Innholdsfortegnelse for February 2017 i Boating

MY FRIEND’S 31-FOOT JUPITER WAS LOADED DOWN AND ready for me to run to Treasure Cay, Bahamas, a 170-mile trip that I had completed 100 or more times in the past. There were some storms approaching from the west, so I pushed off from the dock and initially outran them. A little shy of the Little Bahama Bank, the boat’s engines and electronics started to act in a peculiar manner. I throttled back and tried to figure out a solution. At this time, both motors died, and the electronics on the boat shut off. I could hear an unfamiliar humming sound coming from the outriggers. My initial thought was the boat had been, or was about to be, struck by lightning. I was eventually able to get the port motor…

The American Boat and Yacht Council, which sets the recommended guidelines for boatbuilders to follow, lays out the safety requirements for grab rails and grab handles in its Standard H-41. In it, ABYC states that handholds are required on “weather decks” (areas exposed to weather where crew walk or stand); to assist crew using companionways, ladders and stairways; and in exterior seating areas used when the vessel is underway. In addition, any grab rail must meet a minimum height requirement of 24 inches above the deck. On a boat with only handholds, “the maximum spacing between handholds must not exceed 4 feet.” A handhold should also be within reach of any boarding ladders. Handholds and rails made of piping or tubing — what you’ll find on most recreational powerboats —…

# 2 9 9 0 ESTABLISHED PONTOON BUILDERS PROVE the growth of performance pontoons is still on the rise by yearly introducing new models to capture boaters’ attention. This year, Ranger is the surprise player that is expanding its line of premium bass, walleye and fish-and-ski boats to include pontoons. Not just everyday pontoons either, but high-performance, triple-tube models with luxury seating, high-horsepower outboards, and beautiful powder-coated pontoons and rails. Further, Ranger includes more luxury appointments as standard equipment than the competition. The 26-inch-diameter powder-coated tubes (the coating is done in Ranger’s proprietary factory kiln) and beautiful complementary side rails give the Reata a sleek look that raw aluminum tubes cannot. True to its durability DNA, Ranger Reata boats are built using 0.04-inch-thick aluminum panels, while most builders use 0.032-inchthick…

# 2 9 9 3 WE SAY The new Wellcraft 262 Fisherman center console offers abundant tackle and rod stowage for serious offshore fishing. A 17-gallon livewell in the starboard quarter and another 23-gallon livewell in the port quarter are augmented by an optional 25-gallon livewell (with viewing window) behind the deluxe helm seats. An Orca 42-quart cooler slides on tracks to serve as a seat forward of the console or as a step up in the bow. Our test boat featured the Family Package with bow seating/lounges and a sidemount table. A transom bench-style seat folds away quickly. Access to the interior of the center console is provided by a front, upward-opening door. An optional inward-opening dive door on the port side helps you land big fish. Two helm…

LIKE ITS OCEAN-BORNE COUNTERPART, wakesurfing is huge fun, but the majority of the population never gets invited. With the real deal, that’s a result of simple geography. To paraphrase the Beach Boys, not everybody has an ocean. With wakesurfing, however, the limiting factor has always been the location of the boat’s propeller. In a sport that places the rider in close proximity to the boat’s transom, the average sterndrive, with its rear-mounted prop, is deemed too risky for wakesurfing. As a result, this genre of wakesports has become a members-only club, with inboard and V-drive owners the only ones to make it beyond the velvet rope. I In 2015, Volvo Penta changed the rules. With an eye on the burgeoning surf crowd, the longtime maker of inboards and sterndrives took…

Running the inlet, navigating the channel, backing into the slip: So much of what constitutes seamanship involves forging ahead with confidence. (Poetic license allows me to use the phrase “forge ahead” to reference the phrase “backing in.”) Well, there are times when taking one’s time, if not stopping altogether, proves the best and most seamanlike course of action. Let’s start with coastal inlets. Approaching from offshore, say at about 3 miles out, suppose you spy a band of white instead of a gap in the beach where the inlet is supposed to be. What then? Maintain course and speed because you have a big-name boat powered by brand-new engines? Know that Mother Ocean doesn’t give a shiver-me-timbers about labels. In that circumstance, a better course of action might be to…

Today, many outboard motors are available in colors to complement the shade of your boat. Honda, Mercury and Suzuki, for example, all offer their outboards in at least two colors; Evinrude lets you add custom side plates and accents from a wide spectrum of color choices. There are also companies that paint motors. The Miami-based Outboard Paint Shop, for instance, will paint an outboard in the 250 to 400 hp range for $1,200. Yet there is a more economical, DIY option. The proprietary Quantum paint system from Engineered Marine Coatings (EMC2 ) utilizes a hybrid acrylicpolyester topcoat — a technology developed for the aerospace industry — to create an extremely durable and professional-looking finish. The Quantum 2K aerosol kit is available in a wide range of colors. No special mixing…

# 2 9 8 8 THE THING WE DISCOVERED ABOUT RUNNING the Regulator 31 through a coastal inlet and out into the ocean is that our confidence built, rather than waned, as we hit the rough stuff. The boat cut through the waves, threw the water aside and let us focus on getting to where we were headed (the fishing grounds, of course). Maintaining course is easier on the 31 than aboard other boats, since the bow isn’t knocked aside, and upon re-entry, the boat hardly slows at all. Instead, it maintains speed and keeps on tracking straight. The tachometers tell this story as well as we can: Aboard boats that struggle more at sea, maintaining a constant boat speed means the numbers are rising and falling through a wide…

