THE GREAT DEBATE – 33-FOOTERS

What 30-35ft boats would MBY’S three (relatively) wise men choose to spend their own money on? Editor Hugo, boat test guru Jack Haines and Aquaholic columnist Nick Burnham thrash it out

TESTED MBY’S three most experienced testers tell us which boat of this size they’d buy and why their colleagues are clearly deluded!

hen you want a watch go to the Swiss, when you want a saloon car go to the Germans and when you want a mid-size sportscruiser go to the Scandinavians – it’s as simple as that. You can count on one hand (or possibly just one finger) the number of Scandinavian yards that build a motorboat larger than 75ft and that’s because they are just so damn good at building craft of 20-40ft.

If you turn to p64 you will find this theory reinforced by our test of the

Grandezza 37 but here I want to fight the corner for the brilliant Marex 310 Sun

Cruiser. It is, in short, the ultimate example of the sort of clever, practical boat design that the Scandis – in this case

Norwegians – are known for as there isn’t an inch of space that hasn’t been put to good use. There are thoughtful touches from stem to stern like the brilliant curtain-style cockpit canopies that slide out from the superstructure, cockpit storage bins that can be accessed without having to remove cushions or loose locker lids, the twin canvas sunroofs and the oversized companionway hatch, which opens up the compact but smartly finished galley to the natural light of the windscreen. This is a boat, you sense, that has been designed and tested by folk who actually go boating themselves in their spare time, not some design school graduate who is a dab hand at computer modelling. It is authentic.

What sets the 310 apart, however, is that underneath the comfortable brown shoes exterior is its willingness to banish the brogues and swap them for a pair of ballet pumps. During our 2017 sea trial of the boat we achieved a top speed a whisker over 35 knots with the single 370p Volvo Penta D6, but it is the handling that sticks in one’s mind more so than out-and-out performance. It comes as a bit of a surprise that the Marex is actually the narrowest of the three boats, despite having such excellent side decks, but its lean beam and sterndrive propulsion make it an absolute joy to pilot through the waves. You can have twin D3 220hp engines if you want but the single diesel of either 320hp or 380hp are the ones to go for in my view, the 6-cylinder especially providing smooth, accessible grunt with enough shove to keep the momentum up in a seaway.

Yes, the Fairline will scream out of the hole faster than the

310 and go on to a top speed of 48 knots, but how often are you actually going to want to do that? You’ll open the throttles for all

of 45 seconds to impress your mates and then immediately head down to the windowless cabin to weep into a pillow, lamenting how much that burst of adrenaline cost you in fuel. The thrill of owning the Marex is not dependent on travelling at high speed.

At this point you might expect me to concede that, yes, the 310 is beautifully made and brilliantly designed but you have to pay a major premium to have it in your life. Think again. Because it performs so effortlessly with a single engine there is no need to opt for twins, saving money at the point of purchase and in servicing and maintenance costs. The upshot is that the Marex with the 380hp engine is around £36,000 more in base spec than the Leader 33, but it comes as standard with goodies like a bow thruster, electric toilet, trim tabs and teak in the cockpit, all of which are options on the Jeanneau. All I would add to the standard boat is a generator (£20,280), teak all round (£9,792), the navigation pack (£8,340), and the wonderful Niroxx custom upholstery (£1,188).

The 310 boasts exclusivity. A Leader 33 owner is reasonably likely to pull up next to an identical boat on their travels but, at the other end of the

oats are expensive things. Even the more ‘affordable’ and eminently sensible boats chosen by my colleagues cost more than the average UK house (£248,000 according to Government stats) and yet neither of them make me want to sell my soul just for the sheer joy of owning one.

The F//line 33 does. And for so many reasons.

First up, it looks sensational. I know style is a subjective matter but everything about the little Fairline seems to trigger my feel-good synapses. It’s taut, edgy, muscular and modern yet there’s also something inherently beautiful and enduring about its elegant profile and tapered aft sections.

And don’t even get me started on the detailing – what other production 33-footer boasts backlit logos laser-cut into the stainless steel rubbing rail and LED strip lights recessed into the toerails, not to mention a folding transom bathing platform, pantograph hinged sidescreens and a built-in wireless phone charger? It is, in my humble opinion, the best looking sub 35-footer currently in production. Not even the Riva Iseo or Windy Zonda hits my dopamine switch like this does, let alone Jack’s Marex or Nick’s Jeanneau.

Then there’s the small matter of the way it performs. I know most of the time you just want to cruise comfortably from one berth to the next with a lunch stop in a picturesque bay en route, and the F//line will do that supremely. It cruises all day at anything from 20-30 knots, burning less than

4 litres per mile and letting its deep-vee hull iron out any wrinkles as effortlessly as a Corby trouser press. But, when the mood takes you (and believe me it will) it is also ridiculously quick and hilariously entertaining to drive. The headline figure of 47 knots is impressive enough but even that pales in comparison with the way it handles. With just 2.2 turns lock to lock, the steering would be far too quick and sensitive for most craft but the F//line has such an agile hull that it takes it in its stride. And then some. The angle of lean it can sustain during a sharp turn without losing grip beggars belief – at one point during our photo shoot I swear I managed to wet the sidedeck. The only

other boats I’ve driven that come close to this level of agility are the Cormate T27 and Williams Sportjet 460, both of which are much smaller, lighter, more focused sportsboats.

