Playing the TAPS

Tige too has reconfigured hull, & put in plate trim aft, for dialing the parameters you are looking for in the ways which were unavailable previously. Hull design is known as Convex V & variable part of equation is known as TAPS 2, for the Tige Adjustable System of Performance.

Tige RZ2 Platinum

Convex V/TAPS Marriage…

Where the other wake boats have the hull bottoms which run in one straight line till they get for stern & hook down later, curves of Tige’s a bit upward. This drops transom very down, making bigger wake. More of transom in water, more wake you’ll have.

Then Tige RZ2 Platinum puts in adjustable plane on center line, just like trim tab. Yearn for bigger wake? Adjust this TAPS 2 plane upwards & you’ll have fatter wake. Do yearn for flat wake? Then bring TAPS 2 plane downwards & you’ll get flow that is more laminar to hull.

Getting it On

Does it really work? Oh yes it sure does, but better along with ballast bags that are filled. With out any of the added ballast, activating TAPS 2 did make any difference: this bow did come up & down along with control. But difference is in the wake was really negligible, at least from seat of driver. At end of tow line, may be it’d be pronounced. But fact that it did do any thing really is one step past the other boats which have hooked and fixed hull.

Tige RZ2 Platinum

However, adding some ballast will change the things very dramatically. Now while bringing TAPS 2 upwards, stern does sinks all the way down, & wake… well, if you yearn higher than perhaps the Olympic ski jumping is suited more for you. I could go easily from wake of moderately flat to wake of monster wake-surfing, all along with touch of button that is throttle mounted.

From operational stand point, it was not pretty. No 1 would say operating any boat along with so much of extra weight, & having bow very high, is cost effective or efficient, but in world of the wake boarding, it is not regarding comfort of driver, it is just about wake & speed, & for this boat, you will be able to have it all in your own way.

Touch of Tige

However, all this isn’t of much consequence if you can not get back to for fav position in next day. Along with Tige Touch, you get to do all this & lot more. Along with the 6.5” (or 16.5 cms) touch screen, you get to create around 25 different profiles which will contain full information about the boat speed, ballast levels of bag, & TAPS adjustments, & you get to name all of those profiles after friends which they’re dialed for. Tige Touch gives you full control for all the switches & the tunes (irrespective of the source which they are from) & it also gives some read out for all the gauges.

Tige RZ2 Platinum

The level of comfort

Apart from the from the wake control, this Tige RZ2 Platinum is really comfortable boat. Helm bucket seat is a wrap-around & both seat bottom & the lumbar areas are really firm mesh. Due to this, the seat remains cooler during hot days, relieves the sticking to seat when you are in swim suit, & keeps your seat dry while you are sitting in wet swim suit.

Helm is really uncluttered due to most of gauges are now relegated to Tige Touch. There is still tach, speedo, & TAPS2 gauge along with fuel & engine temp that is embedded for each of gauges of out side. Gauge of fuel can use some tweaking though. It is bar graph which gives quantity of fuel in terms of percents. I would like to see read out of gallons that are remaining instead. Throttle is quite right @ fingertips while the arm rests on nice arm rest, & this armrest also lets you make some incremental changes for speed of the boat.

Tige RZ2 Platinum

Tricked Out

Collapsible Alpha-Z Tower is trade mark of Tige. Not just it does look just like art work, it is really functional too. There are hand holds in top which are really great to hold the boat at dock while you wanna do some quick change of passenger on fly.

The lights of docking are embedded in forward points. Underside has the mounts which accommodate around to 4 speakers of Wet Sounds. Above that is tow point which is reversible normally for revealing all-around white nav light, but for my Platinum Edition the towpoint too is home for camera which swivels along with tow line. Due to this, nav light gets mounted on the top of camera. For the collapsible, this tower is counterweighted internally, and this makes it really easy to raise and lower. It is great feature for the owners who yearn to store the Platinum in garage.

The platinum perks

The boat was originally intended as “pull out from all stops” ride, & Tige had certainly delivered for that. For naming some features, there is snap-in carpeting that is custom embroidered, stain less trim over cubbies of bulwark, upholstery platinum level high lights, pair of the custom that is engraved Platinum Edition rails of grab at bow, upgraded stereo of system, color matched speakers and tower, & partridge in pear tree.

Tige RZ2 Platinum

Considering fact that Tige RZ2 Platinum does make the controlling of wake very easy, coupled along with the good looks & easy handling that is striking, it is hard not look at the boat & feel that she is winner. Only mistake which I have seen is that the people who are thinking that is she is only for wake boat crowd. It is boat that is capable day and will certainly serve as high end wake boat. This means that kids get to use her in week, & parents can have it on weekends.

