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I studied
what he did next. After checking for traffic in the fairway to starboard
and peering off to port for the same reason, he bumped the port engine
ahead, just long enough to ease the boat forward and get a head start
on the requisite pivot. Then, standing near the transom so he could see
exactly when the stern cleared the finger piers, he waited for the appropriate
moment and, with obvious relish, spun the Classicco in place like a top,
using the two thrusters in opposition. Way cool!
Over
the next half hour or so, while McLaren stowed lines and other stuff on
deck, I took the con at the lower station and quickly developed an appreciation
for the true-tracking, mannerly way the boat negotiated traffic in the
harbor. When McLaren rejoined me, he mentioned a few features designer
Ed Monk had used to engender such behavior. First was a long, substantial
keel, one that’s almost three feet deep at the aft end. Not only
does it protect the props in the event of a grounding, it virtually nixes
wanderlust at low speeds. Next came rudders. Monk specifies a set of giant,
semibalanced, plate-types, each with a surface area of almost seven square
feet. They produce the same nifty brand of directionality as the keel,
of course, only for higher-speed operation. Then came the props. Monk
maintains that big, slow-moving wheels work best for cruising vessels,
so he specified 40-inchers for the Classicco and a deep, unhurried gear
ratio of almost 3:1, a combo that not only produces midrange efficiency,
but puts lots of slow-bell maneuvering torque into the water.
Performance
in the modest Pacific swell was way more shippy than yacht-like, in part
due to the simple heft of the boat, but also thanks to the roll- and pitch-damping
properties of a strapping, hard-chine semidisplacement hull form tank-tested
at the British Columbia Research Institute. Visibility from the lower
station was excellent, and the hydraulic, power-assisted steering was
quick and smooth. I figured running angles for an average of four degrees,
an efficient, comfortable number due, at least in part, to the lift inherent
in a couple of down-angled prop tunnels. Turns were steady and tight,
although a few evinced a slight outside lean, a rather disconcerting characteristic
of vessels with substantial keels, but one mitigated by the high-aspect
ratio of Monk’s big rudders. My only complaint: the massive, straight-backed,
solid-teak helm chair I sat in during the trial was a serious butt-buster.
Returning
our Classicco to her slip after the sea trial was as easy as leaving,
which put me in a fine frame of mind to tour the boat’s traditionally
laid-out, teak-paneled interior. On the lower deck, just forward of the
engine room, is an amidships master with large en suite head to starboard.
The VIP is forward with another large en suite head to starboard, and
there’s a small guest stateroom to port, again with an en suite
head. Each head, by the way, has its own separate stall shower. The layout
of the main deck is just as traditional, with a raised wheelhouse forward
(with dinette to port), saloon aft, and a galley in between. A few specifics
worth mentioning are the profusion of high-end, home-size galley appliances
and the nicely finished marble countertops.
A visit
to the lazarette and the engine room addressed a question I’d wondered
about earlier—why just 71 dB-A in the wheelhouse during the sea
trial? Seeing evidence of the sound and vibration attenuation regimen
Ocean Alexander uses on the Classicco resolved the issue immediately.
Savvy features included the complete blanketing of both lazarette and
engine room with 11⁄2-inch-thick Soundown insulation surfaced with
perforated-aluminum panels; the layering of rubbery Iso-Damp tiles over
interior hull surfaces subject to propeller turbulence; gas/water-separating
exhausts for the two Northern Lights gensets in the lazarette; and finally,
the meticulous gasketing of hatches. An additional, albeit unrelated,
engineering detail that caught my eye was the three-way hydraulic system.
The Maxwell windlass and both bow and stern thrusters ran off a hydraulic
pump mounted on the 32-kW genset, the Naiad stabilizers ran off a pump
on the starboard engine, and the Airtex stainless steel davit ran off
a pump driven by a dedicated electric motor. Need to launch the Novurania?
Or use a thruster to tweak a mooring line? No main engines required!
I finished
up the test late that afternoon. While I was convinced at this point that
the Ocean Alexander 640 Classicco is a paragon of maneuverability as well
as a shippy offshore cruiser with a time-tested layout, one small question
remained—was Ol’ Jim McLaren perhaps just a bit of a maestro
at handling boats?
“So
Jim,” I asked, as we parted company, “you ever take the 640
out by yourself?”
“A
few times,” he grinned, rather mystically.
Orange
Coast Yachts Phone: (949) 675-3844. Fax: (949) 675-3980. www.oceanalexander.com.
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