Dixon 65, LIARA

Broker’s Comments

LIARA is a very special fast cruising yacht, built of exotics and designed to by light and fast, and yet easily sailed short handed, assisted by her in-boom furling and fully automated sailing systems. On deck she has a lovely entertaining cockpit, with twin wheels and a solid arrangement both for anchoring and for deploying the dinghy.

Down below LIARA has lovely joinery executed in mahogany with the use of burrs and ebony inlays and marquetry. She has lovely crafted mahogany soleboards with a great layout for 8 people.

In this ownership she has been substantially improved and updated including new paint, review of all systems and update of electronics, rig, sails , anchoring and safety equipment. She is meticulously maintained and is the perfect yacht for serious cruising at pace and in total comfort. LIARA looks amazing.

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. Kurt has two university degrees as Master of Science in Structural Engineering and Master of Economics and additionally a flight licence for IFR (flying in instrument flying conditions). Marlene has a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration, Real Estate Management and Hospitality Management.

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 (checklist with points awarded) 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, despite the fact that she responds to the rudder like a dinghy. 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.

The forward lazarette had a Lewmar hatch with Plexiglass which bothered us when we worked on the foredeck. We always had to be very careful that the Plexiglass did not get scratched or even cracked. We were also 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 (custom-made in South Africa).

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 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. This is important as we navigate exclusively using electronic charts.

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 we removed back the epoxy resin and the paint coating layers rebuilt.

To sail safe and fast downwind we bought a Parasailor from Isteck (Germany) and got rid of the spinnakers. This has worked well.

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 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. She has a little weather helm if the sail area are not adjusted to the conditions. 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 – 9 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.

When we decided to buy a sailing yacht, it was important to us that, despite our requirement for a length of 62 to 66 feet, the two of us could easily handle her and LIARA fully met our requirements. Under sail as well as under engine she is easy and straight forward to handle. We have sailed LIARA a lot two handed and only when reefing did the person off watch have to be woken to monitor the autopilot.

In strong crosswinds it is difficult to moor stern to because the lateral plan does not really prevent side drift at the low speed. In such situations we anchor and wait until the wind strength for the manoeuvre was easier to us. Otherwise, the Bow Thruster provides good support during these manoeuvres.

In 2008 we planned to spend the winter in the Caribbean and then return to the Mediterranean for the summer. We planned to do this twice and then to sail around the world. Unfortunately, at the end of 2007 Marlene had suddenly a serious health problem with her back with extreme pain to the left leg. A complicated operation with subsequent therapies lasting several years were the result and so it became clear that we would not be able to realise our plan. So we enjoyed the following seasons in the Mediterranean.

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 and focus on lake sailing.

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