Key Features

Anchor bow area locker under the center forward seat

Port & star board forward 150 quarts insulated fish boxes along with over board drains

Cushioned bow area seating for five adults along with integrated rails of grab

Stainless through-bolted bow eye

Storage console for portable slide-out head (star board side)

Electronics area of mounting for twelve inches display

Non-skid aft deck platform of casting

Thirty gallons live well between flip-up aft seats, lighted along with over board drain & fiber glass lid

The mission statement

Mission of  Carolina Cat 23CC is for providing main attributes of 4 distinctive boats types in to 1 all-purpose boat. This Carolina Cat seems as if it is pulled off & given us boat that can get in to shallow water, has good range of almost 300 miles @ best cruise, exhibits handling of ride capabilities necessary at off shore conditions & has roominess combined of center console & deck boat.

The distinguishing features

• Redundant systems. The 2 engines are well connected to the independent systems of fuel & separate systems of electrical. Failure in 1 system leaves second in the play. Unless you’d manage for filling both the tanks along with fuel that is contaminated from same marina it’d be rare occurrence for finding your self with out ability for having the boat that you’d get at home.
• Twin engines on 22-footer.  It is far & away main feature which cats bring to table which no mono hull gets to touch. Just for trying to find 23 ft. center console having twin engines.
• Structural 7 year hull warranty. Apart from security of the systems are completely redundant, some things will get you comfort level like company which stands behind the product.
• Seating for ten.  There was no problem for loading the boat up along with friends & family. And you should remember that it is 23-footer.
• Stability – while anchored, trolling or in sloppy sea way lateral stability is very important feature & this 23′ cat does have it.
• Off shore or in shore.  The low draft makes it inshore boat but as she is cat & comes with relatively high bows that she handles reasonably off shore conditions from comfort stand points & sea-keeping.

Handling & performance

My Carolina Cat 23CC had length over all of 22’7″ (or 6.88 m), beam of 8’6″ (or 2.59 m) & hull draft of 11” (or 28 cm). Having empty weight of about 3200 lbs (or 1451 kg), two people & test power I had test weight of about 5,024 lbs (or 2278 kg).

Fuel burn & speed. Having pair of the 115-hp Yamaha four-strokes that are bolted to stern that I reached top speed @ 6000 rpm speeds of 44.7 mph. For this speed, the fuel burn was about 20.5gph giving range of about 188 miles. The best cruise had come in @ 3000rpm & 19mph. This speed gave me fuel burn of just 5.55gph for a range of about 295 miles or more than 17 hrs of the running time.

I had very quick time plane of about 2.6 seconds, and reached about 20 mph in just four and half seconds & had accelerated to about 30 mph in around 7.6 seconds. They are really impressive numbers irrespective of the way that you slice. On acceleration 23CC exhibits ten degrees rise of bow.

The handling. Let me get right to meat & discuss the most surprising characteristic of this boat: the capabilities of handling. As a characteristic of the catamarans you will remain one level during slow turn but still lean around ten degrees in to high-speed hard over turn. While taking the power off, she does settle back in to water at level attitude.

However, as impressive as the numbers are, I got totally blown away by what had come next. I tested share of the boats that were designed for operating in skinny waters & all of them shared same attributes – hull that was relatively flat which goes where not a lot of people can, but it just isn’t good for handling anything more than an average wake of the passing bow rider. Along with this attribute that is planted firmly in the head, I zigzagged across wake of camera boat. This experience was really anti-climatic. There wasn’t any expected pounding and spray coming & over rails or some squirrely handling, like the wake wasn’t existing at all.

I did spot ferry that is cross-sound around 5 miles (or 6.4 kms) distant & even for this range I’d clearly see turmoil that was being generated behind. It was perfect and I put throttles to stops & did blast to ferry & blasted to ferry and the 3-4’ (or 9m-1.2m) wake which closely following behind. This is where I could test the 23CC coupld steadily increase the increments for edge of the envelope of performance.

I had started out very slowly going over waves & found that 23 CC still tends for slice through waves. It is really consistent along with the other cats which I have tested along with the narrow bows. I also saw that while encountering the waves, it isn’t a good idea to slow down. Hence, I started to put in more of power.

Approaching waves at very high speed got me bracing for an impact and it had never come. 23CC sliced through and went going. Adding more of power on Carolina Cat 23CC will cut through waves & launch in to air, going at level attitude before it very well sliced through next wave. I was glad to see that the more I have given, the better this boat had responded. It is clear that the draft shallow boat will easily handle herself very well in the conditions of off shore.

In sea way she clearly won’t exhibit characteristics of pounding of flats boat. This narrow entry which catamarans simply have cut through easily the waves as hulls are very narrow. Further while they are coming down there aren’t any large and flat surfaces which slam in to water.

The now. There is big deck of casting at bow that is measuring around 28″ x 5′ 9” (or 71 cm x 1.75 m). 6” (or 15.2 cm) the pull-up cleats are for either side & in corners of forward are the separate lights of nav which I’d like for seeing flush-mounted.

