Elegant boating

Some people celebrate retirement with a nice cup of tea and a rug over their knees. Alan and Gloria Day commissioned a luxury motoryacht to celebrate ‘the glory of being old’.

The Days switched from yachts to launches one boat ago with Boudica, an Upfold Elite 16m. They were Boudica’s second owners, but Antiquity they commissioned brand new. They say she will be their last boat – meaning she’s exactly what they want to keep them active in their retirement years.

Antiquity is an Elite mid-pilothouse 18m (60ft) designed by Bill Upfold and built by Lloyd Stevenson Boatbuilders, both of Auckland. She will be on display at this month’s Auckland On Water Boat Show.

Bill is slightly uncomfortable with the ‘old’ in Gloria’s definition of antiquity; he prefers: a classic work of art.

For our boat review, we decided to experience Antiquity exactly as she is intended: enjoying life afloat in an attractive setting. Bill and Christine Upfold, the Days and myself met on Antiquity at Westhaven Marina, Auckland on a day with a winter chill, perfect blue sky, no wind and a silver sea. With an easy cruising speed of 20 knots, it was a quick jaunt to the seaward side of Waiheke Island; we were escorted by Maeve, another Upfold Elite, built and owned by Lloyd and Tracey Stevenson, who were onboard with photographer Gareth Cooke.

Upfold borrowed his mid-pilothouse concept from the older bridgedeckers of the 1950s about 25 years ago

and has developed it as a luxury launch. Simply, it incorporates three decks into the profile of two. The cockpit, galley to starboard and guest cabin with en suite to port are on the main deck. The pilothouse is above these on the top deck. The saloon is for’ard at a mid-level between the pilothouse and galley decks, and above the spacious engine room. Accommodation – a master cabin in the bow, stacked singles in a cabin to starboard and a bathroom – are forward and several steps down from the saloon.

The beauty of this concept is that every daytime area, including the galley, has excellent views outside with open flow throughout.

Underway, the pilothouse is the natural place to congregate.

Antiquity is reasonably deep forward with a fine entry and warped vee hull that flattens to a shallow vee aft. The deadrise at the transom is 13 degrees; the propeller shaft angle is eight degrees.

8.5 10.1 11.0 11.6 13.9 16.4 20.0 23.1 26.0 28.0 28.3 L/h 16 28 45.4 66.6 95.4 126.2 154.2 196.0 252.0 292.0

Lloyd Stevenson Boatbuilders constructed Antiquity in epoxy timber composite construction to achieve a stiff, light structure. ABOVE LEFT: Lloyd Stevenson.

“The mid-pilothouse concept incorporates three decks into the profile of two. ”

Antiquity’s interor décor is Gloria’s work. She wanted to avoid creams and beige so started with the light grey leather in the saloon and a darker grey leather in the pilothouse helm. “I just went from there,” she says.

The textured, mottled carpet throughout is sheer bliss under the feet, and cushions jazz it up with grey, black and cream with red to make it pop. There are two, red leather ottomans in the saloon; their tops flip over to become oak-top coffee tables. The upholstery in the pilothouse is a woven fabric in grey, black and cream. The surfaces are off-white, with white ceiling vinyl panels.

SMOOTH OPERATOR

Even the most comfortable surroundings are compromised if they are set against a noisy, thrumming environment, but all runs smoothly on Antiquity when underway, thanks to the design of her drive train.

“We isolated the engines from the drive train so it’s running thrust bearings and

He sent the Teignbridge propellers back to Bri-skis for a little more cup on the blades. “It was very subtle,” he says. “The top speed went up two knots when we recupped the propellers. This improvement was all the way through the rev range at an average of 1.3 knots which makes a significant difference to the fuel consumption.”

The 9.5kva Onan genset supplies 240V power throughout the boat. In case of fire, the engine room air intakes can be closed to shut off air to the engine room.

LIFE ONBOARD

We anchored in the western end of Onetangi, Waiheke Island. Anchoring was by remote from the helmstation, using the camera’s eye – that’s handy, because the windlass and anchor are concealed under the foredeck to keep the bow area clear.

Christine, Gloria and I did galley duty, heating Christine’s delicious quiches in the microwave-convection oven, along with a meatloaf I’d made. The galley has plenty of bench space and just enough room for two; a nice feature is the full-height domestic fridge. On earlier Elites, this has been part of the pantry.

With the electrically-operated, pillarless window between the dining area and cockpit lowered into the bulkhead there was full indoor-outdoor flow. We served food from the dining table and dined in the cockpit.

This is an excellent entertaining area with upholstered seating; a lattice-style table in gleaming teak and barbecue. The pilothouse’s Juliet balcony extends well over the cockpit to provide shelter from the sun and there are glass shields either side to shelter the seating from the breeze.

The Days are keen fishers, for which the handbasin, under-seat freezer, livebait tank, washdown and staples – life safety barriers – on the swimboard are useful.

The tender resides on the balcony and is launched and retrieved with a crane but for short runs between anchorages, it can be pulled up on rollers into the cockpit.

On the way home, I was appointed to the helm seat. The powerassisted hydraulic steering from Lighthouse Marine provides smooth, fingertip control steering; even easier, is the autopilot while you sit back in the helmseat to maintain lookout.

Back at the marina, the Days’ berth is a slightly awkward access but Alan and Gloria are perfectly happy with it, thanks to the twin engines and bow thruster.

I always ask new owners what they especially like about their boat. Gloria has singled out the comfort, standard of workmanship and the aesthetic styling of Antiquity’s midpilothouse profile.

Alan’s answer was even more succinct: “Everything.”

ZF electronic Teignbridge 4000L