OCEAN 39 PUBLISHED SEPTEMBER 2011

Showgirl

The team at Palm Beach Motor Yachts worked around the clock to get the new PB55 ready in time for her debut at the Newport Boat Show in the USA. Sam Tinson jumped aboard for a sneak preview, and found her a top contender for Best in Show.

Text by Sam Tinson Photography by Andrea Francolini / Sam Tinson

It’s after dusk on a crisp winter night in Botany Bay and the only Palm Beach 55 motor yacht on the planet, Lady Hamilton, is dangling in a most unladylike fashion from a cradle at an industrial boatyard while its creator Mark Richards swabs her decks with a dirty mop.

Palm Beach boats are used to more glamorous settings than this, and so for that matter is Richards. The charismatic Sydneysider, who runs Palm Beach Motor Yachts in between winning Rolex Sydney Hobart yacht races as the skipper of Wild Oats XI, looks a long way from his usual suave, twinkly-eyed self. For the last few weeks he and his team have been working around the clock to get the first PB55 ready for its debut at the Newport International Boat Show, culminating in this afternoon’s mad dash down the coast from Sydney to Botany Bay, where Lady Hamilton is now waiting to be loaded onto a US-bound freighter.

“I’ve had zero sleep,” mumbles a bleary-eyed Richards, mop in hand. “Three weeks ago the boat was upside down with no deck. It’s been a slog. I think my brain has melted.”

In 2010 the 55’s smaller sibling, the Palm Beach 50, won New Boat of the Year at Newport, and Richards is hoping to make it two in row. All the trademark features that have helped rank Palm Beach motor yachts among the finest custom built pleasure boats in the world are present in the new boat: the heartbreakingly beautiful lines drenched in Great Gatsby-era cool; the lovingly handcrafted Burmese teak joinery; the twin Volvo IPS 800 pod drives mated to a lightweight composite semi-planing hull. Richards has struck boat design gold with the classic Palm Beach format, and he’ll stick with it for as long as there’s teak and fibreglass to build with. Now, as is the way with boutique custom yards, each successive new model is the result of a customer’s individual requirements: a little longer here, a little shorter there, a flybridge here, an extra cabin there; the evolution of the Palm Beach line is dictated by the tweaks and innovations that each client brings to the blueprint in consultation with Richards and his team.

Palm Beach furniture is custom built and upholstered by hand in premium Ultra leather to owner specifications.The timber is Burmese teak, which does not yellow with age (Palm Beach 65 pictured).

The new 55 is positioned neatly between the 50 and the 65 in the Palm Beach fleet, and from the outside appears identical in styling in all but the finer points of proportion. Like all Palm Beach boats the hull and superstructure benefit from Richard’s knowledge of offshore racing builds, utilising E-Glass and stitched multi-axial composite fabric over Corecell and Airex foam, infused with vinylester and epoxy resins for an extremely tough and lightweight structure. The warped hull shape is a very slippery customer indeed – during our Sydney to Botany run we topped speeds of 26 knots through a rolling three-foot swell, and even when our 45-foot chase boat cut across the Lady Hamilton’s elegant prow her fine-entry bow shrugged off the wash with ease.

Like its sister ships the 55 has a low profile and shallow freeboard, so appears to ride very low in the water, but the yacht’s extremely flared bow throws water and spray aside, keeping the decks surprisingly dry for such a low-slung craft. The aft cockpit area is protected from stray spray, sun and rain by a lightweight fabric bimini supported by two narrow steel struts – a low-impact design that detracts little on the 55’s flawless lines.

Our delivery run down the coast doubles as an ad hoc sea trial (a testament to the faith Richards now has in his engineering platform) so joining us onboard is a technician from Volvo Penta, who soon has Lady Hamilton showing her corsets as he removes interior panels to reveal the impressive technical prowess of the PB55. It’s like lifting the bonnet of a vintage Bentley to discover the mechanicals of the USS Enterprise beneath: an automatic 100 litre-per-minute bilge pump; top-end Webasto air-conditioning throughout; electric Lenco trim tabs; fresh water engine cooling; a battery paralleling system for emergency engine starting… the list goes on. On the entertainment side the 55 is equipped with a Niles Sound and DVD System with iPod dock, cockpit / saloon split speakers, a 50-inch retractable Samsung LCD HD screen in the saloon and another 32-inch screen in the owners cabin. In matters of equipment Richards’ philosophy is clear: vintage style is one thing, but vintage technology we can do without, thank you very much.

The master cabin in the bow has timeless appeal (PB65 pictured).

The downside of the techie’s panel-removing is that it prohibited Ocean from photographing Lady Hamilton’s interior in all its handcrafted, immaculately finished glory. Readers who caught our review of the Palm Beach 65 Flybridge in the March-April 2011 issue of Ocean will already be familiar with the breezy elegance and benchmark build quality that characterises a PB interior. In fact, aside from some variations in layout and a little less volume (across the beam the 55 loses only 60cm / two feet to its larger sibling) there is very little to tell the boats apart, which is why we saw fit to include some interior images of the 65 on these pages. Even these images, though, don’t do justice to the quality of materials, expertise and workmanship that goes into every Palm Beach boat. As Gavin Rooney from Volvo Penta remarked when he stepped aboard Lady Hamilton: “Mark Richards must wrap his joiners up in cotton wool every night after work and read them a bed time story”.

