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While the 3470’s
impeccable waterborne deportment was a source of fast-planing, turn-carving
joy, it was when I examined the boat back at the marina that I discovered
that much of the standard ancillary equipment is either oversize or redundant.
For example, in the machinery spaces (accessed via a heavy, gas-assisted
cockpit hatch), there’s a veritable monster of a fire-extinguishing
cylinder, a fixed unit from Fireboy with a 450-cubic-foot capacity, way
more than my 300-cubic-foot estimate of the area’s volume. Also here
is the lion’s share of an electrical system that’s loaded with
beef, reliability, and backup. Its essence is an Inteli-Power battery
charger from Progressive Dynamics, a new breed of "smart charger"
that uses a microprocessor to complexly, completely, and constantly monitor
and maintain battery health. A Sure Power Industries battery isolator
throws even more versatility into the mix by allowing for simultaneous
charging of the two cranking batteries and the single house battery without
back-feeding the system and frying alternator diodes. Three battery switches,
instead of the common single "Off-1-Both-2" unit, complete the
sophisticated scenario. Separate starter, house, and battery paralleling
circuitry seamlessly obviates switching mistakes and the dead batteries
that result.
The way most equipment
is installed on the 3470 is as compelling as the equipment’s size
and abundance. Consider the 2,000-gph Rule bilge pump in the machinery
spaces. Bolted onto the foot of a deep steel bracket attached at floor
level, it can be easily removed for cleaning and repair by simply extracting
a few screws and pulling some quick-disconnects in the waterproof wiring
harness. Consider also the Maxwell windlass, a back-saving option. It’s
recessed in a pan molded into the foredeck and covered by a flush-mounted,
tight-fitting hatch, and its underbody is gasket-sealed so motor windings
and wiring connections beneath are protected from water.
An array of layout choices
and a crisp, clean finish characterize the 3470’s interior. While
the curved settee/table ensemble in the starboard-side dinette area of
our test boat was comfortable as well as fashionable, thanks to an optional,
expertly joined, natural-cherry package, another configuration is available,
with a rectangular, athwartship table and opposed bench seats. In the
midcabin, there’s a standard double berth, with an optional convertible
U-shape settee. With either version, an extra-large entry with stand-up
vestibule and curtain expedites dressing and undressing in comfort and
privacy.
The forward stateroom,
which has a big diagonal double berth, can be either curtained off or
fitted with a bulkhead for privacy. A Panasonic TV on a turntable above
the dinette spins to face either the forward berth or the rest of the
interior. And the head, which offers a large stand-up shower stall as
well as an equally large sink/MSD area, virtually guarantees ease of upkeep
thanks to the two smooth fiberglass units that comprise it. The upper
module fits snugly and almost seamlessly into a lower receiver that’s
part of a complex inner liner stretching from firewall to anchor-locker
bulkhead.
That liner adds rigidity
to the boat. Formed with a wide perimeter flange and cored on the bottom
with Baltek AL-600/10 polymer-coated balsa, it is uni-bonded with 3M 5200
to the inner surfaces of the hull sides and transom, all the way around,
as well as to the tops of the glass-encapsulated marine-ply stringers
and transversals. The 3470’s hull and deck are also cored with AL-600/10
and fastened together with 3M 5200. Fade-resistant ISO-NPG gelcoat as
well as general-purpose resins are used in most laminates, although an
osmosis-resistant barrier coat laid up with expensive vinylester resin
is used by Cruisers below the waterline.
During most boat tests
I do, I encounter a few features that are worth grousing about, and this
one was no different. For example, while I found that access to the optional
genset in the machinery spaces was excellent, access to the water heater
nearby was poor. Also, I suspect the presence of a whirring air handler
hard by the midcabin will evoke roars instead of snores from any light
snoozers. Regardless of these faults, though, my overall opinion of the
boat was more in keeping with the dazzling facets of the sunset I saw
while driving away at the end of the day than anything else.
A jewel of a sunset
after a jewel of a boat test. Pretty appropriate, I’d say.
Cruisers Yachts
Phone: (920) 834-2211. Fax: (920)834-2797. www.cruisersyachts.com.
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