Boat test for the 2006 Cruisers Yachts 447 Sport Sedan with boat pictures, boat specifications, and boat test results. Includes pricing, videos, engine test reviews, and ratings for the 2006 Cruisers Yachts 447 Sport Sedan.

This summer is going to rock for the PMY staff. Why? Because this year's company boat is the Cruisers 447 Sport Sedan. After spending a full day onboard the latest Office Ours, I can say with certainty that over the next five months, the sign-up sheet will be full and her engine-hour meters will put up some big numbers.

The first thing I noticed about the 447 was her relatively low profile, a positive attribute for a flying-bridge boat. (I researched specs on a few similar-size and -class vessels and found that their bridge clearances averaged a couple feet higher.) With her lower height—the 447's bridge clearance is a relatively short 16 feet—and with less weight up top, she should ride, drift, and sit on the hook stably.

Mike Myers, a naval architect for KCS International, Cruisers' parent company, says that her profile is made possible in part by the choice of V-drive propulsion over traditional inboards. "A normal sedan [with inboards] would place the powerplants first and establish a floor and headroom above that," he adds, noting the end result would be a taller boat.

The profile is one part of this vessel's on-the-water comfort equation, but another is her hull, which is Airex-cored below the waterline and balsa-cored above. The entry is the same as that of the 45 Sportfisherman built by Rampage, another KCS company. Measuring 45 degrees at its finest point, it transitions to 181/2 degrees at the stern. Myers says that the hull is warped from the transom forward. Office Ours' piercing entry and V-like aft section implies an ability to punch through a seaway but also indicates susceptibility to rocking and rolling when adrift or on the hook. Cruisers addressed this issue by adding secondary, or "trip," chines higher up the hull side. So at rest the 447's static beam is wider than her running beam, which allows the secondary chines to dampen roll motion. And underway the chines are out of the water, reducing drag and allowing for better performance.

PMY's latest company boat offers on-the-water escapism at its best.

When it came to performance, Office Ours' numbers were admirable. With the largest available powerplant option, twin 480-hp Yanmar electronically controlled diesel V-drives, she got up on plane in about eight seconds and offered a comfortable cruise of 30.2 mph at 3000 rpm across a calm Atlantic. At cruise speed the Yanmars burned a mere 33.6 gph and registered 0.90 mpg. With her 375-gallon fuel capacity, that's a 303-mile cruising range, which will easily allow us to do weekend jaunts to Cape May, New Jersey, from our New York City homeport in about five hours while burning around 168 gallons of diesel (of course, that wouldn't include "miscellaneous" costs incurred during a stopover in Atlantic City). A few more gallons, and we could easily hit Ocean City, Maryland, for a long weekend or cruise the Chesapeake and have a weeklong crab fest.

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