new Furuno displays and a Furuno chart-plotter were put in the cockpit. A Yachtspot wifi system was added, to supplement the Fleet Broadband system.

Some other new items were added, such as; on-deck forward fresh water flush (in addition to the existing salt water); fresh water hose in the cockpit; fixed dimmable LED bimini light and fixed LED boarding light; fresh/salt water option on aft loo; all new curtains and blinds, and sofa in the forward starboard cabin. A dry-exhaust system was installed for the generator.

The aluminium hull was repainted and clear-coated in 2011 and is a very distinctive metallic green colour, with silver detailing. The mast was stripped, repainted, and all reassembled. All new standing rigging was put in place with customised fittings.

In the 2011 refit, we worked closely with Berthon Boatyard, to change the configuration of the forward cabins, so that there can be one VIP, en-suite cabin, with a full-sized double bed and sofa arrangement, or two cabins, as originally designed. This is a most ingenious design and execution, utilising the original centre panels and allowing fully-flexible accommodation. It was vital that the overall quality of the woodwork, so important to the character of Truant from launch, should not be compromised by this new work. And we were delighted with the match of woodwork quality that we were able to achieve with Berthon’s craftsmen.

RCD Status: Our understanding is that the yacht is exempt from the essential safety requirements of Directive 94/25EC (Recreational Craft Directive) as she was built and placed into use within the EU prior to 1998.

Hull, Deck & Superstructure Construction:

·         Aluminium hull.

·         16mm teak deck and coachroof (12mm remaining, covered when out of use).

·         Topsides Alexseal (2011).

·         Superstructure awlgrip (2011).

·         Proctor/hall mast awlgrip (2011).

Keel & Rudder:

·         Balisto keel.

·         Semi-skeg rudder.

Engine & Gearboxes:

·         1 x Perkins Sabre 6 cylinder 135hp.

·         Dual Separ fuel/water separator.

·         Newage gearbox.

Maintenance & Performance:

·         Cruising: 7.5 knots.

·         Maximum: 9 knots.

Propulsion & Steering:

·         Whitlock drive unit.

·         15hp bowthruster.

·         Maxprop, with shaft in integral oil-bath housing.

Voltage Systems:

·         24V DC, 220 AC.

Battery Banks:

·         Mastervolt 660 amp gel batteries (2014).

·         2 gel engine start batteries (2011).

·         Gel generator start battery (2011).

Battery Chargers:

·         Mastervolt Masterview monitoring system.

·         Ample control and monitoring system.

·         Mastervolt 100 amp battery charger.

·         Mastervolt Combi, 60/2500 inverter/charger (2012).

Alternators:

·         150 amp Belmar and 40 amp on main engine.

Generator:

·         6.5kW Onan generator.

·         Dry generator exhaust system; injectors; exhaust elbow (2011).

Shore Power:

·         Shore power connection.

Other Electrical:

·         24V and 240V sockets throughout.

Fresh Water & Water Heating System:

·         Autoclave Idro Ecojet water pressure and accumulator tank, 45 litres per minute (2011).

·         Rheinstrom calorifier.

·         Freshwater outlets on aft-deck; fore-deck and cockpit (2011).

Watermaker:

·         HEM watermaker - 175 litres per hour.

Bilge Pumps:

·         Electric and manual, with bilge alarm.

Fuel:

·         Total capacity of 1,350 litres (356 gallons).

·         Sludge pump for diesel tank.

Fresh water:

·         Total capacity of 1,300 litres (343 gallons).

Grey/Blackwater holding tanks:

·         Grey water tanks.

·         Black water holding tank, with on-deck pump out.

·         Vesari PC (2011).

·         Canon printer (2011).

·         Yachtspot internal wifi system (2011).

·         MaxSea marine charting software – Europe, Caribbean, East USA (2011).

·         Furuno chart plotter (2011).

·         Sailor FleetBroadband satellite communications (voice & data) (2011).

·         Sailor SSB.

·         Sailor VHF.

·         2 GPS.

·         2 hand-held waterproof VHF radio (2011).

·         Inmarsat C.

·         Navtex.

·         Furuno wind/data instruments (2011).

·         2 x Autopilot, Robertson & Autohelm.

Galley:

·         Refrigerator.

·         Freezer, with two plates & two compressors.

·         Force 10, 3-burner stove.

·         Extractor fan and light above stove.

·         Icemaker (2011).

·         Panasonic microwave, convection oven and grill (3 in 1).

·         Bosch washer/dryer.

Heads/Showers:

·         2 x Tecma WCs, full-size (2011).

Heating & Ventilation:

·         Eberspacher heating system throughout.

·         220v, 50 cycle air conditioning in aft cabin (2001).

Entertainment:

·         Flat-screen TV & DVD (2011).

·         iPod connection (2011).

·         On-deck hi-fi speakers (2011).

Lighting:

·         Lighting, all LED throughout (2011).

Summary of Accommodation:

·         Cherry interior, with cherry and holly sole.