The Palm Beach 55 is available in either an upper galley or lower galley layout. Lady Hamilton is the upper galley version and comfortably sleeps six in an arrangement comprising a forward full-beam master cabin with ensuite, a spacious double guest cabin to starboard (also with ensuite) and a third twin cabin with bunks to port. The master cabin has a king size island berth (with storage beneath) solid teak cabinetry with a satin finish and is beautifully finished with mirrors, reading lights and plenty of useful shelf and cabinet space. The master ensuite features teak flooring, full-sized shower stall with frameless glass partition, solid Caesarstone tops and basin with high quality Tecma tapware. In a wonderfully indulgent nod to the golden years of first class maritime travel, even the toilet seat is solid teak.

The only thing the master cabin really lacks is a view: the PB55’s classic design does not allow for hull windows, and in all the cabins access to natural light is limited to the square Goiot overhead hatches, which have privacy blinds and fly screens. For those lovers of classical nautical style to whom Palm Beach boats are designed to appeal, though, this will not be a deal breaking issue: if you want a boat with big windows, there are a plenty of other production motor yachts out there to choose from.

Lady Hamilton’s galley is a fine showcase for the skills of Palm Beach joiners.

Shortage of natural light is certainly not an issue on the 55’s main deck thanks to massive cabin windows, tinted and contoured like those of a classic sports car. The galley is forward to port, with dark Caesarstone benchtops, Fisher & Paykel dishwasher, LG convection oven with ceramic four-burner cooktop, microwave and a 130-litre refrigerator. The open design and all-round views will make the galley a sociable and pleasant place to work, and the proximity of the helm station opposite will suit couples who like to cook on the go.

The helm station itself is a joy to behold, a masterclass of woodwork that appears to be hewn from a single solid block of teak, so seamless is the joinery. Garmin instruments and controls for the Muir anchor winch, Side Power bow and stern thrusters and throttles for the twin IPS 800s are arranged with good attention to ergonomics, and the big Garmin GPSMap 7015 touch-screen display reduces the need for unsightly switchgear. Arranged to the left of the screen a cluster of white faced, chrome-rimmed engine readouts add a classic touch, as does the stunning five-spoked solid teak helm wheel.

The saloon itself is a symphony of solid teak and soft beige leather, arranged with a large L-shaped dinette to port (aft of the raised galley) and two smaller lounges facing each other across a coffee table to starboard. The bi-fold cockpit door and drop-down aft windows allow good flow-though to the aft deck area, where there’s another L-shaped lounge, large dinette with teak table and wet bar with Caesarstone bench top, refrigerators, drinks cabinet and bin storage.

A large touch-screen display dominates the teak dash of the PB55, simplifying the helm interface. The clusters of chrome rimmed indicators with white dials add a classic maritime touch.

For tender storage, the Lady Hamilton is blessed with the same scene-stealing party trick as the PB65: the entire aft cockpit deck area lifts up on hydraulic struts revealing a 3.30-metre (10’ 8”) RIB in the lazarette beneath. Rollers and a power tender winch make shipping and unshipping the tender a simple affair.

PB55’s engine compartment is also easily accessed via a large hatch on gas struts just aft of the cockpit door. There’s a compact laundry down here too, along with a 130-litre freezer and icemaker. The engines are equipped with anti-vibration mountings and acoustic shielding, which combined with the soundproofing carpet underlay in all cabins provides the 55 with a very quiet and refined ride even under full throttle. The fact that all Palm Beach boats have their bulkheads and fixed furniture bonded to the hull and deck also makes a big difference to overall structural rigidity.

In fact, as tempting as it is to see the Palm Beach 55 purely as a stylish coastal cruiser or luxurious day boat, it should not be forgotten that beneath that achingly pretty exterior is a rugged and capable offshore motor yacht, complete with a bulletproof oceangoing reinforced composite hull.We’d love to see it eventually get the same flybridge treatment that made the Palm Beach 65 such a complete boat, although purists will balk at the thought of messing with such purity of form. And who could blame them? Palm Beach motor yachts are among the most beautiful powered craft on the water today. If those boat show judges have even a drop of salt water pulsing through their veins, Mark Richards should be able to bank on a few more prizes coming his way. And hopefully a good night’s rest.

Specifications Palm Beach 55
Builder Palm Beach Motor Yachts
Length overall 18.29 metres / 60 ft
Length on deck 16.76 metres / 55 ft
Beam 5.24 metres / 17 ft 2 in
Draft 0.95 metres / 3 ft 1 in
Dry weight 17,000 kg
Engines Volvo IPS 800
Hull Composite with E-Glass, Corecell and Airex
Max speed 32 knots
Cruising speed 27 knots
Fuel capacity 3,000 litres
Water capacity 1,400 litres
Anchor system Muir
Cabins 3
Berths 6
Bow / stern thrusters Side Power SE200 / SE155
Air conditioning Webasto 24,000 BTU
Generator Kohler 17kva
Price $2.6 million

Full story at pbmy.com.au