I studied the nearly nonexistent wake from the comfort of the salon settee as Grato, a Selene 60 Ocean Explorer, made 8 knots in a favorable current and 1,000 feet of cobalt water. Owners Frank and Mindy Crucil were ensconced in the Stidd captain’s chair and amidships galley, respectively, as I spoke with Howard Chen, CEO of Selene Yachts, on what I was seeing and not seeing.
At one point, Chen—who is a naval architect—asked for my notebook. He then began to sketch the displacement hull running surface, explaining as he drew. The Selene’s design, he told me, “starts with a bulbous bow, which is also in a very special shape. It’s actually like an egg shape. There’s a hard chine in the back that merges into the full-displacement, round bilge in the midship.”
It’s unusual for a CEO of a boatbuilding company to do anything like this. Chen wasn’t even close to done.
“We have a cruiser stern, which [gives] the boat a longer waterline, and a propeller pocket, which reduces shaft angle and draft,” he said. “All the running gear is protected. … These are combined [for] good performance, less pitch, a very stable [ride], and even a little faster speed than other traditional [displacement] hulls.”
My notebook was immediately a keepsake with an original Howard Chen, who is also known for his fast, detailed sketches and his Van Gogh-inspired oil paintings.
I gazed across Swanson Channel. We were in Canada’s Gulf Islands, bound for Poets Cove on South Pender Island and eventually Ladysmith, British Columbia. The previous weekend, I had been across the border in Roche Harbor, Washington, where Grato—the first new Selene to splash in North America in several years—was the star of a rendezvous. More than three dozen of its brethren were there for the largest-ever gathering of Selene trawlers, marking 25 years of the brand being in business.
It was amazing to watch as an armada of Selene owners marched up the dock with containers of cuisine made in their own galleys, and to learn that Selene’s best salespeople may be its fawning owners.
Marsha and Daniel Gallacher, commercial fishermen in Southeast Alaska and owners of Resolution, a Selene 53, were among a number of couples who said that a walk-through sold them on the brand. The Gallachers just happened to see a Selene in Sitka. After being invited aboard for dinner, they became enamored with the layout and build quality. They found Resolution and quickly made a deal.
Seattle-based couple Lois and Geary Long had a similar take. “She’s so gorgeous and so solidly made,” Lois said about Raven, their 59-footer from 2008. The intrepid cruisers stopped in Roche Harbor on their way to Alaska for the fourth consecutive year. They plan to fish for halibut and crab off Sawyer Glacier and enjoy the boat’s long legs: “She has a 4,000-nautical-mile range at 7 knots,” Lois says.
Joel and Meme Messing, owners of the Selene 40 Messing Around, explained that they had wanted a Selene for some time (they had a twin-engine, planing-hull boat and a smaller runabout in their fleet) but kept missing out on brokerage boats. In desperation, they took to Craigslist, where Joel spotted one for sale. He blasted down to Washington from Canada. “We quickly sold the little one and the big one and [bought] a medium one with a single engine,” Joel says.
This also happened to be how the Crucils were turned on to the brand. After seeing some models come through their home port of Ladysmith, they tried to buy a used one. When that deal fell through, they went with a new build to take advantage of Selene’s near fully custom approach, going with the 60-foot Ocean Explorer.
Grato is the smallest vessel in the builder’s Ocean Explorer line, which goes to 92 feet. She shares her hull design with the 60-foot Selene Classic, and has similarly large windows in the superstructure; a raised pilothouse with reverse-raked, forward-facing glass; a Portuguese bridge; and strong horizontal detailing just below the flybridge. Almost everything else, though, is different. Guido de Groot’s exterior is a departure, with swooping arches in the superstructure and echoed in the raked hardtop supports. The profile has a contemporary edge that coexists seamlessly with her traditional garb.
The Cruclis liked her exterior styling and were enamored by the open, airy layout of the salon and all-teak interior. The salon is a shining example of the yard’s capabilities, with book-matched hardwood that is a fine counterpoint to the light-colored soft goods, galley countertops and black mullioned windows that surround her pilothouse. I also liked how the wood-and-steel staircase provided safe egress to the flybridge, but is designed so that it barely impedes sightlines for anyone in the pilothouse or salon.
These owners chose a widebody design, which has an asymmetrical layout with a side deck to starboard, giving the salon more room. A full widebody model is also available, as are side decks to port and starboard. Belowdecks access is via a forward private companionway to the amidships, full-beam master stateroom, with a staircase from the salon to the VIP and guest stateroom.
I also found a lot to like belowdecks. The lazarette is massive, with extra cold stowage, a trash compactor and a bunk with its own head and shower. It can serve as crew quarters (there’s access to the swim platform and engine room) or as a stateroom for overflow guests. The boat’s Victron solar power inverter (there’s a nearly 2-kW solar array on her hardtop) and watermaker are also located here, but can be relocated if this space were slated to see heavy action.
While twin engines are an option on the 60, the Crucils went with a single, commercially rated, 425-hp John Deere. Get-home power is tied into her Northern Lights genset. Frank says her sweet spot is about 7 knots, where she’ll return a range of over 3,000 nautical miles. Her top speed is just over 10 knots.
Along with the requisite fuel filters for the main and genset, and a fuel polishing system, the well-organized engine room has a robust LiON battery bank, diesel heater and reverse-
cycle air conditioning condensers, with room to spare.
After around 400 Classic models helped build a fervent fan base and worldwide name recognition for Selene, Chen could have easily held fast to that winning formula. The yard still offers these Classics from 36 to 72 feet, but the Ocean Explorer shows the yard’s ability to stay relevant and attract new buyers. Also coming from the brand is a 62-foot, 22-knot semi-displacement vessel, and some smaller vessels at a competitive price point.
Chen’s goal is to see 1,000 boats launched under the Selene banner. He’s well on his way.
This article was originally published in the September 2024 issue.
