Classic performance

As Jaunt’s simply styled, dark-green hull took her berth at the Boating New Zealand Imtec on the Water Boat Show, there came a shout from a spectator above:“Is she made in New Zealand?”

"No – Whangarei,” replied boatbuilder Ian Mason. Mason is part of the enduring duo of Burch and Mason, which has been building and renovating boats in Whangarei for 27 years. He had just delivered Jaunt, the first Espresso 40, direct from the boat yard to the show, to present to New Zealand’s boating public a new interpretation of an old concept: the picnic boat. Picnic boats are making a come-back worldwide, in a variety of concepts. The styling and design of the boats owe their roots to the classic American, high-speed commuter launches but modern materials and modern engines give them modern performance and economy.

In Jaunt’s case, the gleaming hull’s classic, perfectly fair lines are modern fibreglass. Teak trim enhances the styling and is an opportunity to do a little varnishing for those who enjoy it.

Her performance is courtesy of a supercharged, turbocharged Swedish Volvo diesel rather than an American, petrol-powered V8, which featured in her predecessors. Although several picnic boats have been built in New Zealand and exported and, conversely, several have been imported, Jaunt is one of the few to be built in New Zealand for a local client.

That is Dave Tuke who also owns a luxury, classic style expedition boat, named Escapade. She shares the same dark green for her hull as Jaunt.

Dave Tuke had made up his mind about Jaunt pretty much on the spot, having spied a model of the Espresso 40 during a visit to the office of Auckland designer Bill Upfold. Upfold had drawn up and made the model a few years previously for a business opportunity in Australia, which had never eventuated.

Dave Tuke was looking for a smaller day boat that would suit a quick trip and a dive to nearby Kawau Island and, having fallen for the style of the boat, he decided that Burch and Mason, builders of Escapade, would also build Jaunt.

He set up a company called Oscar Yachts, took over the development of the design and has set up for a production run which, depending on demand, could produce up to six boats a year.

Boating joined Whangarei boatbuilders Ian Mason, Don Burch and Roger Parsons for the trip south. The delivery began beside Whangarei’s Hatea River before dawn, with the transfer of new squabs straight from the van of local upholsterer Neil McLeod, who had worked through the night to have everything ready for his client’s boat show deadline.

Not long after sunrise, with Jaunt fully fitted out for the first time, the Volvo purred into life and pushed the boat from her riverside berth.

She had started there as a plug, which had been trucked to Auckland for a mould to be taken. The mould had been trucked back to Burch and Mason to fitout the fibreglass hull and decks in traditional teak and American cherry.

Bill Upfold considered a wide range of power options and modes of propulsion when designing this hull form. Jaunt has the stern drive option, which provides the lightest displacement, but Upfold believes future vessels may have midmounted twin engines, so he has drawn a generous chine beam and a moderate deadrise, monohedron hull form with a fine entry developing into straight buttock lines in the aft sections.

Upfold says this type of hull is equally happy cruising at a sedate 8- 10kts or powered up at speeds in excess of 40 knots.

The hull form has no keel and is quite rounded on the bottom with a soft bilge running up to what is becoming a trade-mark of the boat’s designer: a spray chine that stays well above the waterline, eliminating chine slap at rest.

Access to the boat is by stepping on to the duckboard and then over the transom via a removable stern seat above the engine hatch. Squab-covered seats with concealed lockers curve around the stern quarters of the cockpit, which is covered with teak and holly look-alike Marine Deck. The cockpit looks straight into the saloon and helmstation, on the same level as the cockpit. There is an open, indoor-outdoor feel.

The front of the cockpit sole gives access to an enormous storage area which extends forward under the saloon floor. The space is big enough for a small inflatable, or mid-mounted engine(s), should owners of future models choose that option over the stern leg option.

This area also houses the grey and black water tanks.

Downstairs and forward, immediately to port, is the galley with gas hob and oven; opposite are the heads with shower, and forward in the bow is a vee-berth. Aft of the galley is a snug doubleberth, nestled under the raised saloon.

Finish is traditional in American cherry veneer, while upstairs in the saloon there’s varnished teak. The interior surfaces are easy-care, semi-gloss finishes, with lots of light coming through the oval ports in the hull and through the hatches above.

Once past Whangarei’s main number one berth in the barely used port, there was a hiss from the supercharger and a roar from the turbo – the stern leg thrust the 40ft boat up on her planing sections and we scooted down the harbour.

The wake was flat and clean with the after sections leaving just enough water for the trim tabs to work.

We cleared the Frenchman standing sentinel at the bottom of the harbour, and the skipper set course into a moderate sou’easterly breeze presenting a halfmetre chop. The boat moved comfortably over the swells, passing the Royal New Zealand Navy at exercise in the after dawn light of Bream Bay at an average cruise speed of 21.5kts under autopilot. We passed Cape Rodney at 9.20am, as the seas became smoother and the sun began warming the day.

The ride was smooth and relatively quiet, with the comparatively lightweight boat easily handling the choppy seas at the beginning of the four-hour trip.

The seas flattened out further south, but at no time was the screen in danger of getting wet from spray, thanks to the high, flared bow, however it does leave a blind spot dead ahead. Otherwise, though, visibility from within the cabin and seated at the saloon table is good all around, under way and at rest.

Specifications:

Length: 12m

Beam: 3.85m

Draft, hull only: 0.5m

Deadrise Aft : 14deg

Displacement: 5200kg

Fuel Cap :660L

Water Cap : 350L

Engine: Volvo Penta KAMD300dp

We stopped at Tiritiri Matangi Island just an hour later for photographs before calling in at Gulf Harbour to pick up the owner, Dave Tuke, and marketing assistant Joanna Goodley, and to fuel.

The fuel tank is at the aft end of the big cockpit locker. With tanks topped up with 210 litres of diesel, we continued on to the Viaduct Harbour, arriving right on the stroke of noon, the final deadline to fit in among other boats and floating marinas.

Ian Mason used the bow thruster to pop the boat easily into her berth alongside two other Bill Upfold designs also featured in Boating New Zealand: Simply Red, March 2004, and Balshazar, April 2002.

Jaunt was a hit at the On The Water Boat Show and a different concept from any other boat on display – the interest shown suggests the builders are going to be busy. Her distinctive traditional lines, hull colour and superb interior finish attracted viewers like bees to a honey pot, and Dave Tuke and Joanna Goodley were busy the following week taking prospective buyers for sea trials.

We can but agree with their taste – Jaunt is a nicely designed and built boat, and she performs like a thoroughbred.