Bow has seating U-shaped topped along with comfortable cushions having added support under legs. There is storage under center seat & for porting & star board are 150 quart (or 142 L) fish insulated boxes along with over board drains. There is enough of seating in here for 5 adults & because seating runs from about 35” (or 88.9 cm) to 27 ½” (or 69.8 cm) apart, I would like to see Carolina Cat offers table bow pedestal as option.

Along with cushions that are removed non skid covers of hatch created one more elevated deck of casting & grab recessed rails will be keeping lines from any snagging. LED light courtesy is totally forward & shines on to deck.

Console

I measured 17” (43.2 cm) between the bow seats and the forward console seat, and 2’ (.6 m) between the console and the bulwarks. Caprails come up 22” (55.9 cm) from the deck and that height looked consistent all way back to stern. Forward seat is on the top of cooler which gets molded in to console & deck & it includes the grab handles of stainless for either side. My test boat got fitted along with t-top optional along with canvas over head & frames of aluminum having spot light bracket.

Post leaning. Leaning post is padded nicely & there is room below for the carry-on cooler. Helm gets mounted to side of port of console & stainless steel wheel gets connected to hydraulic single ram steering.

The mission statement

Mission statement for Prestige 550 Flybridge is practically same as rest of line of Prestige. Build boat that is best possible, & make her really affordable by just focusing on the form & function & leave out all fluff. You’ll find really solid composite counter tops, wall-2-wall carpeting, & fiberglass over heads which maximize the interior room & utility. The prestige designers do stay away from the styling of “flavor of month”.

Over view

For 2011, the Prestige has earned some praise for Europe for 4 new boats brought in: 350, 400, 500 & 500S. The success does breed more success – in world of boating just like any where else. This company designed for 2 models on 58′ 10″ (17.92m) hull of LOA: 550 express & 550 Fly bridge motor yachts. All the 4 of new 2011 versions were pretty innovative in 1 sense or the other, & I think that the new ones are pretty interesting.

The distinguishing Features

• The engines are mounted on the forward.  Instead of just putting Cummins diesels engine in front of pods directly, they are farther moved forward for evenly distributing the weight around this longitudinal center of gravity of this boat. It keeps 550 from giving excessive rise of bow & allows for this ride @ more sedate five degrees attitude of bow high. Zeus pods are well located aft, under berth of crew quarters, & jack shaft that connects these engines to pods.
•  The low draft. Due to the pod drives which are in the tunnels & she is of moderate displacement the draft is just 3’ 8’’ (1.17m), which is a shoal for a boat of this size.
•  2 control stations are standard.  Mostly we see standard fly bridge station of helm & optional station of control that is located below. A lot of builders use such a plan for creating roomier salon. The prestige feels & I agree for this case, that salon is pretty roomy & chooses for putting in lower station of helm as the standard. Apart from this, optional 3rd station in cockpit too is available.
•  VIP Versatile sleeping. Virtually all boats in the market for this class have queen bed in forward cabin. It is pretty fine for one couple; however, if there are two ladies or gents, or any teenage children for accommodating then there might be a problem? Prestige has really thought of this & has built the queen bed in such a way that you can split it in to twins having each of the berths moved to hill sides. This design is really super.
•  There is private entrance for huge master. A lot of yachts in this class have 1 access for all the accommodations. 1 problem with the design is that a lot of space is now wasted on long passage way. By making separate staircase for master state room Prestige gives not just more of privacy, but there is also more of usable space for walking in closet & a larger head.
•  The price. At simply little more than one million dollars this is plenty of yachts for money. You should simply take one look around and you will understand what I am trying to say.

The major features

•  3 state room lay out. VIP guest state room is on the forward. Port side state room of guests comes with twin berths which you can easily convert in to queen.
•  Cock pit access for fly bridge. It is only access for flybridge, which eliminates salon stair case which just takes up the space, in my opinion.

Handling and performance

With pair of the 600 hp Cummins QSC 8.3 engines of diesel that were powering my test boat I could reach top speed @ 3080 rpm up with 30.2kts. At this speed I had fuel burn of around 62.85gph for range of about 251 nautical miles. The best cruise had come in with 2500 rpm & 22.4kts. Now fuel consumption was dropped to 41.2gph giving me range of about 284 nautical miles. I reached planning speed in about 8.5 seconds & had accelerated to about 30 mph in just 21.7 seconds.

While accelerating, this bow roughly comes up eight degrees which means that the horizon does remain very clear in the view from lower helm. Once you are on the plane she will settle in to five degree attitude of bow high. Due to maneuvering characteristics of the pods, you will not find any of the break-neck turns on 550. Throw of pods is just limited at the speed so you’ll just get five degrees angle of bank which gives you really slow turns. It had taken about seventy seconds for 550 for coming around entire 360-degrees. This is really adequate for short maneuvers, like dodging occasional buoy of trap which pops up all over world. While taking the power off, this 550 settles back in to water & level attitude, again giving no loss of any visibility for horizon.

