There is a category of vessel that exists outside the usual taxonomy of sailboats — not a racer, not a weekender, not a production cruiser with a sticker price and a waiting list. Dauntless belongs to this category. She is a one-of-a-kind 78-foot schooner commissioned by Art Benson, a sculptor of some renown, who wanted a vessel that was also a work of art. The bronze fixtures are custom-molded. The hull lines are drawn to please the eye as much as part the water. She was built to be looked at, and then sailed to places most boats cannot go.
Originally christened Javalina Queen, she was conceived for high-latitude work — the kind of sailing that ends conversations about anchorages in the Caribbean. Six inches of insulation runs throughout the hull. The steel is thickened at the bow for ice. The enclosed, heated pilothouse means you can stand a watch in comfort when the temperature drops below what your crew thought they signed up for. This is expedition equipment dressed in the vocabulary of a classic schooner, and the combination is unusual enough to stop people on the dock.
The Caterpillar 3208 has 200 hours on a refresh and produces 300 horsepower through a transmission geared for range rather than speed. One 300-gallon fuel tank is good for 1,000 nautical miles under power — serious passage-making numbers. When the breeze fills in, she carries a proper schooner rig. When it does not, you are not apologizing for the engine.
Below decks, the arrangement is functional without being austere. The master cabin sits aft, close to the helm — the right place for whoever is responsible for the watch schedule. Guest quarters are forward with a private head. The galley has a new four-burner gimbled stove and oven, two full-sized refrigerators, and a chest freezer in the engine room for passages where resupply is not a given. The engine room itself is large enough to work in, with a generator, a welder, and a proper bench.
Ground tackle consists of two 400-pound anchors, each with 250 feet of chain fed through hawsepipes — not an afterthought. Navigation runs on two 24-inch displays with Coastal Explorer, dual AIS and GPS, and a NEMA 2000 backbone. Power management mixes deep-cycle and lithium polymer banks, with 1,000 watts of solar and a shore power inverter-charger. The infrastructure is that of a vessel meant to go places, stay there, and not need anyone's help.
