Things Learned For Lani Hart

1. The LNVT 49 got it's length designation not because it's actually 49' long, it's actually longer than that, but rather because the break point for the shipping company was 49'—anything longer cost a lot more.
2. There wasn't a clean break between the BMW to Cummins switchover. There were still some BMW's in inventory when the Cummins decision was made. Boats for which orders existed got the BMW while spec boats, which would make the boat show rounds, got the Cummins.
3. Lani said that no 'unlucky' hull 13 was built.
4. Lani has the sales records for each hull and said she'd be willing to make them available.
5. Sometime during the 37 and 49 production run, LN considered making a 43; which Lani has artist conceptual drawings of. They also gave some thought to doing a 60'. Lani said it was to have a spiral staircase up to the bridge.
6. Loren actually went through the Panama Canal three times. Twice east to west; on a Choy Lee 35 and a Grand Banks. And once from west to east in his LNVT 49. When he entered the Straits of Juan de Fuca, a wave went right over the Grand Banks and killed one of its two engines. It was this experience that convinced him that two engines were worthwhile. And is why his 49' has two engines even though single engine boats predominated at the time.
7. The LNVT 37 mold was bolted together along the length of the keel. It took days of polishing and waxing to get the mold ready. No one at the wake knew where the 37 molds are.
8. Very few hulls were laid up in November and December because they are very high humidity months in Taiwan. A hull laid in a high humidity environment is more likely to suffer from osmotic blistering.
9. The Lord Nelson Company may not be owned by Tommy now but by a cousin. This cousin owns the PAE yard and this is where the fabled shipping container, which contains enough pieces to make another 49, is stored as well as the 49 molds. It's reported that the 49 molds are not in good condition.
10. Lani has the original artist renderings for the LNVT 37. These were done using Jim Backus' blue prints.
11. The Hart's home has many more photographs and drawings of their tugs than sailboats—you know which of their craft captured their hearts.
12. Loren Hart Jr. died when his car crashed head-on with a big rig in 1986. He and a friend were returning to Sun Valley, ID from a construction job interview in California in 1986. It was after this that Loren lost interest in and started backing away from the Company. He sold Lord Nelson in 1988 for $500 and a royalty on each future boat sold.