Garcia Exploration 45 Review, the Aluminum Go-Anywhere Cruiser

Garcia Yachts, Jimmy Cornell and a very specific brief

Garcia Yachts, a French yard founded in 1974, builds aluminum cruising and exploration yachts from 45 to 60 feet, and the Exploration 45 is the boat that defined its modern range. It began with Jimmy Cornell, the founder of the ARC, who by then had owned three cruising boats and covered more than 200,000 miles. His fourth Aventura had to be the ideal bluewater cruiser and also capable of negotiating the Northwest Passage.

Garcia and the naval architects Berret-Racoupeau took on that brief in 2013. Hull 1, Aventura IV, launched in 2014 and immediately proved the point: within its first year it sailed past the Arctic Circle in an attempt on the Northwest Passage, crossed the Atlantic, appeared at two boat shows and headed for Panama and the Pacific. Cornell completed the Northwest Passage in 2015 on his second attempt. Yachting World reported five boats sold and in build before the first was even launched.

Why aluminum and a centerboard

Cornell's third boat was an Ovni 435, and by then he had settled on aluminum. Garcia describes the 5 to 12 mm aluminum hull as one that deforms rather than breaks on impact, and adds watertight collision bulkheads at the bow and stern. The propeller shaft runs inside a skeg, and the twin rudders have a short protective skeg ahead of them and a sacrificial composite zone at the top, so that a bent stock pushes into a crushable section rather than the hull.

The ballast is internal and the foil-shaped centerboard lifts fully into the hull and skeg. Current Garcia figures give 9 ft 6 in (2.90 m) of draft with the board down and 3 ft 9 in (1.14 m) with it up, enough to reach lagoons and poorly charted anchorages, and the boat can dry out supported by the twin rudders. Yachting World measured 2.80 m and 1.05 m on hull 1, an example of how specifications have evolved.

How it sails, upwind and with the board up

Charles Doane sailed Aventura IV for SAIL, first on Chesapeake Bay and then on a passage from Florida toward Panama. On the Bay it felt fully powered at about 40 degrees apparent and made better than 6 knots in a 20 knot breeze in a chop. On passage it held an honest 5 to 7 knots in 7 to 11 knots of true wind on a close reach under full main, staysail and a furling Code 0. He judged the wheel light with a touch of weather helm and the motion in a seaway remarkably smooth for a monohull.

Yachting Monthly's tester was cooler, calling the boat big, heavy and not the most exciting to sail, but responsive on the helm and very comfortable in a confused sea. Like most centerboarders, it gives up some windward ability for lack of deep ballast. The payoff is downwind: raise the board as the wind goes aft of the beam and the helm lightens and speed improves. Garcia claims daily averages of more than 160 miles.

Two watch stations, one inside

The Exploration 45 is built around keeping the person on watch protected. Outside, an overhanging coachroof inspired by IMOCA racers shelters the forward end of the cockpit like a hard dodger, and every control line runs under deck to the coamings. Yachting World admired the twin wheels, the deep cockpit and companionway doors so solid they seal with a bolt top and bottom. SAIL's only criticisms were some friction in the main halyard and mainsheet runs and the coachroof blocking sightlines on the centerline.

Inside, the nav station sits right forward in the raised saloon behind what is effectively a windshield, with secondary autopilot and engine controls and about a 270 degree view. In bad weather you can stand a proper watch from the warm, dry interior.

Layouts, insulation and a workshop on board

Garcia offers two or three cabins with five, six or eight berths. Cornell's own boat was the extreme case, with an owner's cabin forward with an island double and en suite head, two bunks off the passage, a twin cabin aft to starboard and a double aft to port. SAIL found that version cramped and recommended layouts with fewer berths and more storage beside the inline port galley. Current plans include a technical room, a workshop for tools and spares and Garcia claims a carrying capacity of almost two tonnes.

For high latitudes, the hull has 74 mm of insulation, the saloon windows are double-glazed and heating comes from radiators fed by a diesel boiler. Yachting Monthly noted that on the test boat only the saloon windows were double-glazed, not the hull lights and hatches, so check what any used boat actually has.

• Tankage 700 liters (185 gallons) of diesel and 500 liters (132 gallons) of water in current specs
• Transfer pumps shift fuel and water between tanks to trim the boat
• Chain locker near the mast foot keeps weight central
• Room for solar, wind or hydro generator and a watermaker

Engine, tanks and the energy question

Aventura IV was fitted with a 55 hp Volvo Penta diesel and, per SAIL, 87 gallons of fuel. Garcia's current specification lists an 80 hp (59.5 kW) engine with 700 liters of diesel, a sign of how owners have pushed the boat toward motoring range for ice and calms. Yachting Monthly described the design goal as being able to motor 1,000 miles through inhospitable water and come out the other side.

Energy is the other half of autonomy. Cornell's boat carried a full solar array, a wind generator and a water generator, and SAIL found it easy to keep the batteries healthy on passage. Budget for a modern lithium bank and charging system if a used boat still has its original setup.

Buying new or used, and what it costs to run

Cruising World quoted $850,000 in 2014, and a new, well-equipped Exploration 45 in 2026 is likely to cost well over $1 million once heating, energy, electronics and sails are added. Used boats appear through Garcia's own brokerage and European agents more often than on US portals, and many are lying in Europe, the Caribbean or remote cruising grounds.

Running costs are those of a complex 45 ft offshore boat. Allow roughly $35,000 to $70,000 a year in the US for slip, insurance (some insurers ask questions about high-latitude plans), haul-out, aluminum-appropriate antifouling, engine, boiler and generator service, and a reserve for sails and rigging. Aluminum is forgiving of knocks but requires careful attention to galvanic corrosion and the electrical system.