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The 30 stuck to her course like Gorilla Glue. The Yanmars purred. The teak caps on the windshield deflected the brisk oncoming wind aloft, heightening the warmth of the Pacific Northwestern sun upon all and sundry. And the Furuno NavNet on the dash (which closely matched the radar gun readings we'd do later) registered a top speed of more than 40 mph.
Gathering our test numbers during the ensuing hour or so was flat-out fun, and the fun continued all the way back to the marina, although the dockside finale tossed a minor hitch into my git-along. While, as before, our test boat nicely handled the twists and turns necessary to safely negotiate the fairways of the marina and deal with outgoing and incoming traffic, actually backing her into her slip proved slightly problematic for me, at least at first. As noted earlier, our 30 had some oomphy handling characteristics at idle-speed. Toss a couple of 315-hp diesels into a light, fully resin-infused 30-footer, add a 2:1 reduction, and no trolling gears, and you're gonna have some exuberance on your hands. By shortening my times in gear and hanging tough with the alternating-engine-usage technique, however, I soon discovered I could better manage the boat's maneuvering power and, to my wife's relief, docked her with far less difficulty the second time around. "Lemme back 'er down a couple more times," I told McCurdy, as we all prepared to give the 30 a dockside examination, "and I'd have it down to a science!"
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The ambiance below decks was classic. While the 30's layout is conventional, with a V-berth forward, hanging locker aft on the starboard side, and head (with SeaLand Traveler direct-drop MSD) opposite the hanging locker, its appearance is unusually attractive. Nothing's more yachty than old-school teak ceiling planks and louvered doors, for my money, and the 30's are crafted to perfection. Engineering details visible through the cockpit hatches—among them, a race-bred MarolPro hydraulic steering pump and oversize Groco ARG-2000-S main-engine sea strainers—were just as impressive.
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The teak helm trim is flawless. |
After concluding our day onboard the San Juan 30 and saying goodbye to McCurdy, we lingered for just a bit. I shot a look at the elegant but powerful little cruiser and opined admiringly, "Racy little beast." After shooting a glance or two herself, B.J. said (not simply to have the last word, I'm sure), "But also a thing of beauty. Like a baby grand piano."
For more information on San Juan Yachts, including contact information, click here.
SPOTLIGHT ON: Resin Infusion
Resin infusion is a hot, buzzy phrase these days, used by many manufacturers to denote (and advertise) some aspect of the boatbuilding process that often turns out to be comparatively small and insignificant. San Juan Yachts' take on the process is, however, the real deal. The company uses proprietary infusion techniques and clear, high-viscosity resins that engender see-through laminates (for superior quality control) on virtually all major components, not just minor ones. Thus our 30's hull, interior liner, cockpit/weatherdeck molding, and windscreen/coach roof were all infused. The only big-league component that had been wet-laid was her CoreCell-cored fiberglass stringer system, primarily because San Juan's not yet perfected infusion methods that will obviate resin buildup along the joints between the hull bottom and the stringer bases.
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There's more to the tale, though. One of the virtues cited by manufacturers of resin-infused hulls, decks, and other parts is an optimized glass-to-resin ratio that significantly cuts weight and simultaneously boosts strength. But San Juan goes well beyond that. Randy McCurdy claims that San Juan's resin-infusion program yields a ratio that varies by no more than one half of one percent, boat to boat—less than a gallon for our 30. Experience also plays a part in such consistency. Says McCurdy, "As far as I know, we're the only production shop west of the Mississippi that's been infusing parts on a daily basis for over a decade now."—B.P.
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This article originally appeared in the January 2008
issue of Power & Motoryacht magazine.
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