# 2 9 9 1 THE BEAUTY OF THE HEYDAY WT-2 IS ITS absolute devotion to function. The Heyday mission is to deliver maximum wakesports performance for minimum dollars, and in that regard, the new 22-foot-6-inch WT-2 picks up right where the brilliantly innovative WT-1, the debut model from this brand, left off. Three feet longer than the WT-1, the WT-2 has a base price of $49,995 and is designed to produce the wake performance of a typical tow boat, one that would routinely cost more than $100,000. Heyday — now a part of the Bayliner family — is devoted to reducing the cost of tow-boat ownership. The broad, sponsoned bow reduces the chances of a swamping when picking up a downed rider. It also helps reduce costs by eliminating…

TO SAY I WAS IMPRESSED FOLLOWING A SEA TRIAL OF A TIARA 4300 Sovran in 2005 would be an understatement. Sure, the boat proved top-notch, but it was the propulsion, a new thing from Volvo Penta called the Inboard Performance System, or IPS, that really got my juices percolating. With IPS, the Tiara delivered better speed, efficiency and maneuverability. Let’s take a look at where IPS is today with 20,000 units now in the field, focusing especially on the new IPS 15. I traveled to Krossholmen, Sweden, where Volvo Penta maintains a test facility housing a platoon of engineers and a fleet of test boats in order to test the newest generation of IPS. The IPS 15 is the fourth version of this propulsion system and was developed to work…

WHEN CARL MOESLY DESIGNED THE Sea Craft 19 — the world’s first fiberglass bowrider in 1965 — he powered it with a sterndrive. When other builders followed suit on the open-bow concept, they did too. When most people think of the family runabout, they think of sterndrive propulsion. However, in the very first brochure for the Sea Craft 19, Moesly included in the options list: “Available as an attractive outboard with huge, deep cockpit and hinged Burma teak panel on motorwell for safety and soundproofing.” With that, Moesly provided an alternative for those who liked the outboard’s simplicity, ease of maintenance and ability to tilt clear of the water. He also perfectly summed up the perceived pros and cons between the two power choices. The outboard freed up more cockpit…

# 2 9 8 9 UPSCALE USED TO DESCRIBE A LEVEL OF trim in the bowrider market. Today, it’s almost become the norm in the 25-foot range. Hulls boast contour lines that look sculpted rather than popped out of something as mundane as a mold. Interiors showcase rich, supple materials in designer color palettes. How does a boat like Sea Ray’s SLX 250 stand out in a similarly posh crowd? Why, it’s all in the details. Stainless-steel grab handles are wrapped in a material you’d swear was leather. The three-spoke steering wheel, with its brushed-metal hub, is downright elegant. The bottom of the curved glass windshield just, well, just ends rather than be confined to a metal frame. So cool. And then there’s the luxury provided by things you can’t…

# 2 9 9 2 WE SAY Jeanneau’s Leader 40 is a fastcruising motoryacht that comfortably sleeps four and entertains a dozen. Bigblock MerCruiser gas V-8s with Axius sterndrives and joystick make it easy to handle, whether cruising or at the dock. We admired neat details, like the way the sun pad and the deck hatches are recessed to avoid any interference with sight lines. Bravo for caring, Jeanneau. The midcabin offers twin bunks athwartships that can make up into a queen, and there is 6 feet 2 inches of headroom between them. Hullside windows ensure sunlight pours in. The cockpit and swim platform create an integrated, open space with three distinct amenities. The companion seats opposite the helm offer both a rear-facing lounge and a comfortable forward-looking seat. Aft…

YEARS AFTER THE SPACE RACE, propeller design remained a sea-trial-and-error endeavor: haul, tweak the props, relaunch, seatrial, repeat. Finally, the U.S. Navy paid the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to predict propeller performance using a computer. The resulting 3-D computer models let Navy experts alter and analyze blade skew, rake, chord length and camber to maximize ship speed while minimizing noise. After the Cold War, those Navy/MIT propeller design tools became available to the private sector and, within the past 10 years, once-top-secret designs have made it to off-the-shelf production props for inboard boats as small as 35 feet. Will a set of high-tech props increase your boat’s speed or economy, get it on plane faster, or even make it handle better? I persuaded four prop experts to share their thoughts…

1HOW MANY? Many boats today boast two or more MFDs. Redundancy helps ensure access to integrated systems such as sonar, engine monitoring and digital switching should one MFD blink out. Or you can dedicate one screen to a function, like radar, while using the second MFD in split-screen mode for other systems. Consider an integrated MFD for a secondary control station, such as up in a tuna tower. 2BIG SCREEN Bigger is better when it comes to MFDs, giving you a keener view of details within functions, such as the chart plotter, radar or fish finder. While microprocessors continually shrink, screens grow. Sixteen-inch diagonal displays are common, with some MFDs stretching out as much as 24 inches or more. Strive to install the biggest screen(s) you can fit on your…

IT WAS LAST CALL AT THE LAKE VIEW INN, AND CHUCK LARSON stood to make his parting pronouncement. “The only sensible boat is a boat you don’t own,” said Chuck, addressing the gathering of regulars. He tapped his keys on the faded Formica bar top and strode into the night. Chuck was closing a conversation kicked off by a Regular lamenting the price of a new lawn mower, which elicited a smug response from a bar mate praising the durability of a 1976 Lawn Boy purchased for $35 at a yard sale 20 years ago, which, by the way, still starts on the first pull. Next, it was pointed out that a 1976 Lawn Boy was an OMC product and that’s why it still ran on its original piston rings…