Dixon 65, LIARA

Broker’s Comments

LIARA has always been a special yacht. One of a long line of LIARAs she was built of exotics. The brief was to deliver a light, fast and easily driven hull, that was also easily sailed short handed with in-boom furling. She was on of a series of Bill Dixon custom designs and so also benefited from him legendary space planning on deck and below.

Bill Dixon delivered a large entertaining cockpit with a twin wheel arrangement. The current owner has improved the complete anchoring system/equipment and equipped it with a larger and heavier anchor and a matching anchor winch. He also improved the dinghy launch system. She is designed for safe and easy operation at sea and she is a secure platform for shorthanded bluewater cruising

Below decks LIARA has excellent mahogany joinery with the extensive use of burrs and ebony inlays all put together by the craftsmen at Southern Ocean Marine, NZ. Her current owners have fitted lovely mahogany soleboards which brings the whole effect together beautifully. She has a great layout for 8 people including crew as you wish. For short handed use, she has lots of space and air.

These owners have totally upgraded and updated LIARA and so she is now in full cruising trim. She has been repainted, and had a full review of all systems and an update of electronics, rig, sails and safety equipment. Her owners’ plans have changed and you can read more about this in the Owners’ comments below. However, LIARA continues to be maintained to the highest standards so that she is ready for her new owners and more oceans

LIARA may be visited in Genoa in the company of our Berthon agent and we look forward to making an appointment for your inspection.

Sales Video

Owner’s Comments

We had clear ideas and a list of requirements when we started our search for our new yacht and bought LIARA. These were based on our extensive sailing experience and our education.

This meant that we had clear ideas about the construction (statics, choice of materials and material processing), safety, speed, lay-out, size, comfort and the need for an elegant design. Our new yacht also had to have in-boom furling, and crucially able to be sailed by the two of us. The statics, choice of materials and material processing had to meet our high standards. An important requirement was that the deck had to be flush from the stern to the companionway, as well as from the stern around the cockpit to the bow.

She had to have the volume and comfort to allow us to take friends and guests and accommodate up to 2 crew on ocean crossings. Also a sufficiently large galley with good storage space was on the list.

We evaluated many yachts. These included Oyster, Swan, Amel, HR, Farr, Solaris and others. After a selection process which we made as objective as possible, LIARA was top of the list and this with a remarkable distance from all the other yachts.

We love LIARA for her remarkable sailing characteristics and her course stability. The extreme large lazarettes are excellent to stow everything. We appreciate her barrier-free passageway from the transom to the companionway as well as to the winches and helm stations. This comfort area gives us also additional safety especially during night sailing.

The internal layout is lovely and has a well thought out subdivision which is very spacious and comfortable.

LIARA has a big engine/generator room, which also houses the watermaker, shaft seal, etc. and is directly accessible from the aft corridor. The charming and spacious owners’ cabin with the integrated head and shower is separated from the saloon and the guest cabins providing lots of privacy.

When we anchor, she lies calmly in the water thanks to her size and weight.

According to the motto, nothing is perfect, so we have made some changes/improvements to LIARA. When we bought her, all the internal floors were covered with a light beige carpet which was not practical and so we replaced it with beautiful wooden sole boards.

In 2017/2018 we made some further improvements for the planned circumnavigation of the world:

• The forward lazarette had a Lewmar hatch with Plexiglass which bothered us when we worked on the foredeck. We were worried about what would happen if a heavy breaker hit the foredeck. So we removed the entire hatch including the frame and replaced it with an extremely stable and safe teak-covered hatch.
• To be even safer at anchor, we replaced the 45 kg C.Q.R. anchor with a Rocna of 55 kg. To match the anchor, we bought also stainless steel chain from “Ketten Waelder” 10 mm Cromox Premium 35 duplex, 110 m. This of course included also a new and stronger Lewmar V6 capstan. We replaced the hydraulically/electronically operated anchor arm with a new one that works with gas springs for safer operation. At this time we also increased the amps of the anchor/bow thruster batteries.
• For a second anchor we bought an Aluminium Spade 200 with an 80 m rope as well as a Fiorentino para anchor 21’ diam. with 2 x 100 m 24 mm warp and a large Shark storm drogue (Fiorentino).
• The GRP davits were replaced with Simpson Marine 175 kg stainless steel davits which work brilliantly.
• An important improvement was to update the redundant navigation system. LIARA has a PC based (MaxSea) system and additionally a Furuno TZ touch14 system on the port helm station. Both systems have AIS and radar overlay. Normally, both systems are integrated, but they can work independently.
• As time went by, the dark blue colour of LIARA’s hull bothered us more, not least because the hull got very hot from the sun, so we painted her “Matterhorn” white. Both the paint and the antifouling were removed back to the epoxy resin layers and then the paint coatings were replaced as well as the antifouling.
• To sail safe and fast downwind we bought a Parasailor from Isteck (Germany) and got rid of the spinnakers.
• The installation of the Locomarine yacht router was also a good investment, allowing us to access shore-based WLAN stations and GSM/LTE transmitters from a longer distance.
• We also bought 6 inflatable fenders with covers. In order to be able to operate an electric pump, we had a power connection installed in the forward lazarette.
• We like very much the sophisticated Weathermax sprayhood with the possibility to open the front glass plus as well as the Weathermax bimini with integrated Strataglass windows so that we can monitor the mainsail. The bimini has an additional zipper for installing 3 UV protection side panels.

LIARA is a fast yet safe yacht. Thanks to the in-boom furling and the furling genoa, she is easy to trim. Even in a strong mistral she sails as if she was on rails either upwind or downwind. It is no coincidence that she has won the ARC and Antigua Race twice. Thanks to the Parasailor, LIARA is very good-natured on a broad reach or running downwind. With 20 knots of breeze on a close reach, she sails easily at 8 – 10 knots. Under power, LIARA uses approximately 7 litres an hour at 1750 RPM and makes around 7 knots light swell. This is evidence of a good hull design with a well pitched propeller. Under sail as well as under engine she is easy and straight forward to handle. We have sailed LIARA a lot two handed.

In 2019, after a major refit and further improvements on LIARA, we were ready to start our 7 year circumnavigation. However in the summer of 2019 Kurt had to undergo spinal surgery, which was followed by Covid-19. In autumn 2021, another serious back operation was necessary, after which the surgeon strongly recommended Kurt not go sailing in heavy seas or make ocean crossings. So, with heavy hearts, we decided to sell LIARA.

LIARA was commercially registered until the end of 2016. She met and still meets the requirements for commercial registration.