The considerations of steering

While on visibility subject, Prestige 550 Flybridge has some out standing sight lines. From lower helm you will find looking through bow rails, but bow it self is well below line of horizon. Naturally, from fly bridge you get almost unobstructed view of 360-degrees. Also, you get clearer view of port quarter through companion way hatch.

1 interesting feature for noting is that lower & upper helms are for the opposing side which lets you choose which of the helm should you operate from the based on which boat side you’ll tie up for. Of course to back in to slip or for med-mooring you can not beat optional cock pit station of control.

550 Fly gives you very solid feel for her. While I were saddled along with calm day I could pass through few sizable wakes which had showed that she throws the spray really well off to sides & down low to produce relatively dry ride. The hard chines gives excellent stability & she shoulders the beam seas off very nicely along with very effect for being felt from fly bridge helm.

The docking manners

According to me, combination of diesels of Cummins & the Zeus pods is really out standing, & nowhere can you feel this to the max benefit as compared to when you are maneuvering in the close quarters. I could easily bring in 550 in between 2 of other yachts with very close confines of med-moor to control from station of cock pit.

Even while you are standing with close proximity to pods and engines, there wasn’t any “clunking” in to gear & operation was really smooth. In fact, so smooth, that only indication which things were normally working was gentle response which 550 Fly bridge had for my slow movement of this joystick. More on this point, while making control movement on joy stick 550 precisely follows as opposed for making input of control, seeing where this boat goes, & after that correcting this movement for what you need it to be.

The accommodations deck

550 Fly bridge motor yacht is set really well for sleeping up to 6 guests for 3 cabins along with aft crew cabin that I predict will be serving as the added accommodations of guests for this boat which should be operator/owner vessel. The pods do make the handling very easy and the yachts of this size are, for most of the cases, operated by owner. If there is no crew then the aft cabin will surely get taken over 1 of the kids of the owner who yearn on sleeping as far from adults as it is possible. (also wash down this boat during nights)

While keeping practice of Prestige of making master state rooms really comfortable considering length of the hull that is available, cabin of mid ships on 550 comes with big bed of center line, tiny seating of booth type for 2 to the port, & closet of walk-in. There is big en suite head along with separate stall of shower. I really liked private access through curved companionway that is leading from salon. Forward 2 cabins do share head.

The main deck

Main deck has dinning and galley areas, making serving and preparing the food less of trial for cook. Tri-doors do open on to big aft deck that nearly completely was covered by flying bridge over hang may not be good for crowd that is sun tanning. However, it is over all more functional in different weather. You can also button it up along wing isinglass for proving for the living of three season.

On the forward, there is sun pad that is really big enough for baking together. Also, there is flying bridge.  15’6” or 475 cms big platform of stern is adjustable hydraulically as one option and this makes it very fine to carry tender.

On Flying Bridge

Access for flying bridge is stair way from port that is forward on the corner of aft deck. Bridget is a really sunning and seating space along with the after section that is taken up by U-lounge that is pretty shallow, large sun pad that is adjacent for help and the room for the chairs and table.

Mission For World Cat 255 DC

Designing team at World Cat is set out for improving upon the 250 DC which is popular already by giving even more of space in cockpit, giving more of seating, & improving helm. At the core, mission of 255 DC is for continuing for being versatile plat form for the off shore fishing, diving, cruising, & other water sports. As she is pretty rugged, stable, & sea worthy she does strives for being boat of the choice of the offshore discerning boaters.

The distinguishing features

Few of distinguishing features aren’t really specific for this boat as they’re with the catamarans generally. 255 DC has made a good catamaran even better. In marketplace the competition will mostly be mono hulls, and hence we’ll dispense along with obvious features that are distinguishing.

Totally redundant systems.  Getting twin hulls lets you separate all systems & effectively make mirror image amidst port & star board hulls. Obviously you need 2 separate systems of propulsion, but also 2 separate systems of electrical & 2 two separate systems of fuel (hundred gallons/378.5 litres each). It’d be very rare for having boat like this one to get stuck off shore & not be able for limping off home under power of her own.

Lots of space.  The catamarans have roominess which no other monohull boat of this size matches. If you’d bring your family and friends on board you will literally have adults hanging out, & even dining @ bow (this is realm that is reserved normally for kids) while the other members in party can be diving, swimming, or lounging around in cock pit.

Standard hard top. Fiber glass hard top isn’t an option any more but it is relegated to standard features & includes opening hatches, courtesy lights, & double gusseted supports which also serve as the functional hand holds.

Dive plat form. There is a sturdy platform of swim centered between 2 outboards & along with optional railing & heavy-duty ladder, World Cat makes things very easy for getting in & out of water even when there are double tanks. All that is missing is option for the racks of dive tank. Such a platform is just possible in catamaran as out board engines are wide spaced apart.

