Arksen is a thoroughly modern boatbuilder, which is to say that it is not a boatbuilder at all. Instead, it’s a fulfillment agency that can address an adventurous boater’s needs from its London headquarters. It doesn’t matter whether the boater needs a $1,200 jacket, an upcycled Land Rover, a zippy chase boat or a hybrid explorer (as a co-owner or outright owner). And, Arksen is happy to take payment in cryptocurrency.

The shipyard says it recorded a maximum speed for the 85 of 13.9 knots during sea trials. Note the manual booms aft. They can be rigged with flopper stoppers. The 85 also has Humphree Interceptors and zero-speed fins to complete her stabilization package.

If it all sounds a little unorthodox, it is reassuring to get up close to the first Arksen 85, an all-aluminum, twin-diesel motoryacht with the uncompromising air of a battleship. This is a rugged, go-anywhere machine that wears its unfaired welds with pride. The owner opted not to paint the hull, creating a zero-maintenance workboat exterior, but inside, this boat is calm, comfortable and luxurious.

The owner is an experienced yachtsman with ambitions to cruise independently, well off the beaten track. He wanted systems redundancy in the engine room, from the second genset up, to prevent annoying issues from becoming itinerary-ending problems. He also wanted a folding lower helm station at the forward end of the salon. Being closer to the waterline than the wheelhouse, it will be more comfortable in heavy weather, and will be a more sociable spot for watchkeeping on long passages.

The main deck salon. Note the VHF radio forward. To its right is a foldaway helm station.

Up in the wheelhouse, there is excellent visibility from the four-screen helm station. There’s also plenty of seating, a breakfast table with a handrail (that table is large enough to open a chart), and a separate navigator’s station to port. For close-quarters maneuvering, there are wing stations on each side and another one aft. Yet another practical idea is the two-door airlock-style entry to the main deck, with a folding seat to remove sea boots, and a heated locker to hang up sodden foul-weather gear.

The owner’s experience also shows on deck, in several ways. A regular dousing with the seawater hose should be enough to keep things clean and tidy. This is a fairly tall yacht with a significant weight of glass in the superstructure: The windows are an inch thick, to cope with extreme conditions without deadlights.

The enclosed bridge is equipped with a separate nav station to port and flanked by watertight doors that lead to side decks.

For stabilization, there are Humphree Interceptors aft, along with oversized zero-speed fin stabilizers. A pair of flopper stoppers can be rigged from manual booms that swing out from the superstructure.

Arksen offers a hybrid version of the 85 (the first hull is nearing completion in southern England), while the standard model sports a pair of continuous-rated, five-cylinder, 350-hp Scania DI09s on V-drives. And while a fuel load of 4,600-plus gallons is not to be sniffed at, the 85’s long-range credentials come more from intelligent hull design than from tank capacity. English naval architect Rob Humphreys created a hull shape that bears an uncanny resemblance to a maxi racing sailboat, with a fine entry, broad stern, gently rounded bilge, upward curve of the bottom aft, and barely immersed transom. It’s all about reducing drag. A pair of skegs protects the stern gear and ensures directional stability. Bottom plating is a half-inch thick.

There is a wealth of comfortable seating for long passages.

Light weight is seldom seen as a priority in a displacement yacht, but it’s crucial to the Arksen concept. The shipyard says it recorded a maximum speed for the 85 of 13.9 knots during sea trials, with 12 knots coming up at just over 1400 rpm. Allowing for a 10 percent fuel reserve, that equates to a range of more than 2,800 nautical miles. At 9 knots, with the engines barely breaking a sweat at 1000 rpm and burning just 6.6 gph, range is well over 5,500 nm.

The shipyard offers flexibility in the accommodations, within the limits of the engine-room bulkhead and watertight compartments. The standard main-deck layout has a U-shape galley amidships with dining and seating forward. Belowdecks, the master stateroom is amidships to port, with an office and a spare berth to starboard. Twin-berth staterooms just forward convert into doubles. In the bow on the starboard side, opposite the laundry and stowage, is a twin-bunk, en suite stateroom for guests or crew. The berths are all 6 feet, 6 inches long, and headroom is just under 7 feet.

Unobstructed views from the starboard wing station are an ideal assist while docking. There are other wing stations to port as well as abaft the pilothouse. 

Interiors on the Arksen 85 are by the British studio Design Unlimited. They are built by Ares in Turkey before being dismantled, shipped out and reassembled on board by Ares’ own craftsmen. Everything I saw fit perfectly, felt solid and was beautifully finished.

The Arksen 85 doesn’t just look the part of an expedition yacht. It fulfills the design brief, from its hull form to that inch-thick glass. This explorer may look unorthodox, but Arksen respects the orthodoxies of smart boatbuilding. 

ARKSEN 85

LOA: 89ft. 6in.
Beam: 23ft.
Draft: 5ft. 1in.
Construction: aluminum
Displacement: 216,049 lbs.
Fuel: 4,623 gal.
Water: 1,585 gal.
Engine: 2x 350-hp Scania DI09
Info: arksen.com

This article was originally published in the May/June 2024 issue.