Albin 28 Tournament Express

Rhode Island is the smallest state in North America, with a population of little more than one million, a chicken as its state bird and the red maple as its state tree. Also known as the Ocean State, Rhode Island is one of the biggest boating precincts in the whole of North England, if not North America.

The waterways range from the Atlantic Ocean and the gateway of Rhode Island Sound, (where Alan Bond arrested the America's Cup from the New York Yacht Club after the American's 132-year hold on the Auld Mug) to a series of large bays, rivers and islands stretching all the way up to Pawtucket and beyond.

These frigid and oft-times stormy waters are the home of the Down East sailor and, strangely, a boatbuilder called Albin Marine, which is a successor to Albin Motor, a marine diesel engine and boat manufacturer originally founded in Sweden in 1899.

Volvo Penta bought its engine division in 1981 and now Albin Marine concentrates on building fishing and cruising boats in yards in America, Sweden and Taiwan (trawler models).

You should keep this history in mind when you ponder the Albin Marine 28 Tournament Express, the first of these boats to arrive in Australia. Rhode Island is a place with temperature as low as -30°C in January and, as such, the company builds all-weather boats founded on strikingly seaworthy hulls. This Down Easter is a nuggetty number with design lines based on North Sea working boats from whence Albin Marine owes its heritage.

Catalina Anchorage in Sydney become Albin's first Australian agent after local Norman Ambrose went searching for a powerboat to complement his cruising yachts. He needed a powerboat to satisfy the growing army of grey-haired sailors who are growing weary of hoisting canvas and, he says, it helped that Catalina agents in America had found Albins a neat fit.

This 28 Tournament Express is apparently the best seller an interesting range of boats that stretches from a 26 Express to a 45ft North Sea Cutter. Some 870 of the 28ft models had been shipped at the time of writing, I'm told. I do know the boat has stirred a lot of interest since it was first advertised in this journal's pages.

Available with a wheelhouse or as an open convertible, with or without a raised engine box, the flush-deck version of the 28 Tournament Express tested here has its engine further forward than its sistership, creating a bigger cockpit, and allowing for a straight shaft drive instead of a vee drive. The wheelhouse is also higher and more spacious, and with more outdoor orientation it should be preferred by Australian boaters.

HONEST ENGINEERING
Construction includes solid GRP with handlaid bi-axial and uni-directional rovings. The hull and deck are through-bolted and bonded together, the deck gear is through-bolted to aluminium backing plates, and all the mounting areas for seacocks and through-hull fittings are reinforced.

Engineering is workmanlike, with bronze fittings and strainers, manual and electric bilge pumps, dripless shaft seals, and a 1.5in Aquamet shaft. Shorepower with a 30amp breaker comes standard, as do hydraulic trim tabs and steering, both of which the boat really reacts to.

This 28-footer was powered by a single 315hp Yanmar turbodiesel engine connected to a ZF 2.04:1 gearbox. Shaft driven, the boat will be low maintenance and, with a bowthruster provided, it's not a handful to park. In fact, after a while you might actually enjoy walking the boat into its dock without the thruster. They did it for decades with Halvorsens.

Going by photos of the boat on Sydney's docks, the underwater gear includes a nice big bronze rudder and four-blade bronze prop, both protected by a bronze skeg extending from a short keel that assists with tracking. The wet exhaust exits a stainless-steel port. Thanks to sound insulation this was one of the quietest mid-mount single diesel cabin boats I've been aboard. Hooray for not needing to shout to hold a conversation while cruising.

The modified-vee hull, looking seamanlike in the optional navy-blue colour, has workboat kind of lines. The bow has a vertical stem and fine entry, big flared topsides that shed water and a rounded flat foredeck from which you could cast a line or read a book. The foredeck is easily accessed from moulded steps in the cockpit, along wide non-skid sidedecks backed by toerails, handrails and a high bowrail in need of an intermediate wire. And the hard-chine hull feels rock solid as you range forward.

You might need to add a tube to the bowrail for carrying a reef pick, as the aperture on the chain locker is quite small, but an optional windlass was being fitted locally. The moulded hardtop, which is strong enough to stand on, was finished with non-skid so you can wash it in safety.

Options includes a half-depth swim platform and portside transom door that won't unduly compromise the boat's fishability while assisting with access to the water and the dock, a macerator and Y-valve for the holding tank, an extended wheelhouse roof and deluxe helm seats. But by and large this is a basic platform that you could tweak for anything from fishing to cruising and commuting.

BIG DECKS
I really like the proportions of Albin's 28 Tournament Express: plenty of cockpit, useful sidedecks and foredeck, a comfortable wheelhouse and cute cabin rolled into a nice-looking hull.

Serious fishers will find the cockpit to their liking, as will crew charged with tending mooring lines. There are no fairleads but instead recessed XOS-sized cleats around which you can easily wrap a thick line.

The boat had four through-bolted rodholders, a marlin door with neat stainless-steel locking device and heavy-duty hinges, padded coamings on tracks for easy replacement and, with stainless-steel toerails tracing the cockpit, good support when leaning outboard.

There is a neat internal moulded liner with self-draining non-skid decks, big scuppers than didn't flood the deck in reverse, and plumbing around all floor hatches. These led to two big infloor bait wells and a central fish well with macerator pump. Just behind the helm seat is a large tackle locker with two pigeonholes and two drawers, and there are two dry-storage drawers under the co-pilot seat.