The stability – This is where  World Cat 255 DC has the mono hulls stopped cold. As most of the off shore boats for size range are really deep-V – usually having something from 21 to 25-degrees of the dead rise @ transom, they do roll when they are at the drift fishing, rest, or any slow trolling. Rock n roll is really fun on dance floor & most of the seasoned anglers are used to aboard the mono hull off shore fish boats. However, most of the spouses have not.

Standard Major Features

The easy transitions. If you are looking for boat which swaps out between the hard-core fishing & dedicated fun of family, World Cat 255 DC does fits your bill really well. The features of fishing are hidden beneath nicely comfortable cushions and hence if while you are converting back to the family fun, it is a bit more hosing down, drying off, and putting cushions back.

More room for electronics – Helm is redesigned for accomdating twelve inches or thirty cms multi function display apart from the multi function gauges of engine. Apart from this, the boat comes with unique ability for adding the electronics in front of station of observer along with spaces that are molded in that are mounted in to head door are well angled for facing captain. You can go ahead and put flat screen fish finder in here for letting the observer have one hand for finding good spot of fishing.

Star board & port bow the lockers of anchor. Along with 2 lockers of anchor you get to carry tiny anchor of “lunch hook” & heavier 1 along with some 20′ or so of the chain to work harder. The adjustable height bow table. The table can be used for having lunch on the board and you can lower it for converting this area that is used for the lunch on board & you can lower it for converting area in to sun lounge having filler cushion. Fresh water pump-out electric head. Instead of getting Porta-Potti as the standard, this World Cat 255 DC comes with toilet of china bowl & 10-gallons holding tank & over board discharge. Fold-away aft seat. Fold-down dual aft seats having back rest cushions give you seating for the cruising & are out of way while fishing. 100 percent composite hull. There isn’t any wood used in deck, hull, or transom of 255 DC.

Performance & Handling

For acceleration there is 12-degree minimal bowrise which gives you clear view of horizon. With hulls having really narrow entry you get to really feel lack of the resistance while going through water. I, unfortunately, tested on calm, flat day & I am saying unfortunately as World Cat boats have good reputation of handling practically anything which Mother Nature can throws @ them. This is not simply talk; I have verfieied this in earlier models which I got from this company. Going through wakes of the passing yachts did verify my opinion that it is just one more example of out standing off shore boat.

Speed up on the rough. Narrow entry of the hulls lets them to slice through waves instead of ride up & over them, or for pounding in to them. Due to this, my experience was that when going gets really rough, slowing down isn’t necessarily a correct move. I’ve found this speeding up actually gives better penetration through waves & hull takes flow very easy. Additionally this speed serves for carrying the hull off from 1 wave & directly in to next after maintaining good level attitude which I find really comfortable.

Turning

The Mono hull owners say that cats does lean out while turning, so let me address it. Cats turn really differently as compared to mono hulls, how can it be same? While entering turn in 255 DC this one has tendency for lean to out side of turn, & once turn gets established, she will complete turn @ level of attitude.

Different strokes

That out side tilt may be a bit disconcerting initially but it does not take really long for getting used to it. After around 15 minutes things were pretty natural.

 Key Features Of Formula 353 FasTech

Foam-filled molded continuous structural grid

Hardware of stainless steel and 316 L welded rails of stainless steel

Tempered, tinted curved-glass wind shield

Panels of dash along with blue, black, or red finish of carbon-fiber

Livorsi chromed throttles/shifters along with an in-handle out drive switch of trim

Illuminated water proof accessory switches of rocker along with circuit breakers of E-T-A

McLeod offshore-style electric-assist bolsters

Cock pit cover along with non-fading color-coordinated Sun brella acrylic fabric along with vinyl SeaMark undercoating

Wrap-around ultra leather lounge double/seating berth along with cushions of filler

Entertainment center along with stainless steel polished sink, Corian counter top and demand system of water

Formula Recipe…

Brand of Formula was born in early heady days of sport from off shore racing of powerboat along with the pioneers like Jim Wynn and Don Aronow beating hell out of the kidneys racing to Nassau from Miami. Porter family which owned Formula for a long time & built it in to brand that is world-class, isn’t a stranger for racing. Scott Porter, the company president, is former off shore World Champion & for a long time Formulas were campaigned for circuits racing all over world. Now, due to world situation of economy Formula is now taking subdued approach for racing, but their commitment for building plush, high-quality, boats of high-performance is still unabated.

The New hull. New line Formula 353 FasTech is now denoted by the design of new hull which incorporates 3 separate surfaces of running produced by 2 steps that are built in to this hull. These “steps” serve actually for forcing the air under hull & thereby reducing friction of surface for faster ride as compared to boat having smooth deep-V. Few builders put in 1 step, but the Formula puts 2.

Strength needs weight

Now that we’ve stepped hull & horses are doing the job, we are slowing this boat down a little as it is relatively heavy… about 9,500 lbs (or 4,309 kg), which is about 1000 – 1500 lbs heavier as compared to most, but not each one, of other boats of high-performance. So what is it that makes 353 very heavy & why is Formula doing this? Weight comes through construction methods, some added materials, & for lesser extent, few amenities.

