Quarken 27 T-top 2023 Review

It’s little wonder European day boats are starting to make an impression in Australia. Sleek, streamlined and featuring plumb bows and high-performance hulls, these boats are opening the world of day boating to a whole new generation of owners.

A brand that’s fairly new to the game is Finland-based Quarken. The Nordic brand currently only has a single 8.35-metre model, the 27, available as an open or cabin boat, or in the form tested here and expected to be the most popular on the Australian market, a T-top.

Quarken’s point of difference from other Nordic dayboat brands is extreme value for money. Does that translate to the Australian market?

Sydney-based The Adventure Boat Company has a limited number of Quarken 27 T-tops coming to the Australian market this year. If you can put your name against one, joining the Nordic club will cost $249,995 on the water. Fully optioned up, the price will top out at around $309,995.

The Quarken 27 is rated for a single 300hp outboard engine, which in our case happened to be the 4.2-litre V6 Yamaha F300 with digital throttle and gearshift, and connected to the helm via conventional hydraulic steering.

For your money, you get more than 8.0 metres of cutting-edge Nordic design featuring a platform that’s as appealing to couples chasing overnight experiences in far-flung anchorages as it is to a group of people out to catch the New Year’s Eve fireworks from the water.

The entire boat is fitted out in marine-grade 316 stainless steel, and all covers use gas struts to make them easier to open and close.

The Quarken 27 T-top is built to be trailerable, but you’re likely not going to need one as this is the perfect boat for dry-stacking.

Quarken builds its 27 from fibreglass, starting with a vinyl ester resin as the first layer to help prevent osmosis, where water starts to make its way inside the structure of the boat’s hull. The deck and hatches are also made from fibreglass but finished with anti-skid surfaces.

The hull is also pre-formed with a bow thruster tunnel – a handy bit of kit given the long, narrow shape of the hull that can make maneuvering in tight spaces a bit challenging.

The hull is built with a plumb bow and a deep vee carried a long way forward, although as the bow rises it flares out sharply at deck level to leave a wide rim around the forepeak that is excellent at reducing the amount of spray thrown aft. Its deep vee is carried a long way forward making it ideal for slicing through swell and chop.

Scandinavian and Nordic boat-makers are big advocates of the stepped hull that draws in air and mixes it with the water to help reduce friction, improving top speeds and fuel economy.

The Quarken 27 includes twin steps, one for helping at cruising speeds and the other helping at high speeds when more of the aft section’s planing surfaces are being utilised.

The hull is finished with lifting strakes running from the bow, as well as two subtle right-angled chines to help with stability.

The Quarken 27 uses a fibreglass T-top and is built in one internal layout that splits the bow and cockpit into separate zones, the latter using the helm seats to create a large entertainment space.

Our test boat is fitted with a set of Lenco trim tabs to help balance the boat according to how much weight is on board, and where it is stationed.

The Quarken 27 T-top is designed with ease of access in mind throughout the boat.

It’s easiest to step aboard aft, where integrated swim decks extend out from either side of the transom and wrap around the outboard engine pod. A large stainless steel frame that includes the tow hook for watersports provides a good handhold. 

The Quarken 27 is built with an open transom with a single step down into the self-draining cockpit. A starboard companionway is framed by a large day bed with a seatback that flips one way to create an aft-facing lounge, and the other to make forward-facing seats for passage making.

Soft rubber flooring covers the entire deck from the transom forward.

The bow features a forward-facing three-seater bench built over the roof of the cabin below, and there is space forward to drop in an optional bow table. Bow rails run back from the forepeak in this space, too.

Forward is a pair of steps built into either side of the bow that provide easy access to the deep forepeak that can be used to access the beach once a ladder is dropped own from the bow.

The electric anchor is offset to port providing a clear, uncluttered forepeak deck space.

Big, proud rub rails line each side of the Quarken 27 T-top, and separately around the transom. It’s clever thinking because it allows owners to confidently dock or use the transom as a loading platform without worrying about protecting the gelcoat at all costs.

