Not always mutually exclusive…
by John Curnow, Editor, Powerboat-World.com 6 Aug 2019 22:00 BST
Spectators aboard a marvellous Palm Beach at the 2019 12m World Championship in Rhode Island © Joel Butler
It all kind of started when Joel Butler sent me his picture of the lovely Palm Beach Motor Yacht at the recent 12m World Championships in Rhode Island. Two of the best things going around, and what a great way to spend the day on this here planet...
Pretty much since steam took over from sail (and to some degree rowers as well), firstly launches, then yachts jumped on to the scene. In the 20s and 30s there were some express cruisers to get people down a river, or out to a country estate smoothly, quickly, and possibly most importantly, very stylishly. Bring it on. By the 50s and certainly the 60s, it became the place to be to avoid the congestion of the Med, and add your own real statement to some time off.
Of course if you were still involved in both pastimes, then what could be better whilst waiting for wind at a regatta, than going tying up to something like your Palm Beach, or a Zeelander for that matter. Of course, once the racing begins, your coterie gets a prime position for the show, on one of the best floating treasures going around. Sounds pretty cool to me.
When it is all done, you can also zoom back in shore to get back to business or on to the next function, tow the sailing craft back if needs be. Equally, should some grand event be on the calendar you can take a whole soirée out to see it. For that matter, if you are indeed part of said spectacular, then they can all come out to watch, and wave you off into the big blue, and return home in total safety.
Right turn, Clyde.
Now it would also be fair to say that cars are part of the greater marine experience for many, as well. So when Australia's busiest, cleanest, greenest, and soon to be largest marine facility, from marina to repaint, 30 feet to 150 feet, brokerage to new vessel sales, aka The Boat Works, made one particular announcement, well it was really interesting.
Espresso Twenty5 is a new coffee shop in the expansive Coomera metropolis on the Gold Coast. Yeah. And then? Well it just so happens that it is open to the public, and attached directly to it is a car museum called, Garage 25. It does not house the entire collection, which will no doubt be rotated through over time, but it does allow you to see up to 30 veteran and vintage cars, along with some classics and racers as well.
No matter whether your craft is in for some work, you're shopping for a new or used one, flying past on the way to one of the nearby attractions/theme parks, or just got off one of the many the courses in the area, this is a great spot to regroup ready for the next step. Speaking of ongoing developments, you'll also be able to take in all of the goings on either right near by you, or over at the Northern precinct, so take the chance to rest up, for it is bound to be a huge journey!
Moving on to outboards now
Pat Jones is the very passionate and enthusiastic man behind the glorious fishing and pleasure craft that is the Waverider 550 foiling centre console. We had a lot to say about it, which you can see in our video that resides here. Now Pat and his family also make and distribute the Kapten Boat Collar, and he just won a Gold Tick Trophy for that at the Good Design Awards Australia, which are the highest honour for design and innovation in Australia.
The reason it is all so important is that the hull shape of Waverider Boats is directly inspired by the transformation provided by applying a Kapten Boat Collar to a small vessel. In essence, it is all about the angle, width and length of the extra wide reverse chine that then works so well with the foils in the Waverider that have things like Level Floatation, toe space under the bulwark for increased stability whilst standing also as standard fitment. At any rate, well done to the Jones family for such a serious level of recognition for your achievements to date.
Talk the Torque!
To the large output motors now... Apart from continuing to captivate, I was impressed to learn that the big Mercs are using the gearboxes from the Bravo sterndrives that have been used in racing for so long, and have clearly proven how durable they are. Obviously, they can take even more power, so watch this space I would say...
The multiple installation is one area that seems to be leading the charge in the high output section of the outboard market. Al Murzem Trading just placed four of Nizpro Marine's wicked 450s Red Alien gems on the transom of 13 metric tonne, 56-foot Al Hareb Marine flyer. She was previously powered by four 350s and could reach 44mph, which I am told was used 'All the time!'
Once the Nizpros were on board that went out to 58mph, a full 14 miles an hour faster, and is around 25% more economical at the same speed they used to go, and uses around the same at the newly elevated WOT speed. There is a short little video for you to see what the rooster tail looks like.
Clearly the big, actually make that massive, take out here is the universality of the Nizpro machine. She will work in virtually all ambient and water temperatures, producing the same charge she does on the dyno, and give you the kind of pace and range that suits your requirements. With Yamaha about to offer the 350's gearbox on the 300, you even have a solution for commercial, high mass/big boat work. Very interesting indeed!!!
Seeing as we are waxing on...