Instead of using traditional system of stringer injected along with closed-cell super light foam, Formula uses separately that is made by fiberglass system of grid which chemically gets bonded to hull. Due too this, there is heavier boat, but beefier & stronger 1, which means building boat that is more solid in riding and more safer boat too. It also says that 353 may be a bit slower as compared to other go-fast boats which are lighter.

Speed needs strength

I can not stress enough importance of getting strong hull while operating at the high speeds. For the high speed, waves aren’t soft, instead they’re more like some concrete with out rebar. That’s why shape of hull, dead rise & strength of boat is really important. Picture any car going through speed bumps for every fifteen feet while it is traveling @ 70mph and you will get some idea of punishment that boat needs to endure.

Amenities…

Let us not forget that this Formula 353 FasTech is still Formula. They did not simply make empty cabin hoping to keep things light. 353 FAS³Tech comes with plush flush cabin along with perks. Starting @ bow along with Ultraleather berth of double bow, then Ultraleather lounge seat that is wrap-around can convert to 1 more double berth along with filler cushions, removable Corian cock tail table, entertainment center along with polished sink of stainless steel & Corian counter top, refrigerator dual-voltage & compartment of private head.

Helm…

Sitting @ helm, along with 353’s narrow and long figure, makes one feel like you are sitting @ controls of missile. But it’s comfortable missile. Wrap-around dual McLeod seats that are electrically adjusted are built to give you sustained operation at high-speeds. These McLeod seats are developed over the years for racing offshore. Additionally, driver gets electrically adjustable footrest of McLeod. For all heights, the captain will feel at home on this Formula 353 FasTech .

The performance

Lets talk about the engines. How fast can this boat go? As mentioned, this test boat is powered by twin 8.2 L 525-hp EFI engines through Mercury Racing going through Bravo One XR units of lower. This is smallest engine which Mercury Racing is offering and it will give you some idea about where the boat will go idea of about the boat will go, if you wanna to take her around.

Now before I get to the top speed, let me talk regarding getting this boat to the run. While moving Livorsi throttles ahead, this bow comes all the way up. You will lose some visibility so you need to check area before taking off, once you are on the plane, it is all business. It is fast business.

Steering at speed

You might be expecting a description from me about for describing unique skill set which it takes for getting up to speed realm which not a lot of people will afford, but I am sorry to disappoint. Not for this boat. The speed is matter of putting in more throttle & along with 353, any one will do it. This is really scary for that any kinda idiot will be able do it. It is also good praise for design of 353 in for any idiot will do it, including myself. Speedometer needle comes really fast, & because of the size, you won’t feel that you are going very fast.

While moving throttle forward & bow gets down, do not lolly gag @ 2500 rpm just because she is not solid on the plane. Just keep moving throttle forward & she will be one happy lady. Around ¾ of the travel of throttle had me @ 4000 rpm & I looked down very briefly for seeing that I was @ 57.9 mph… & she had plenty lot of handling to give. I eased throttles forward expecting bad characteristics of handling for materialize that some times come along with this kinda speed, but it did not happen. The oscillation that is operator induced, chine walking… things you’ve to compensate for & go through. But she was rock solid. Hence, forward went throttles again… up to top 5250 rpm.

The speed numbers

Some fiddling along with trim for keep bow nailed to water & there I was at the top speed. There was no chine walking, none of fear factor, just plenty of looking really awesome & sounding really tough. My top speed? it was 80.2mph. Not really bad for boat which is not competing for high end of speed chain of food & I was doing it along with pair of the Mercury Racing 525s.

Association of National Marine Manufacturers says that the sales went up by 6 percent for the year 2011. It was first increase of this industry since the year 2006. Florida has accounted for about $1.5 billion dollars of these sales, up by 35 percent over the year 2010. Rick Johnson along with Gulf Marine, a boat dealer says that people are pent up, they have sat back, they have watched. It does not really look as it world is going to end and hence people are getting out with their families.

Bubba Hart from Harts Marine says that the sales are pretty strong for their end too. The banks are now freeing up a little in terms of financing, the sales of new, Used boats are increasing and so are the sales of old boats. The sales of engine are increasing and the service too is going pretty well. Hart likes in a really beautiful place and people are getting back on water readily.

People such as Adam Carter, now first time owner of a boat. He bought a boat recently, posting its pictures proudly at his page of Facebook. He said that he has been waiting for a long tiem to purchase a boat and he has also done a lot of research about it. He went from 2-3 different places to find the right boat. He then ended up at ‘Key West’17 foot, which cost around $7,000. But he says that there will be an opportunity for setting sail on the new adventures along with his three year old is now priceless. He just wanted an heritage of growing on Gulf Coast, & fishing & spending some time on water, which is 1 of things that is really special about the region, says Carter.