One of the more interesting options we’ve noted for this boat is a set of foils for the hull. This must be something that’s coming because there is no information anywhere on Quarken’s website spelling out what it is.

The Quarken 27 T-top features one of the best-designed helms we’ve seen. Wide, clean and accessible, it’s more car-like than boat.

The helm is offset on the starboard side of the boat to leave room on the portside for the companionway linking the bow and the cockpit.

The skipper sits up against the starboard side, with a wide blacked-out dash that falls to either side of the wheel. In front of us are twin 12-inch Garmin GPSMAP chartplotters split by a Yamaha Command Link digital gauge.

On one side, below a stainless steel drink holder and joystick controller for the Sleipner bow thruster, and framed in a stainless steel grab rail to help with cabin access, are a row of touch-sensitive switches for the boat’s electronics. The Quarken 27 is also fitted with a Fusion audio system with speakers in the cockpit and bow, and twin USB charging points.

The anchor controls are in behind the wheel, and to starboard below a second stainless steel drink holder is the dash-mount digital shift and throttle control for the Yamaha F300 and the Lenco trim tabs. Below this are the push-button controls for powering up the Quarken 27, and starting or stopping the engine.

There’s plenty of storage, including a deep pocket on the coaming and a fabric storage bag on the lower face of the console, and storage space in the pod below the seats. 

The car-like helm seats are deep and soft, feature a lift-up squab to help with standing at the helm, and are well bolstered to stop any lateral movement when cornering. A stainless steel grab rail splits the two seats. While the skipper has a footrest rail built into the front of the console, the first mate has a drop-down footrest attached to the front of the seat box.

The Quarken 27 T-top also comes with a cabin that’s perfect for a couple who like to overnight somewhere rather than return to the dock before the sun goes down.

Access to the cabin is via a sliding door in front of the first mate’s helm seat.

Overhead, the T-top provides plenty of sun protection to the helm with the option of adding an extending sunscreen for the cockpit available, as well as roof racks to carry bikes or stand-up paddleboards.

A deep, tinted and curved windscreen adds wind protection to the helm and the cockpit behind it, with optional clears providing a semi-enclosed space that’s better suited to more inclement weather. The windscreen includes a windscreen wiper on the starboard side.

Entry is easy, with steps leading down to a large, low-roofed space with a sleeping space built into the bow. To starboard, the Quarken 27 features a sink with a faucet, while under the lift-up step leading into the cabin is a manual-flush head that can be upgraded to an electric unit. 

The Quarken 27 T-top is designed to be as accessible as possible. It has done this by utilising the boat’s length to create north-west space that’s friendly with the narrow east-west internal beam.

Swim decks on either side of the outboard engine pod are accessible via a Portofino-styled walk-around transom, with an extending ladder tucked away to port.

A handheld freshwater shower is tucked into a recess at the entry to the starboard companionway leading to the cockpit, and alongside the day bed that separates the transom from the cockpit space. 

The day bed is large, has copious storage space below, and is covered with quality-looking double-stitched vinyl with contrasting swatches. A single removable portside seatback  provides an extra seat while underway.

The cockpit space features dog- and child-friendly internal freeboard that’s enhanced somewhat by the inclusion of stainless steel grab rails that add significant height and a better sense of security, but prevent people from using the topdeck as a bench seat.

A bench seat to port wraps around a central removable cockpit table that includes four stainless steel drink holders when the table is folded in half, and a large dining surface when folded out. There’s room here for at least five people to sit in comfort.

Under-seat storage spaces all use gas-lift struts to hold lids open.

You can also make use of the two helm seats, which spin around to face the cockpit. The seats are mounted quite high, which gives an amphitheatre-like feel to them, and they also have a fold-down footrest for comfort. A fridge is mounted under the seat box.

The dual-seat helm is set off to starboard, leaving a companionway on the portside to provide easy access to the bow.

