Feature: Bering Yachts 77' Expedition Series

Special Feature: Bering Yachts 77' World Cruiser
No Boundaries. No Limits. Know Bering!

by YF Publisher Carl Camper

In 2007, Bering Yachts slipped quietly onto the scene with a 55' steel hull trawler, filling a much overlooked niche for a custom, long range, steel-based trawler in a size sector dominated by production boats. From that first splash, they've been logging miles and building credibility ever since. Recently, Bering expanded their range to deliver a line of head-turning, go-anywhere displacement hull cruisers with solid CFD engineering, heavy metal construction and a systems integration plan that is direct & accessible. Enter the Bering 77' World Cruiser; a yacht built for the adventurous without Richard Branson's billfold.
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Bering Yachts prides itself on building robust, steel hull yachts with an emphasis on reliable, easy-to-access machinery. This mindset starts subsurface and works it's way throughout the ship's systems. Initially, Bering took their design cues from North Sea commercial ships, but quickly recognized an emerging trend in trawlers; ugly is overrated! Armed with a bevy of computational design talent, Bering Yachts set out to blaze a new wave of contemporary cruisers starting with the Bering 77 World Cruiser. Displacing some 460,000 pounds, it shares its bulbous bow, hard chined, round bilge hull (yes, you read that right) with her proven sister ships, but the new 77' has twin-shafts that are sheathed in a gondola skeg configuration allowing her to sit high & dry on a short tide.

Bering Yachts is headquartered in the U.S., but has built a network of engineers, designers, surveyors and architects that stretch around the globe. The man orchestrating this boat building band is Alexei Mikhailov, a Russian-born businessman who speaks multiple languages, but his native tongue is any dialect that includes the word 'boat'. This isn't just a man drawn to the sea, but a man driven to make it accessible for everyone. I was first introduced to Alexei at the 2009 Ft. Lauderdale International Boat Show and soon discovered some common ground. At first, it was a bit surreal. In a previous life, my career was spent developing technologies to protect our country from the perceived threats of the cold war. Now, I'm sitting across the table from a Ruskie! Within moments, the past was history and I found myself embracing a new comrade in the marine industry.

Alexei's approach to bringing a new boat to market wasn't tainted by tradition, such as build a boat, advertise it and pray for the phone to ring. He saw this as a costly old-school method. He attended a few boat shows where he witnessed a myriad of distractions; not a venue conducive to selling his boats. Plus, it added considerable marketing expense, the likes of which has broken the bulkheads of many builders that came before him. Alexei believed the new boat show was on the internet and being on top of specific keyword searches would bring the world to his website.

Alexei's new-school approach wasn't vastly different from other modern business models; networking and social media, but without credible media coverage of his products, it would be tough to entice a buyer to an unknown brand. While the rest of the yachting industry saw social media as a Facebook page, he knew the real social media was where people gathered to discuss issues related to their common interest. That's how he found YachtForums and that's how he's made sales!

Fast forward to 2015, Bering has delivered 4 boats with another 4 boats under construction and just secured two contracts for the Bering 77; the focus of this feature. How has a relatively unknown yacht builder gone from start-up to a fleet of boats in build in record time? By delivering the right boat, at the right time, at the right price. What does 'right' mean? Given the economic challenges of recent years, the right boat doesn't have a pie-in-the-sky price, doesn't require a barrel of crude per mile and it can take Mr & Mrs. Retired & Ready-to-Travel anywhere in the world without fear of flotsam.

To keep costs down and quality up, Bering sources marine industry experts as needed to complete hull studies, naval architecture, exterior design, systems integration and interior decor. In conjunction with the favorable labor rates of the craftsmen employed full-time at Bering's two shipyards located in Zhanjiang, China and Antalya, Turkey, everyone else is a subcontractor. This allows them to hire the best-in-the-biz for critical engineering without the dreaded payroll that can drown a shipyard.

Bering's range of steel-based expedition/exploration style yachts stretch from 50 to 95 feet in length, a segment of the market overlooked in custom boat building, not only in trawlers, but mortal-size motoryachts. For Bering, Steel is the material of choice due to strength, durability, abrasion resistance and ease of repair. Because building in steel doesn't require molds, Bering doesn't have to invest in expensive tooling or regular conditioning, thus passing these savings on to their clients.

Commercial grade equipment and fittings, including continuous duty pumps and motors are sourced through large supply chains. This means parts are available internationally through a distribution network. Same for the plumbing and electrical systems. Cummins marine diesel engines are chosen due to their longstanding track record for reliability and performance, as well as an unequaled international service network.

Because these boats aren't built to hitch a ride on Dockwise or United, they adhere to a number of internationally recognized standards established by the American Boat & Yacht Council, the American Bureau of Shipping and Lloyd’s Register, ensuring the highest construction standards. These are boats are built to take on their namesake.

Given the ambitious exploration goals of Bering's clients, cruising uncharted waters and tributaries, you simply can't avoid what lurks beneath. Ice, coral reefs, an unmarked shoal or worse, a shipping container all take their toll on passage. Steel provides survivability, therefore peace of mind.

With steel, should you need repairs, the global availability and affordability of the material means that unexpected mishaps can be quickly and inexpensively addressed so your cruising schedule won't be interrupted. A reasonably skilled welder can make the necessary repairs to get back underway.

A-36 steel is utilized throughout the construction of Bering's boats. It is among the most commonly used structural steel; easily shaped, welded, cut, primed and painted, and long known for durability and strength. Steel is fairly flexible, so instead of cracking and shattering it is more apt to dent and deform on impact. Any material will fail at some level of impact stress, but steel tends to absorb and disperse impact energy throughout its structure as opposed to succumbing to catastrophic failure.

Access to the engine room is via a Euro-style, twin step swim platform. An Opacmare hydraulic telescoping gangway assists in med-mooring. The swim platform also has a convenient transom shower, Glendinning retractable shore power cable and removable stainless rails for unrestricted egress.

All Bering yachts are built to CE Ocean A sea state endurance standards, even if the vessel is not destined for sale in the European Union, and they can be built to comply with most classification standards, where applicable, upon request. Stability calculations are carried out for each Bering and provided with each vessel.

Side decks are adequately sized for real passages and real people, not skinny little models gracing boat brochures. The side decks, forepeak and swim platform are working line handling stations. And because wood and water don't mix, Bering only uses one accent rail for the walk-around and aft deck. Otherwise, wood is relegated to interior appointments.

You can take comfort at the helm knowing the hull is divided by five watertight bulkheads in six compartments. The hull and superstructure are constructed using marine grade steel. The bottom plates and integrated tanks sides are 10mm thick. The hull sides are 6mm and the superstructure is 5mm thick. Pirates be warned, bullets will bounce!

Bering goes to great lengths to ensure that their vessels are quiet under way. Bulkheads and overheads are insulated using a combination of acoustic and thermal insulation, all of which is fire retardant. All interior doors are gasketed.

The salon sole floats on a cushion of rubber and relies on lead sheathed insulation. Combining these properties with properly engineered hull plates that are then reinforced by internal structural members, cross bracing and bulkheads provides the greatest probability of withstanding an impact.

Many of the materials used in construction of Bering yachts are either nonflammable or flame resistant. The insulating foam that occupies the space between the hull and living quarters doesn’t support combustion.

The marine-ply bulkheads are highly flame resistant. The total flammable mass aboard is quite small, therefore much easier and quicker to extinguish in case of fire.

Interior decor such as woods, granites, tiles, fabrics and colors can be fully customized by the buyer, including electronic components, appliances, entertainment systems, etc.

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