Design team of Prestige Yachts that is headed by Vittorio Garroni is credited for making 620S. It combines sporty & style feel of express yacht along with room & comforts of the flying bridge motor yacht. For me, it is a really clever marriage and new 620S has best of both the worlds.

The Mission Statement

Prestige is set to dominate mid-range market of yachting by making some functional and luxurious yachts that are significantly priced below competition. Prestige 620S is motor yacht that’s meant for using and cruising by the people who do appreciate boating and boats, and also like feel of open-air which just an express along with sun roof can give you.

Distinguishing Features

Few distinguishing features in the 620S are

Center mounted helm. Helm on deck flybridge is mounted on centerline along with 2 observers seats which are on the either side. For me this is a pretty natural location for operating instead of starboard side or port. From this position, you get good view of transform by simply looking down open hatch of companionway.

Side wide decks.  Here’s area where the builders really are in favor of adding more in space on the interior and the side decks are sacrificed for this. But this doesn’t hold true for Prestige 620S. With the 15’8″ (1.73 m) beam this Prestige can accommodate easily for the side transition decks & have roomy interior too.

Galley aft and up. For my eye it is best arrangement that is possible. Having galley up on main deck makes the boat designed to spend days above the decks & nights below the decks. Moving galley centrally aft locates it somewhere between main salon area of dining & aft cock pit area of dining while @ same time & making sure that chef is integral part for gathering.

Bulwarks are relatively high on flying bridge. The designs of Europe generally come with really low bulwarks on flying bridge for keeping the lines of the boat low & sleek. Few builders do go really far to say that the flying bridges aren’t flying bridges but instead are “sun decks” having some helm added for the convenience. As helm on 620S is been moved aft it allows designers for raising deck leading to helm & doesn’t distract from aesthetics of this boat.

Pricing : Pricing of Prestige 620S is quite remarkable for 60′ motor yacht.

The Handling characteristics

Before I talk about handling characteristics, I must say that Prestige 620S has IPS Volvo pods. It is important that you know this, & for understanding that there are some characteristics for all the pod drives which directly affect the way the boat particularly performance of turning.

At the full speed, motion range of pods is just limited by this unit’s software of command so and hence you don’t need to bolt off suddenly at 90-degrees angle at the full speed. This makes sure that the gentle turns which do not send dishes & crockery tumbling from cabinets. This isn’t car stock racing but just yachting.

Response of helm – That said, Prestige 620S is quite responsive at helm, courtesy of 2-1/2 turns from the lock-to-lock @ wheel. You will still get very agile handling, & that is important feature for some one like me who is from New England. You can not just swing rudder with out hitting lobster pot.

Even on the test grounds, I was running in area that was littered along with trap buoys, & irrespective of how fast they could to “pop ” quick yet gentle response to helm that was made dodging them at non-event. 620S exhibits about three 3-degrees roll in to turn @ full speed, I found this to be really comfortable.

There isn’t any bow rise for speaking of upon the acceleration. Once you are on plane 620S settles in to roughly three-degree bow high on the attitude, and hence there is no concern regarding the visibility loss. This means whether operating from lower helm or not, this skipper sees what is at the front.

Wake Me Up

One of sad realities in boat testing is that you can not pick the weather, & on the test day along with Prestige 620S I got clear skies & calm winds. That is really great to get fast runs of speed, but for testing characteristics handling, it wasn’t much. But I could manage to get close to some megayachts which were kicking sizeable wakes, and hence I made best of all them.

Hitting wakes head-on had me slicing through clean & nice, with water getting thrown well from sides. While doing that, spray had stayed quite low, and hence there wasn’t any wind for proving my observation, 620S looks to be a dry boat.

On beam, I was stuck to the 3-degrees roll & just rode up & over with out any deviation from the heading. Here too I didn’t get any of the spray in to windshield.

While this isn’t test of rough-water, but I got feeling that this boat can handle any lumpy seas. For following or quartering the seas this boat doesn’t have any rudders, & you can simply rely on thrust of 2 big pods for keeping boat’s bow to go wherever you want it.

Test Numbers

Now, I will get to meat. My test Prestige 620S had light weight of displacement of about 49,607 lbs. (or 22,500 kg). I had 3/4 fuel & 5 people onboard.

The 700-hp twin Volvo Penta D11 along with IPS900 drives had reached top speed @ 2400 rpm & respectable knots of about 31.5. For this speed, I could burn combined 69gph for range of about three hundred and four nautical miles.

The Best cruise

The Best cruise is quite subjective as I practically got same MPG from 1500rpm all way till WOT. Technically speaking, the best cruise is @ 18.1 knots with turning of 1750 rpm. That’s good speed for running motoryacht like this 1 & at this speed there is burning of 36.5 gph.

However, if I was asked to choose best comfortable cruise, especially if I was going with this boat from flying bridge, it’d be @ 2030 rpm & 24 kts. For this speed I was burning about 49 gph for range of about 326 nautical miles, which were about 5 nautical miles less as compared to my best technical cruise.

