Our test boat was equipped with a top-shelf Mastervolt MASS Combi 12-2500-100 inverter/charger. In league with an array of compact NorthStar AGM batteries as well as a Mastervolt ChargeMaster 12/50-3 3-step charger, it keeps all the refrigerators and freezers onboard operational for very long periods of time, according to the folks at Regal. Want to shut down the generator for a virtually silent night on the hook but still dine on rock-solid ice cream for breakfast? No problem!
Read our boat test of the Regal 53 here ▶
Under the central walkway in the engine room there’s an unusual but very useful device—a self-macerating seachest. Called the Hydromatic Self-Cleaning Sea Strainer by manufacturer Groco, it performs an automatic 30-second cleaning cycle at user-selected intervals and flushes debris overboard. Should the need arise, a purge cycle can override the intervals for a one-time maceration. As noted above, the unit on our 53 also does duty as a seachest, meaning it takes in raw water and distributes it to a variety of auxiliaries, thereby seriously reducing the number of through-hull fittings necessary for systems operation onboard. Got a problem with seagrass clogging your sea strainers? Here’s the fix.
Read our boat test of the Regal 53 here ▶
Engine room access onboard our 53 was superb, with well over 7 feet of headroom between the Cummins QSB6.7 diesels. Not only was main-engine access virtually unlimited, with dipsticks, filters, and fills at the ready, so was access to the Westerbeke genset, the Marine Air air-conditioning componentry, the Charles Industries IsoBoost50 (which massages and optimizes dockside power), and the two level-wind reels from Glendinning, one for the waterhose and the other for the shorepower cord. You can walk around this engine room like a kid in a candy store.