While it was unplumbed and with square corners where bait could get trapped, the livebait tank in the transom had a high capacity. There was an additional dead-bait bin in the starboard corner; add a cutting board and you would have a fantastic boat from which to fish the reefs; add a gas barbie, some deck chairs and perhaps a rear Italian-style extended awning and you're looking at a venue for long lunches aboard. A marine stereo and cockpit speakers were provided.

Triple rod, gaff and/or paddle racks cut out of Starboard plastic line the under gunwale areas, there are courtesy lights, and a hot/cold transom shower.

The aft lazarette reveals the steering arm, but there wasn't an emergency tiller or much room left for storage around the 500lt polyethylene fuel tank. A secondary 230lt tank is a factory option for long-range cruising.

Engine access is gained by removing the helm seat, tilting the wheel, and pressing a button that raises a section of cockpit floor on a big hydraulic strut. The sea strainer, Racor fuel filter, coolant bottle and dipstick are easily accessible, as are the boat's separate house and engine-start batteries, 30A battery charger and circuit-breaker panels. The engine vents are inboard to help keep salt air away from the motors.

With the floor down and the adjustable and swivelling upgraded Todd helm seats in place, which were really nice and comfy, the helm was accommodating.

The hardtop is high enough that your get full headroom when standing and big armour-plate glass window panes have survived the most severe Down East storms, according to owner testimonials. All the while the hardtop casts some much-needed shade over what are very white decks.

The centre glass pane of the windscreen opens on an interesting mechanism and, together with side opening windows, there's plenty of ventilation under the hardtop at rest and underway. Three pantograph wipers help with your vision in rough seas or rain, and on the co-pilot's side there's a flat moulded area in front of the seat with a light intended as a chart table - it also doubles as an aft-facing seat from you can watch the lures being trolled.

ON-WATER WEEKENDER
There is a dedicated storage rack near the co-pilot seat for the removable washboard over the companionway leading down to the cosy cabin. The hand-built boat derives a traditional yachtie feel from the American cherrywood trim, cream liners and mouldings and timeless navy-blue upholstery. Headroom exists at the foot of the companionway steps and there's accommodation for at least three people, plus a generous head with hot shower.

Immediately to port and running back aft is the only permanent berth, a single longitudinal number, but with the aid of infill panels you can turn the dinette and forward seating plan into a double bed. Raising the lounge bases and clipping them up with the straps provided creates extra legroom on the bed. There is storage under the seat bases, but the MDF or compressed fibre timber panels covering them risk swelling when wet. I'd get some plastic covers cut ASAP.

The galley can cater for weekends away, with a sink and pressurised hot/cold water via a heat-exchanger and Shorepower, a 240V Samsung microwave oven - add an invertor for operation off the Shorepower - and a supplied alcohol stove. Mounting an icebox on deck can assist the small 12V/240V Isotherm fridge. An extension leaf boosts the amount of food-prep space and there is a handy amount of storage space for dry goods and a pot and kettle.

The head is really quite surprising, with a sink and handheld hot shower, nice bathroom fittings and good access to the plumbing. There is a generous 136lt water supply and a marine head linked to a small 37lt holding tank. Cabin ventilation is via two deck hatches and four opening portlights.

Put it all together and a cruising couple or a couple of anglers can camp aboard for long weekends away or during an extended fishing trip.

CRUISING IN STYLE
Big cleats, walkaround decks and a bowthruster made for a snappy departure from the marina. Whether seated or standing, you get commanding views from inside the wheelhouse.

The helm had a simple single throttle, Vetus thruster control, tabs and drinkholders nearby. The Albin switch panel has breakers for everything from lights to the saltwater deck wash, the bait pump and macerator. There's not much else though, other than a Yanmar engine-gauge panel and room for mounting aftermarket electronics.

I must reiterate that this was a quiet boat compared to some other American trawler or picnic-type boats with single inboard motors that I have tested. Underway, the performance wasn't stirring so much as unshaken. And despite displacing quite a bit of water, the flared hull kept the spray at bay.

Trolling speed of 7.9kt was clocked at 2200rpm, at 2600rpm the boat starts breaking into a clean plane at about 8kt, but better efficiency comes when the turbos kick in at 3000rpm and you're sitting on 11.5kt. We had a pretty solid swell hammering through the heads and the boat cleaved the waves admirably at a heavy-weather cruise of 13.8kt at 3200rpm.

 Everyday cruise was around 16.6kt at 3600rpm and fast cruise was clocked at 18.2kt at 3800rpm, which are the stated top revs. However, top speed was a sprightly 24.5kt and 4300rpm. Yanmar supplied fuel consumption figures but I'm loath to mention them because they seemed just too high. But if I had to hazard a guess I would be thinking the boat's safe cruising range is around 225 nautical miles at cruise speed.

What I can say with confidence is that the boat felt really determined heading into the fray and I could very easily have decamped to a nearby port. The hull is sensitive to the trim tabs and you can do everything from offset crew weight to compensate for side winds to keep the boat on an even keel. Down sea it liked to surf and rewarded the astute helmsperson with a predictable ride.

I can also see the traditional lines of Albin's 28 Tournament Express appealing to sailors as well as anglers and cruising couples. To this base boat you might add outriggers and a rocket launcher for offshore fishing or an inverter, extra icebox and deck chairs for cruising.

Testimonials from Albin owners in America talk about spending 99 days aboard and others talk about surviving perfect storms. I would expect boaters from our cold southern climates will warm to the boat, as will retirees looking for a fetching all-rounder that doesn't cost the world to run.


HIGHS