Drawing Board: Carver C34 Coupe
When Josh Delforge, vice president of design engineering at Carver Yachts and Marquis Yachts and his team set out to create a coupe version of the C34, they did so with a design already in mind. Looking to capitalize on the success of Carver’s line of coupes: the C37 and to a lesser extent the C43, Delforge and his team wanted to go smaller while retaining the large living spaces and special design elements that made those cabin cruisers so successful in the first place.
Due out in time for the Annapolis Boat Show in October 2017, the C34 Coupe will be ready to make quite the splash there and at the subsequent Ft. Lauderdale International Boat Show.
Drawing Board: Carver C34 Coupe
“It will be the smallest Carver that we’ve done in 15 years,” said Delforge. “It’s a coupe style that’s been super successful in the larger models, so it just made sense for this to be the next project.”
Drawing Board: Carver C34 Coupe
In developing the C34, Delforge and his team listened closely to customer feedback gleaned from boat shows and Carver dealers across the country. The C34 will use its 11-foot 6-inch beam to emphasize interior spaces—such as a single-level cockpit and saloon—with 6-foot 8-inch overheads on the main level that could accommodate an NBA player comfortably.
Drawing Board: Carver C34 Coupe
Add a lower-level configuration that can sleep six, and you have a boat that is breathing livability into this segment. “All the feedback we’re getting from all these customers just helps every new model be that much better,” added Delforge.
Drawing Board: Carver C34 Coupe
It’s the unique touches that his team added to the C34 that Delforge envisions will make future customers happy. For one, they’ve added a longer swim platform and transom grill option with a sink, which came directly from dealer input. Another suggestion-turned-reality: a cockpit seat that folds down into a sunbed.
Drawing Board: Carver C34 Coupe
“We’ve heard over and over ‘we want to do a transom grill. Can you make the seat into a sunpad?’
and now we’re doing all of that,” said Delforge, “so I’m excited to see how this all plays out.”
Drawing Board: Carver C34 Coupe
The design team also wanted to make sure the C34 was “a really nice couples’ boat.” So while you can sleep up to six people on it, there’s a configuration where the entire lower level is one big owner’s suite. In that configuration “there are no bulkheads,” added Delforge. “It’s just a wide-open space, and I really think it’s going to feel like a stateroom on a much bigger boat. I think people are going to love it.”
Drawing Board: Carver C34 Coupe
Carver offers multiple engine options—a 250-horsepower Mercruiser stern drive (standard engine) and an inboard 350-horsepower gas inboard Mercruiser linked to a V-drive being among them—but can also accommodate other configurations per owner’s preference.
And as far as what its target owner looks like? Delforge believes they’ll be meeting boaters in the middle: Owners that have had a 40- or 45-foot flybridge, or those that are moving up from an express. “Maybe they’re tired of going up and down stairs, or they’re tired of canvas—they just want to close the doors and be done. And that’s kind of the beauty of the coupe.”
Drawing Board: Carver C34 Coupe
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