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During the wintertime in Manhattan, I often forget that I'm on an island. Sure, I'm aware the Hudson and East Rivers are chockablock with ferries, tugs, Coast Guard vessels, and myriad commercial boat traffic, but walking along the skyscraper-walled canyon of Madison Avenue tends to skew one's perspective.
Spring can't arrive soon enough. In late May the PMY crew starts spending evenings and weekends cruising the waterways around New York City aboard Office Ours, our company boat. While her moniker is always the same, we receive a new model each spring—it's research, dear reader. For 2007 PMY welcomes the largest Office Ours yet: the Cranchi Atlantique 50.
As I boarded a 50 at Cranchi of Florida's quay in Pompano Beach and made my way to the flying bridge via teak steps, Office Ours' homeport of New York City was on my mind. Why? She was shoehorned among a gaggle of boats with a face dock about 55 feet off her bow, circumstances she'll likely face in her summertime quarters at Manhattan's North Cove Marina. So while Cranchi's James Clayton handled lines, I stood at the starboard helm, started the standard twin 575-hp Volvo Penta D9s, and assessed the situation via unobstructed sightlines in all directions except aft, where I could just discern the swim platform through the opening that leads down to the cockpit.
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From the start, the 50 displayed agility that should serve her well over the summer. I goosed the Volvo Penta single-lever controls, and her 24x36 five-blade props got a good bite, allowing me to adroitly pivot the 50 right out of the slip, execute a tight S-turn, and make my way towards the Atlantic. Credit is also due to the low-end torque, generated by the powerplants and their Twin Disc transmissions with 1.77:1 reductions.
After a short trip up the canal, we reached the 14th Street bascule bridge just as it was closing; we'd be hung up for at least 15 minutes waiting for it to reopen. And so we encountered another set of circumstances that PMY daytrippers will likely face this summer: station-keeping among other vessels and obstacles. Despite a strong oncoming tide, 15-mph gusts, and an ever-increasing number of boats, I was able to hold position with the throttles alone; not once did I need to reach for the Cranchi's wheel or the standard QL bow thruster.
Good timing and positioning allowed us to be the first through the bridge upon its opening, past the 1906 Fresnel-lensed Hillsboro Lighthouse, and into the Atlantic. Once we'd cleared the southern jetty, I firewalled the throttles and aimed the 50's bow into the two-foot chop as she reached an average top speed of 37 mph in less than 30 seconds. Her solid fiberglass hull and fiberglass-encapsulated, box-stringer system absorbed the chop with little fanfare, while I executed a 180-degree turn in just over two boat lengths sans the considerable lean that's seen on some high-profile vessels. Clayton explained that such transverse stability is achieved by utilizing low-weight Kevlar and carbon-fiber laminates in the flying bridge and superstructure, combined with a hull that features a sharp entry and almost-flat aft sections. In addition, a favorable longitudinal center of gravity allows installation of the powerplants deep in the hull; her two 201-gallon transverse fuel tanks are amidships, forward of the engines.
As Clayton explained this, I backed off the throttles and aimed for the Gulf Stream: At 25.8 mph and 2000 rpm, the 50 made 0.83 mpg, good for a range of 301 miles. With these kinds of numbers, I was already planning summer weekend jaunts from the stifling concrete jungle of Manhattan to a breezy anchorage off Newport.
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