The Walk through starting with flying bridge

Helm of center console on flying bridge gets flanked by 2 observers independent seats. Wrap around wind screen from 620 gets replaced along with smaller wind screen width of console on 620S. It does served the purpose of wind deflection the over the head in seated position. However, in standing position, wind 30 kn was at my face.

The radar arch not only looks great on this boat, but it serves its primary function to support the antennae array as well as a Bimini top. Underneath, you will see wrap around dinette & storage below and this includes storage for the space for life raft.

Prestige has taken the galley down or up argument in better direction … the galley aft. I have seen this for other boats & it works pretty well, especially here as galley gets nestled between 2 dining areas both in main saloon & aft deck. I really loved this island in galley, & woodwork is done very well. You should notice how over head cabinets get hinged at top & open from bottom.

Accommodations deck

There are really comfortable accommodations for crew of six plus, all the state rooms are just ensuite. This is just how yacht of the stature should get arranged, & I think that the motor yachts 60′ or bigger which have heads that are shared aren’t using the available space very properly.

Master is all beam & master head has dual basins. Berth is located on centerline to give you max comfort in seaway. Combo of desk/vanity lies to the port, & sofa is there on starboard, just in front of big side hull windows. Berth, and deck on the either side, is just step up from main deck when you enter. It make life really easy for getting in to berth and also improves the sight lines out windows of hull side, while still giving a lot of storage underneath.

The 3rd stateroom has single twin berths which easily convert to big double. The stateroom also comes with big windows along with opening port lights & there is access to private head.

Space Coast moniker isn’t in jeopardy yet but Brevard can become destination for the afficionados of sportfishing who have where withal for purchasing 1 of world’s respected – & expensive fishing big-game- vessels.

A lot of customers do not want to go to showroom & get one. What they need isn’t in showroom, says Alton Herndon, who is president at Bertram. He said this is an interview on Tuesday from new digs of his company on the Merritt Island. They wish to come to facility of manufacturing & watch it getting built. They are making a lot of visits.

That is just 1 of economic pleasantries for pondering on as the Herndon & officials from Commission of Economic Development at Space Coast of Florida announce formally about relocation Bertram’s to the Brevard County @ 3-hours event today at Merritt Island.

Herndon will be announcing that 50-years-old firm new home will be at former Sea Ray factory @ 1230 Drive of Sea Ray on the Merritt Island, where this firm will, at least initially, build about 15 – 25 sportfishing vessels year which range around 50 – 80 feet long.

Bertram is planning to hire around 221 people & expects on finding employees from amongst former workers at Sea Ray, which shut down the Merritt Island operation in times of the recession, & Kennedy Space Center, where about 7,000 engineers & technicians got displaced when program of shuttle had ended in the month of July.

Andrew Ostrowski, sat close to his wife @ front of 20-persons boat and he said that his team has got the right spirit. 20 teams had taken to 250-meters course through out day. This event show cased Asian culture in demonstrations of singing, dances, & traditional musical Chinese instruments & tai chi. Gary Tom, who is chair man of cultural committee in the event, said that it was really exciting for seeing this festival come together.

He said that as Chinese person, he has grown hearing regarding the races of dragon boat, but he hasn’t seen one yet. Organizers said that they are looking for fundraiser apart from the typical gala or the golf tournament. They want involvement of community & some raise awareness regarding Goodwill mission. They are thinking that they have come up along with winning idea, as the steady crowds had visited all through out the day.

Jim Stiff, who is president & CEO or chief executive officer at Goodwill Industries in Middle Georgia & CSRA, said that this event had mirrored early work of the Edgar Helms who is founder, and in 1902 he had “church of the nations” & brought together different cultures.

Stiff said that the idea of race is fitting as goal of Goodwill helping “people in the life race for discovering the talents which are God-given.” The money that is raised through the Good Boats will be offered for construction of the Goodwill’s Augusta Campus of Career in Village West Shopping Center at Furys Ferry Road. The staff said that this organization is around $640,000 short of the $6 million money that is needed for finishing this project. 2nd phase of the construction is now under the way. Amongst offerings @ campus, there will be Institute of Helms Career, and it will give culinary classes of arts & is scheduled for opening in October. Stiff says that this institute is now working along with Fanning Institute @ University in Georgia for finding out what the employers will require from the year 2016 to the year 2020 for adding best programs.

Average cost for filling up any boat is around $120. However, that is not stopping the people from getting hitched and driving them in this spring.

Mike Oyen, the Sales Manager at Soo Sports, says that fishing was really fantastic in the last year in this river & it started fantastic for this year & he says when there is seventy or eighty degrees in the month of March, there are people coming here to set this place alive.

Oyen acknowledges the fact that the prices of gas are really affecting sales of boat in the other regions. He says that there are few areas where market is really soft. However, in the Midwest, there are few dealer friends of his and they say that everyone is having a really good time there. Hence, he thinks that this might be some kinda regional thing.