Aphrodite / Najad

[crankysailor]

Hello everyone, is there someone around who can comment on the history of the swedish Aphrodite yachts? They are often listed as Najad, no doubt to capitalize on the more popular yard. I know Najad bought Aphrodite in the early 90s and sometimes they are referred to as a „sister company“. But.. what was the nature of that relationship in terms of designs and build quality? Can one assume an Aphrodite is really of the same build standard as a Najad of that era? Were the molds really the same? Any information anyone can share would be helpful.

On that note, why did Najad go broke after that? Kind of makes one wonder.. :-)

What about sailing characteristics, known problems they are prone to etc? I am grateful for any info .. thanks!

[GordMay]

https://najad.co.uk/najad-history/
https://najad.co.uk/najad-back-in-business/
https://najad.co.uk/najad-declared-officially-bankrupt/

[crankysailor]

Thanks GordMay.. though I was hoping for something more along the lines of „I worked at the Rex Marin yards in the late 80s and ... instead of the company‘s own version ;-)

[crankysailor]

Oh I stand corrected. That is not the Najad company website... that is the owners association. check!

Either way not much there other than „it happened“.. Also I would really love to hear more about the Aphrodite builds etc..thanks folks!

[JPA Cate]

This is only 2nd hand, crankysailor, but some acquaintances with a Najad 38 wanted to go offshore cruising, and found that they wanted to increase their house bank battery size. They had a very difficult time finding a suitable space to do it. Other than that, as far as I know, they were happy with the boat.

Ann

[crankysailor]

Thanks Ann,

that is the question, finding the sweet spot between sailing fun and comfort and space inside, isn’t it? It is not easy to put my money where my mouth is and shell out almost twice as much for a center cockpit boat where you still have to crawl a bit when going to bed in the aft cabin, when modern production boats of the same length would let you bring that queen size bed an board :-P

To get the comforts we would like to have on a Najad we would have to go bigger.. into the >40ft not affordable territory.. particularly if one wants to stick with 30yrs old as a maximum...

But they are just such nice boats .. I simply can not fall in love with modern production boats. No matter how convenient that would be.

Still haven’t been able to find much about the Aphrodite brand in the pre Najad acquisition days... anyhow.. still digging :-)