Compact flybridge Sealine F34 ★★★★
Words 2003 £87,450
Sealine’s 1994 330 Statesman (which segued into the F33) was a huge hit. Offering twin diesels and clever innovations like stairs to the flybridge (most builders were still using ladders) for under £100K, it was a roaring success with over 400 sold. So when the time came to replace it Sealine needed to pull something special out of the bag. In 2003, the F34 was unveiled.
INTERIOR
Only a foot longer and the same beam, but it was enough for Sealine to give the master cabin forward a central double bed, much better than the offset bed of the F33. Other than that it’s business as usual, with a transverse double berth in the guest cabin running beneath the forward end of the saloon, and the galley on the upper level next to the lower helm.
EXTERIOR
Is it possible that when George Michael sang “I want your sex,” he was actually referring to Sealine’s Extending Cockpit System – SECS? Perhaps not, but you could understand his enthusiasm. At the proverbial touch of a button, the entire aft section of the F34’s cockpit slides rearward, extending the cockpit to a size more typically found on 37footers. The flybridge was also a big improvement, with two rows of seating where the F33 had just a single bench ahead of the sunpad.
PERFORMANCE
Twin Volvo Penta AQAD 41 200hp 6-cylinder diesels were the rarely fitted ‘big’ engines of the F33, most getting 170hp KAD 32 4-cylinder units. For the F34, the 41s became the norm, many getting the slightly more powerful KAD 42 which raised the top end to 30 knots, but a few were still fitted with the KAD 32, offering great value. In 2005, twin D4-210 motors were offered, D4-260s finding their way into some boats.
SEAKEEPING
Windage is the bane of short high sterndrive flybridge boats – a bow thruster becoming an essential option. If you find an F34 without one, budget for having one fitted and thank me later.
32ft 5in (9.9m) 11ft 11in (3.6m) 3ft 1in (0.9m) 6 tonnes
Length Beam Draught Displacement Fuel capacity
140 gallons (640 litres)
Twin Volvo Penta KAMD 43 230hp diesels
One Marine, www.onemarine.co.uk
27ft 6in (8.4m) 10ft 0in (3.0m) 2ft 5in (0.7m) 3.5 tonnes
Length Beam Draught Displacement Fuel capacity
110 gallons (500 litres)
Twin Volvo Penta TAMD 31P 150hp diesel
Ancasta, www.ancasta.com
33ft 9in (10.3m) 11ft 7in (3.5m) 3ft 2in (1.0m) 6.4 tonnes
Length Beam Draught Displacement Fuel capacity
150 gallons (680 litres)
Twin Volvo Penta TAMD41A 200hp diesel
Boatshed Plymouth, www.boatshed.com