Steve Dashew
Steve Dashew is a designer, sailor, and co-creator of the FPB (Functional Power Boat) fleet, working for more than five decades in partnership with his wife, Linda. After years pushing the limits of multihull performance and a round-the-world voyage aboard Intermezzo II, they created the Deerfoot and Sundeer series of fast cruising sailboats, culminating in the 78-foot, water-ballasted ketch Beowulf. A storm-season revelation about comfort, control, and average speed led to their “un-sailboat”: FPB 83 Wind Horse. They cruised her more than 60,000 nautical miles, proving a new template for safe, efficient ocean passagemaking. That blueprint evolved into an 18-hull FPB range, including the FPB 78 Cochise, on which Steve and Linda logged nearly 15,000 miles in a year. His design philosophy is simple: seakindly motion, steering control, accessibility for maintenance, and high average speed so you can make the weather work for you—two-handed, across oceans.