Open waters left to their own devices - an environment which hasn't yet been completely restrained by the grip of civilisation, the two thirds of the global surface which still remain immune to the encroachment of road-building and construction technologies. Sailing the high seas is the quickest way to start feeling free...

How do you make your dream come true? In the 21st century, what can you do to feel what sailors of all times used to feel, when they pressed on to the horizon and across? The answer is well known: step on the deck of a sailing or motor yacht! The choice is yours, but most people choose motor boats which give them a chance to conquer not just space but time as well. The speed of your movement will be under your own control, while on a sailing boat you'll be controlled by fickle wind.

Technological level and comfort of the modern motor yachts are sufficient for sailing across the oceans, making the "unlimited navigation" formula quite literally true. And you don't even have to have a really huge megayacht for that: the increasingly more popular 40- and 50-foot oceangoing motor yachts are coming to limelight now - the so-called "golden fifties". "Golden" as in the golden mean, as the measure of the "necessary and sufficient" combination of safety and comfort. Plus, they can add a romantic and adventurous element to the multifaceted luxury life, giving the owner a chance to sail the boat all on their own, without a hired crew's help.

This year a well-known Dutch shipbuilding company Neptune Marine set a kind of a record: it got an order for 25 unique Elling motor yachts, to be delivered in 2008. That's on top of other vessels - planing yachts and steel boats. The customers came from the UK, Norway, Germany, Sweden, France, Singapore, the USA, Russia and other countries. Such great number of orders means we're talking about an absolute record for the Dutch shipbuilding industry, where dozens of renowned builders of motor yachts compete with each other.

So how does an oceangoing Elling motor yacht look like? Today she's the only 45- or 49-foot boat available in Russia with a European A-Ocean certificate (unlimited navigation range). The only motor yacht available in Russia and the Ukraine with fuel reserves sufficient for up to 2,400 miles' non-stop journey (the standard capacity is for 1,400 miles) - enough to cross the Atlantic, and offering a high safety level in practically any level of choppiness, at sea and in internal waters alike: the angle of heel at 60 knots gale-force wind does not exceed 10 degrees! She's the only semi-planing boat with characteristics of a displacement one, and capable of making up to 18 knots (as of 2008, the top speed increases to 20 knots). The yacht is also equipped with in-built 27-hp auxiliary engine which allows to go at 5.5 knots burning just 0.7 litres per mile. For more technical details about Elling yachts, see www.elling34.ru.

Today Elling is the only yacht available in Russia and the Ukraine which combines the safety of an emergency boat, the range of an expedition ship and an exquisite interior almost on par with a megayacht.

Just five years ago Neptune Marine adverts said, "Our goal is to make the best motor yacht in the world: truly sea-worthy, without any conceptual analogues in terms of quality, comfort and endurance…" (in the 45- to 49-foot motor yachts group).

Five years ago that kind of statement seemed rather immodest. But life has proved that the Dutch shipyard have indeed managed to make an exceptional product, and despite the large production volume every yacht is customised for each specific client like a unique hunting rifle.

Our compatriots plough the waves of the Atlantic on Elling yachts, making 2,000-3,000-mile-long journeys; not many other yachts would dare to do that.

The author of this article has covered about 2,500 miles on an Elling yacht this year across internal waters and three different seas, experiencing several storms along the way and visiting Russian, Ukrainian, Turkish and Greek ports. He can confidently say that no other boat of a comparable size available to clients in Russia would be capable of making such a journey. This opinion is shared by many other Russian skippers and owners of Elling motor yachts. An expert of the respected American publication The Trawler and Ocean Motor Boat Magazine, 3/2007 says: "I'd really like to cross the ocean in an Elling. There aren't many places I wouldn't go to in an Elling. This yacht goes safely and with dignity where others dread to set sail."

Alexander Rubinov

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