The Quarken 27 T-top is a remarkable boat to walk up to tied up at the dock. Long, sleek and with little visual clutter above the topdecks, it’s a boat that shows serious intent from the very first look.

The hull’s long waterline, aggressive bow and narrow beam make this a difficult boat to manoeuvre slowly away from a jetty, so the addition of the Sleipner bow thruster is a welcome inclusion to help us bump out.

Sydney’s Middle Harbour, the site of our test, was pretty much what we needed for this boat, with a building southerly breeze chopping up the water’s surface and wakes of passing traffic bouncing off the rocky shoreline to create confused running conditions.

The Quarken 27 T-top is an exciting boat to skipper. With the 300hp Yamaha DES, there’s plenty of thrust on tap to get the dayboat up onto the plane and push it towards a top speed of more than 40 knots. The Quarken 27 T-Top does tend to ride in a bow-up position on the plane, so it’s handy to have the Lenco trim tabs to bring the nose down a bit and improve forward sightlines.

Even pegging back to a cruising speed of around 27 knots, the Quarken 27 T-top is making easy work of the confused chop and wake of Middle Harbour.

The helm station is well thought-out and more than comfortable for longer passages. The seats are extremely comfortable and supportive, and the driving position is one of the most ergonomic we’ve experienced on the water. There’s a lot to like.

One thing we noted, though, was that the Quarken 27 T-top doesn’t appear to have much lateral grip in hard turns, with the transom sliding across the water under power rather than carving through it. It means you need to give the boat a bit more room than you think when pitching the wheel to one side or the other at speed.

At rest, too, the hull is rather sensitive to swell coming in from the sides, a trait we reckon linked to its flattish running surfaces aft and relatively narrow beam for its length.

A highlight, though, is that bow design. Similar to the pontoons on a RIB, that big, flat bit of topdeck carried all the way forward does an excellent job of deflecting spray sideways to keep everything inside dry. It’s a boat and there always will be some sea states that will make the boat wet, but in the main, it won’t be an issue.

Back at the jetty, the bow thruster and the responsiveness of the Yamaha’s digital shift and throttle controls make docking a breeze.

The Quarken 27 T-Top is no ordinary day boat. While it borrows heavily from the Nordic school of boatbuilding, it makes enough of a difference in terms of value for money and design to make it stand out from what’s becoming a very crowded slice of the market.

It’s fast and eminently seaworthy, meaning it can easily handle a full day on the water visiting distant anchorages that will be beyond the reach of a lot of other daytrippers. And if the day is so good you don’t want it to end, the onboard comforts are more than adequate to keep everyone onboard happy.

For those days you don’t want to be alone, the Quarken 27 is the perfect social platform.

Specifications
Model: Quarken 27 T-top
Length: 8.35m (exc. engine)
Beam: 2.59m
Weight: 2500kg (est, inc. engine))
Draft: 0.85m (engine down)
Engine: 300hp
Fuel: 300L
Accommodations: 2
Passengers: 9

Priced from: $249,995 including drained anchor locker; six stainless steel cleats; tinted windscreen; starboard windscreen wiper; T-top; twin USB ports on console and in cabin; height-adjust steering wheel; Silvertex-covered pilot and co-polit seats, console cover; foredeck bench; cabin portlight; bow berth and seating cushions; LED reading light and 3xLED cabin lights; carpet in cabin; vanity cabinet; swimming platform; telescopic transom ladder; electric bilge pump; double battery system; LED navigation lights; light mast; 300hp Yamaha F300 DES outboard engine with 5.0-inch LAN multifunction display and keyless start

Price as tested: $289,995 including Fusion audio system with four speakers; twin Garmin 12-inch chartplotters; 30L drawer fridge; electric toilet; freshwater system; transom shower; aft deck table and sunbed; Sleipner bow thruster; electric windlass; fore and aft deck rails; waterski pylon

Supplied by: The Adventure Boat Company