That’s where the real genius of the F//line 33 comes into play – because although it looks and drives like a thoroughbred open sportsboat, it’s actually a remarkably useable cruising machine. Its cockpit has comfortable seating for six around a teak table and a large outdoor galley with an induction hob, fridge, icemaker, sink and secure storage for the Fairline-branded crockery, glasses and cutlery. The versatile aft seat can face forward and backwards or convert into an extra sunpad. And when the sun slips below the horizon you can head down the companionway to the lower saloon for a nightcap around the convertible vee berth before heading into the secluded mid-cabin and snuggling into its queen-sized double berth. There’s even a decent heads compartment with standing headroom and a pull-out shower. You’re not going to want to spend weeks on board but a family of four could happily spend a long weekend on an F//line 33 in glorious self-isolation.

Admittedly, it will end up costing you rather more than either Jack’s Marex or Nick’s Jeanneau. I could point to the starting price of £314,400 inc VAT and try to make out that the gap isn’t as big as you’d think but that would mean settling for the 240hp V6 petrols, a fixed bathing platform and plain white decks, which would be like ordering an Aston Martin DB11 with cloth seats and the engine from a Transit van. No, if you’re going to buy an F//line 33 do it properly, spec the 430hp V8s, tick the aforementioned options boxes and spend the money knowing you are doing your bit to support British boat building. The fact that you’ll also be treating yourself to the best looking, best handling, best performing 33ft sportscruiser on the market is merely a happy

coincidence. CONTACT Fairline: www.fairline.com

he trouble with professional boat testers, and I include myself completely in this damning generalisation, is that we’re essentially big kids that never grew up. Every month includes at least two Christmas Days in which we get gifted the ultimate toy in the form of whichever latest model an eager manufacturer or dealer is keen to put in front of you, our loyal readers. And just like a kid at Christmas, we play with it hard and enthusiastically all day before abandoning it for someone else to pick up, and wander off for our tea.

Now that’s not to suggest that the boat tests that result are anything other than accurate, useful reporting – we’re doing the bit that you can’t do at a boat show, which is to blast about all day and find out whether it’s any good out there in the bumpy stuff. But we are rarely allowed to do what you will once you’ve made your selection, and that’s stay on board with the family and do it all again tomorrow. And what we certainly don’t do, is stick our hand in our back pocket and buy one outright and then run it solely out of our own personal income – that way madness lies!

Except, err, I did. Admittedly not a brand new boat, but I did stump up for a 27ft sportscruiser and I have frequently stayed on board and that’s why, despite frankly splendid choices from my learned colleagues (I was hoping for more ammunition to mock, but both have chosen annoyingly well), the boat I’m championing is the one you’re most likely to actually buy. Because as James May would say in similar circumstances,

I’ve done this properly.

And that is to start with the price. There’s no getting away from the fact that the Leader 33, fitted with a pair of Volvo Penta diesel engines, comes in at under £200,000 including VAT. Now admittedly, the Jeanneau is French, so you’re expected to be grateful that the windscreen is standard and brace yourself for a deep dive into the options list. Want such crazy fripperies as a cockpit canopy, trim tabs or a VHF radio? All options. Where I’d save some cash, however, is in not specifying the hardtop version. Convenient though it may be to just slide open the sunroof and drop the rear canopy, to me the experience of any hardtop boat is like a car with a sunroof rather than the full convertible – it’s just not the same. With a sensible specification and delivered to the

UK you’re looking at about £250,000. The Marex runs it close, admittedly, but it’s a smaller boat with only one engine and zero seating inside the cabin, so it should!

But let’s not get too bogged down with the fact that the Leader 33 is clearly far better value than the other two boats because actually, rather a lot of it is genuinely brilliant, starting with the layout.

The other two boats offer either one permanent bed, leaving you to convert the dinette if you want to sleep two more (Fairline), or you have two permanent double berths and nowhere to sit (Marex). The Leader 33 provides the usual mid-cabin with its double berth, but manages to include a seating area and a permanent double berth in the main cabin. It does this via a very simple but clever box section that slides across the seating to extend the berth when required. What is particularly brilliant is a sliding bulkhead that turns the forward area into a separate cabin. The heads is a decent size and the galley is down here too in the proper place, something neither other boat can manage. It leaves the cockpit free for acres of lounging space which, if we’re normal humans rather than boat testers, is actually what most of us spend 80% of our time on board doing.

All of which could easily leave you to conclude that this is the caravan of the trio, but actually the Leader 33 makes a surprisingly good case for itself out on the water. The Michael Peters-designed hull planes easily and corners keenly, banking hard into corners. High sides mean that a strong crosswind can induce lean, so make sure you specify those optional trim tabs. Twin D3-220 diesels will wind it out to 33 knots, and cruise at 25 with reasonably muted noise levels (not so with the alternative outboard engines – there’s no excuse for those on this sort of boat this side of the Atlantic).

Is it the best boat of these three? It’s certainly the best compromise of accommodation and value, so unless you’re a boat tester and someone else is footing the bill, I’d argue that it is.

CONTACT www.jeanneau.com

LOA 34ft 8in10.56m BEAM 10ft 10in 3.22m DISPLACEMENT 4.4 tonnes

FUEL 520 litres WATER CAPACITY 175 litres ENGINES Twin 220hp Volvo Penta D3 sterndrives TOP SPEED 33 knots CRUISING SPEED 20-26 knots CONSUMPTION 2.3 litres per mile at 26 knots PRICE £198,151 inc VAT

PRICE ON THE WATER £254,207 inc VAT (to Nick’s spec)