CRANCHI TURCHESE 24
BUILT 2003 PRICE £25,995
Just because you’re new to boating and want something small and affordable, don’t think you have to rule out style. As ever, we turn to the Italians for excellent penmanship, as this elegant and racy weekender proves. Built by Cranchi and launched in 1994, it replaced the more angular Derby 700 and ran for a decade, during which nearly 1,000 were produced.
INTERIOR A beam of 8ft 2in and a compact cuddy cabin beneath the low profile foredeck (rather than the taller cruiser style of something like a Sea Ray Sundancer) means that space inside the Turchese 24 is limited.
But there’s sitting headroom and a comfortable horseshoe of seating for day time use. Use the infills and you’ve got a perfectly good double berth for overnighting, and there’s a chemical loo and a fridge down here too.
EXTERIOR What you lose in interior you gain in cockpit, with about 70% of the boat given over to day space. The helmsman and navigator get comfortable bucket seats with lift bolsters and there’s another big horseshoe of seating behind them for everyone else. A sunpad stretches aft across the top of the engine bay and an opening windscreen allows you to step easily up and through to get onto the foredeck.
PERFORMANCE Cranchi fitted petrol and diesel engines to the Turchese, with the former proving the most popular, mostly because it was cheaper but also because it was faster – the 5.7 litre V8 giving a mid-30 knot top end and the big block 7.4 litre over 40 knots. But there’s much to be said for the Volvo Penta KAD 32/dp fitted to this boat. The top speed is still a respectable 30 knots plus, but 3,500rpm will give a ground covering 28 knots while burning just 30 litres per hour.
SEAKEEPING Despite the boat’s compact size it feels like a proper deep vee. Put the helm hard down and it banks and tracks confidently without bleeding off too much speed – confidence inspiring for a novice pilot.
LOA 25ft 7in (7.8m) Beam 8ft 2in (2.5m) Draught 3ft 3in (1.0m) Displacement 2 tonnes Fuel capacity 230 litres Engine Volvo Penta KAD 32/dp 170hp diesel
FOR SALE Parkstone Bay Yachts www.parkstonebayyachts.com