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Model profile · for Great Loop buyers
Kadey Krogen 44 AE
What the published record establishes about this model, what owners report,
and the questions worth asking while a boat is still a listing. This page is about the
MODEL — a specific hull always gets its own homework.
A well-built single-screw semi-displacement trawler that suits the Loop well — but "2005 44 AE" is a naming contradiction to resolve before anything else.
The Kadey-Krogen 44 is a heavily-built single-engine (John Deere 6068) full-displacement/semi-displacement trawler with generous fuel and water tankage and long range. A critical caveat for this listing: the "AE" (Advanced Ergonomics) variant did not appear until 2012, so a genuine 2005 boat is the original Krogen 44 ("Classic"), not a 44 AE — the year or the model name in the listing needs correcting. For the Great Loop, range is comfortably within limits — draft is the open question. The design figure of about 4'6" sits roughly six inches inside the 5'0" loaded-draft figure we score against — a margin, but not a comfortable one, and nobody has measured what she actually draws loaded before fuel, water, stores and running gear eat into it. Note that 5' is a waiver line rather than a wall: Trent-Severn requires a signed waiver over 5', and many boats drawing more have completed the Loop. The rest of the work is confirming the folded air draft and doing a thorough survey of the single engine and its accessories. Documented first-hand GPH data for the 44 specifically was thin, so range figures below are brochure or comparable-model derived and should be checked against the boat's own fuel logs.
How to read this: 🟢 Fact = confirmed against a document, spec sheet,
or owner. Everything else — Claim, Pattern, Question, Context — is not yet
verified: things to check, not settled truth. Sources are linked where published.
Builder status
CONTEXT
Kadey-Krogen Yachts filed Chapter 7 bankruptcy in July 2026 and is liquidating — the builder has ceased operations.
No factory parts support, warranty, or technical backing going forward. Parts and support shift to the aftermarket and the (strong) KK owner community; major systems (Cummins engines, third-party gear) are generic and unaffected. A real parts / support / resale consideration for a used-KK buyer — not disqualifying.
src:
Boating Industry, Trade Only Today, YachtBuyer, TheStreet (Jul 2026)
Model identity
QUESTION
Is this actually a 2005 Krogen 44 (Classic), not a 44 AE?
The AE (Advanced Ergonomics) designation was introduced in 2012 and replaced the original 44. A 2005 boat cannot be a 44 AE. Confirm the hull number and build year directly with the broker; either the year or the model name in the listing is wrong. Most of the profile below applies to the original 44.
src:
Kadey-Krogen / brokerage descriptions
Your move: Ask the broker for the hull number and build documentation to confirm year and exact model variant.
Air draft
CLAIM
Mast and radar arch drive air draft — measure and fold
Manufacturer figures indicate the mast-up and even radar-arch-up configurations are tall enough to matter on the Loop's fixed-bridge stretches; mast-down and arch-down bring it well under. Antennas and additions vary boat to boat. Measure the actual folded air draft and identify exactly what lowers.
src:
midorilantern.com (quoting KK specs)
Range & tankage
CLAIM
Large fuel and water tankage
AE spec lists roughly 850 gal fuel and 300 gal water; the original 44 is similar. Range is not a limiting factor for the Loop under any realistic burn.
src:
midorilantern.com
CONTEXT
Treat brochure range as optimistic
Manufacturer touts thousands of miles at 6-9 knots, but the Power & Motoryacht test boat had a dirty bottom that the reviewer said shaved speed and significantly affected the quoted range. Measured cruise was ~8.5 kn at 1,850 rpm. Plan on a single-trawler figure around 4 GPH and verify against the boat's own fuel logs — first-hand GPH data specific to the 44 was scarce.
src:
Power & Motoryacht; PassageMaker; Loop Captain
Draft
QUESTION
Design draft is about 4'6" — what does she draw loaded?
Designed waterline draft is roughly 4'6". We score against a 5'0" loaded-draft figure, so a boat at design draft starts with about six inches in hand — before fuel, water, stores and running gear eat into it. That is a margin, not a pass: the question is what she actually draws loaded, and six inches is not much to spend. Note too that 5' is where the waiver line sits rather than a wall — Trent-Severn requires a signed waiver over 5' and many boats over it have completed the Loop.
src:
midorilantern.com
Your move: Get the actual loaded draft — full tanks, stores aboard, running gear included — measured or documented, not the brochure figure.
Construction
CLAIM
Higher-quality hull than the earlier 42
The 44 was a clean-sheet design built from only three molds to reduce seams and leak paths, with hand-laid Knytex glass and a closed-cell PVC-cored topsides. Still verify coring condition and moisture readings on the specific hull during survey.
src:
PassageMaker review
Engines
The engines research — factory options, tested performance,
and the engine-specific questions our members' dossiers carry — is part of the
full profile inside the product. It travels with every dossier and survey brief
built on this model.
Looking at a specific 44 AE?
This page is the model's story. The product reads an actual listing against it —
your requirements, the hard gates, the record cross-checks, and the questions ready
to send. See a full
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