One of the biggest standouts for me at the Sydney International Boat Show was Beneteau's ultra-new Flyer 10. This one had been fitted with a very suitable and elegant hardtop, just right for local conditions. Courtesy of her twin 350 Mercury Verados, she is also a 45-knot flyer. Oh yeah, Beneteau have already used that... At any rate, I was not the only one impressed with the space, usability, and two cabin arrangement, for the queue to get on board is testament to that.
Interestingly, she deploys the same sort of tulip hull design that has worked so well in Beneteau's new Oceanis sailing range. This means you can have a fine entry for speed, and then volume in the accommodations. The Flyer 10 differs from her sailing cousins by also utilising what can only be best described as a scow bow above the prow, and this means the for'ard cabin approaches that of a regular 40-footer. Apart from being clever, she is smart, attractive, price competitive, if not really good value, and you can have her with options like smaller engines and an extended swim platform. Check it out. I did. More than twice...
Short Takes
We are going back to have more time with the SEAir Foiler. Yes. I can hear you all saying that this is called work? Shortly thereafter Ribco have promised to take me at 60 knots whilst facing forward, after they learned that I had done something approaching 100mph seated backwards in the Labsports 21.
Maritimo won the Best Overall Display, and Best Marina Display at the recent Sydney International Boat Show, so they were pretty happy with that. Just prior to the show, we had joined them for part of the run down on the first X50 to come out of the mould, and you can read about that, and see the video right here in Trooping of the Colour. Evidently I was not the only one who took a shine to the boat, for it seems Maritimo's Founder, Bill Barry-Cotter, has also got inspired and traded in his S70 for one of the new sport yachts. Given Bill's racing history, I was not overly surprised when he indicated that he had ordered his X50 to come with a pair of Scania's 12.7l, 825hp in-line sixes as the weapons of choice. 3150Nm of torque each, from a fuel burn of 90-170lph a side in the operating range sounds good from where I sit. 40 knots WOT here we come...
Now elsewhere at the show, and on debut for Australia was a very smart piece of gear. Nanni had on display a slightly smaller powerplant at just 3.0 litres, but the 265hp four-cylinder mill is none the less impressive. It is a Toyota derived oil burner that saw extended service in the just superseded Hilux. Yes, the very definition of unbreakable. At any rate, this package has more power and better burn than her competitors and would see good service in all manner of fishing or pleasure craft, whether they have a semi-displacement or planing hull.
We have had a go on the new ILIAD 70, so please check in for our full review of that soon. In the meantime, I was reviewing the information on the new Leopard 53 powercat and could not help noticing that she could only do 1995nm, but that was on one donk! The ILIAD 50 we just reviewed in A boat of two hulls (and lives)) offers up to 2000nm of range, but does so on both, which makes me think she would be marginally quicker as well.
In closing, we were fortunate enough to be part of a five boat Riviera armada that came to the Sydney International Boat Show on their own hulls. We will have a lot more to say about that for you, very, very soon. You can see a sample here, but it was a treat not just because of the boats, but also the owners and crews I completed the entire voyage with. Thanks to all of you!
Premiered at the show was the 445 SUV, which was running Volvo Penta's just updated D6 IPS 650 as her propulsion package. They worked brilliantly in a wide range of conditions and speeds. So when I subsequently attended their global launch at the Volvo stand, it was with real-world, first hand, and up to date experience that I could feel comfortable in the knowledge that the information was correct. Forged pistons and conrods, along with a nitrided crank will allow the 85% new parts Diesel to just keep belting out her economical performance mile after mile. No doubt this is just part of the reason why she too is in Riviera's five-year Volvo Penta warranty programme, just like all of their IPS craft.
OK. Today you will find that we have information for you about the gorgeous Zeelander 72, Riviera's very new 505 SUV, the Flyer range from Beneteau, Onda's 321L über-luxe covered tender, the sexy Wally tender goes clubbing, Tankoa's 50m Brintador, the 45 Divergence from Ocean Alexander, Rafael Nadal buys a Sunreef (and the Polish contingent was also at the show), Yanmar make the whole boat, not just the engines, Monte Carlo have a new 52, the DutchCraft 56 dayboat (you read correctly), 77.25m Feadship, the Frauscher Shipyard e-boat, Benetti's Spectre, Azimuts in Manhattan, Otam 85 GTS, as well as much, much more.
So as you see, there are stories, lessons, inspirations and history to regale yourself with. Please do savour... We're really enjoying bringing you the best stories from all over the globe. If you want to add to that, then please make contact with us via email.
Remember too, if you want to see what is happening in the other parts of the group, go to the top of the Powerboat-World home page and the drag down menu on the right, select the site you want to see and, voila, it's all there for you.
Speak with you again, very, very soon. Time to go boating now...
John Curnow
Editor, Powerboat-World.com