·         Hull ports all open, with separate mosquito screens.

·         Built in tool rack in engine room, and shelving in forward lazarette.

·         Bilge and under floor storage area boxed out.

·         Saloon blinds (2011).

·         Curtains throughout (2011).

·         Fully-sprung mattresses (2011/13).

Description of layout from forwards:

·         Deck-access Lazerette: full depth; lined, separate anchor locker with fitting for drainage to bilge; shelving for storage and Bauer dive compressor; hooks for storage; switching for fresh-water deck wash, lighting.

·         Forward Head: shower cubicle with teak grate; basin with cupboard beneath; full-size, electric loo with optional holding tank and storage behind; large, shelved storage cupboard to port, hanging wet-weather gear storage cupboard to starboard; large mirror.

·         Option 1: Portside Cabin with single bed; Pullman berth for second occupant; large drawers for storage under bed; hanging clothes cupboard with secondary storage above.

·         Option 1: Starboard Cabin with fixed berth; Pullman berth for second occupant; storage drawers under berth; shelved cupboard with mirrors on door and secondary storage above.

·         Option 2: Single Cabin with 4ft 6inches double bed to port; sofa to starboard; access to all storage.

·         Saloon Portside: wrap-around sofa; dining table with opening central panel; under-seat storage and cabinets.

·         Saloon Starboard-side: navigation and entertainments station; chart-table; with two-person seat; bookcase; cabinets; flat-screen TV in cupboard; large opening drawer.

·         Galley: granite work tops throughout; custom-build fridge with cherry door; large top-loading freezer; Force 10, three-burner gas cooker, with oven; extractor hood; ice-maker with cherry door; Panasonic combi three-in-one microwave/oven; Bosch washer/dryer in cherry cupboard; large understairs rubbish bin; cabinets and storage throughout.

·         Engine Room: large sound-proof door; good access to engine, generator, water-maker, and all systems; wracking for tools.

·         Aft Owners’ Cabin: central, extra-long, king-size bed, with zipped or split-mattress/lee-cloth options; sofas on either side with storage beneath; deep hanging wardrobe, with shelving and fitted-storage for cockpit table extension and ironing board; deep shelved cupboard; bookcase above; two further full-length, shelved wardrobes; glazed cupboard with drawers beneath; slim cupboard, with large mirror above; bedside troughs and top-opening storage and side cupboards.

·         Aft Head: shower cubicle with teak grate; basin with cupboard beneath; full-sized electric loo, with fresh or salt-water option; second cupboard.

·         On-Deck: teak seat at pulpit; “granny bars” by mast; on-mast spinnaker pole; jackstays’ fixings fore and aft; recessed fittings for wind scoops for three cabins; recessed fittings for passerelle chocks aft; fittings for liferaft; aft courtesy light.

·         Cockpit: portside instrument panel; large portside, under-seat lazarette to maximum boat width, containing extensive storage area, two fitted dive bottles, manual access to grey-water tank; fresh-water outlet and hose; starboard-side cabinet, containing Furuno chart plotter navigation unit; dimmable cockpit light; steering pedestal with two autopilots; folding steering wheel; helmsman’s footrest; deck cushions throughout, including higher, helmsman’s cushion.

·         Aft Deck: hot and cold fresh-water taps and hose.

Rig:

·         Proctor inmast furling with Vectran vertical mainsail, new 2001.

·         Cutter rig, with Vectran yankee and staysail (2011).

·         Reckman hydraulic furling units on main, yankee and staysail.

·         Carbon fibre spinnaker pole.

·         Standing rigging, 12mm Dyform with custom rigging screws & toggles (2011).

Winches:

·         Lewmar Commander 5 power pack hydraulics, for primaries and mainsheet.

Sails:

·         Asymmetric North spinnaker, with custom sock.

·         Vectran sails; foresails (2011).

General:

·         Folding cockpit table, with separate extension.

·         Seawater anchor wash.

·         Teak and aluminium 3m passerelle, with storage in lazarette or on removable deck fittings.

·         Bauer junior electric dive compressor.

·         2 x 10 litre dive tanks with fittings.

Anchoring & Mooring Equipment:

·         Lewmar 2000, hydraulic windlass (new drive unit; new gearbox; re-chromed 2002).

·         2 x 75lb CQR Danforth.

·         80m stainless steel anchor chain (2011).

Covers, Canvas & Cushions:

·         Bimini/sprayhood (2011).

·         Overall awning.

·         Full winter cover.

·         Deck cushions.

Tender & Outboard:

·         AB 3.60m dinghy (2011).

·         Yamaha 30hp, with electric start (2011).

·         Dinghy davits integral to hull.

·         Davit winches (2011).

Safety Equipment:

·         406 EPIRB.

·         Avon, vacuum-packed, 6-man liferaft (2011).

Fire-fighting equipment:

·         3 fire extinguishers (2011).

Spares:

·         Full complement of spare parts as appropriate for ocean-going yacht.