Arvor 280 AS Deluxe

Simple Pleasures

Sometimes less is more. Take a boat without all the trimmings, options and accoutrements, a base boat or carte blanche craft that stirs the imagination. You look at the foundations and immediately think about what you can create. It's a bit like buying a house where, instead of paying for someone else's renovations, you save a packet and revel in the potential before finally getting around to doing the makeover yourself.

So it was with the Arvor 280 AS Deluxe pictured hereabouts. Although this is the new flagship for the popular Euro fishing-boat family, the boat driven was a bare bones model. That meant price was kept down. That meant options were left untapped. And that meant the imagination of yours truly, who spends a lot of time on the water, was soon running wild.

What would I do with the Arvor 280 AS? Depending in your needs, you can tweak the boat any which way you want. With a big cockpit it will cater for everything from serious bluewater fishing to not-so-serious family frolicking. Add some smart 12V upgrades and a gas barbie (there's a cockpit locker for the bottle) and you have a weekender that sleeps a family. And with a decent chartplotter, a Northstar was fitted, you can range along the coast safe in the knowledge that with the single 320hp QSD4 Cummins MerCruiser diesel donk with common rail fuel injection isn't drinking you dry.

ARVOR HISTORY
Now, a little background about Arvor. Surely you have heard of the boats? After all, one sees more Arvors tied to waterfronts than just about any other cabin cruiser of similar length. With a shaft drive, dripless shaft seal, self-draining decks and lock-up cabin, you can leave these jaunty boats in the water, over winter, and not worry about the infrequent use. That's not the case with sterndrives, no matter what their manufacturers say.

Above the water, there's non-skid moulded fibreglass, good access around the sidedecks, and you can reach up to the cabin top. Thus, with hose in hand, maintenance is a breeze. If you haven't a waterfront or a marina berth, fear not, put your Arvor on a swing mooring. A couple of metres of bird netting, an occasional scrub of the decks, check the bilge and you're done.

But do get some covers -  or tick the options box for same - to protect the teak handholds, teak gunwale trim and the teak seats in the cockpit from the harsh Australian sun.

And while it comes with Shorepower, I would add a solar panel on the cabin top to trickle charge the engine-start and separate house battery. Then come options such as hot water, fridge and even an internal shower, which I'll get to in the fullness of time.

Reel back. Arvor has been a big hit here since Nanni diesel importer Collins Marine introduced the first 20-footer about a decade ago.

That boat was then built under licence in Nowra, which remains the case today; about the same time that Arvor was acquired by American multinational Brunswick Corporation as part of its European conquest.

Next, Collins Marine introduced the 23 and 25-footers as fully imported boats. So it is with this new 28-footer, which also has the AS model descriptor. This denotes an asymmetrical layout where the cabin is pushed across to port to create a wide walkway leading to the bow on the starboard side. It's a smart move, increasing usable deck space without sacrificing cabin volume.

Having followed these boats for almost 10 years. I also see an improved finish on the 280 AS. The mouldings, engineering and soft furnishings are a cut above earlier Arvors. Yet, in relative terms, the 280 AS remains a down-to-earth boat. What you don't get are frills, rather, frugal diesel power, a handy cabin and a great big cockpit to serve Australian needs.

FRENCH FLAIR
Released at the 2007 Paris Boat Show, the 280 AS flaunts familiar Arvor lines; headed by a bluff bow, an upright wheelhouse for headroom and deep sides that promise plenty of internal freeboard.

There are the usual quirky features, none more so than the stainless steel rollers in the gunwales for retrieving langoustine or lobster pots in the North Sea.

You get quaintness by way of a timber ship's wheel and porthole mirror on the door to the head, safety features such as an emergency tiller and bow and stern rails, and driver-friendly features such as a standard-issue bowthruster. You should still learn how to walk a single-screw boat into a berth. The supplied windlass and the direct hydraulic steering are welcome features, too Construction is solid GRP above and below the waterline, with a glass-encapsulated timber stringer system. The boat is built to CE Category B, which is for offshore waters. The hull is interesting: the aft sections have a pronounced gullwing shape for lift, there is a keel and prop-and-rudder protecting stainless steel shoe. So don't worry if you edge into a sandbank. Reverse out.

As for the design, Arvor have always been French-designed cabin cruisers made by Balt-Yacht, a Polish yard that turns out more than 2000 boats annually for customers from Jeanneau to Brunswick Marine.

Of course, the wheelhouse cruiser concept is nothing new, especially in Europe, where Arvor faces competition from other French boatbuilders such as Beneteau.

But locally, during times of fuel spikes and recent financial uncertainly, the Arvors have more relevance than ever. Keenly priced at $206,950, the 280 AS is rearing to go. It needs equipment, but the beauty about that is you can set it up to meet your needs.

I would fit an inverter with upgraded AGM battery bank - the boat comes with three lead-acid batteries and a battery charger - for 240V power for anything from a small aftermarket microwave to AC outlets.

 The demonstrator didn't have a stove, so I would want a gas bottle and rail-mounted barbie with hot plate for cooking breakfasts, lunches and dinners. A cheap single burner alcohol stove in the cabin would do for boiling water. But a heat exchanger or hot-water tank is needed for a hot shower.

Then come the accessories: a roll-up rubber duckie stowed in the lazarette, electronics for finding fish and navigating the coast (the boat had a Northstar M121 chartplotter, VHF radio and stereo fitted), a long Euro-style awning attached to the hardtop for shade, and a teak table and some deck chairs for kicking back in the cockpit. A beret, a cheese platter, a bottle of red wouldn't be lost, either.

ALL HANDS ON DECK
As it was, the boat had a short but handy swim platform with a bracket for an auxiliary (per European standards) and a central swim ladder. There's a mid-transom gate through which you access the cockpit. A deep livebait tank/icebox with window is to port and an additional fishbox or second icebox is across to starboard.

A moulded quarter seat harbours additional storage space, with a fold-down teak seat in the port corner. Mid-cockpit are handy swing- away teak bench seats that can each seat a couple or an angler when drift fishing. Four rodholders are provided, along with rod racks, aft grabrails and deck cleats. The handheld cockpit shower had cold water only.

Underfloor are additional lined storage compartments and a big hatch leading into the engine bay. Servicing room exists around all sides to the six-cylinder Cummins block, its sea strainer and shaft, with room aft for storage. And with the engine being outdoors, unlike some picnic boats where it's under the saloon floor, this was a quiet boat.

You can walk around either side of the cabin, but the deeper and wider portside route is the logical way to go to reach the bow.

Anglers will welcome the bow-to-stern access, backed by hand and bowrails, with a windlass and bowsprit, plus room to kick back on deck.

CABIN CRUSIING
The volume of the cabin is consistent with a weekender, allowing for a transverse or mid-cabin with double bed mattress plus a convertible berth with infill in the bow. Without the infill, you can sit on the lounge before the galley module, which features sink with pressurised 137lt cold water, storage cupboard and bottle rack. The stove was removed, but you could fit a portable alcohol number. But cook more serious fodder on the barbecue back outdoors.

The separate enclosed head with sink has an, albeit, manual head linked to a 61lt holding tank. But you can upgrade to an electric loo and fit an internal shower if you have the bills.

Oh, and the boat really needs a fridge. There's provision to fit one under the helm seat. Even so, you will want a decent icebox for the drinks. Get one with a padded top so it doubles as a seat. Speaking of which, there's a dinette in the wheelhouse with seating for three around a mahogany table, but the helm seat slides and doesn't swivel. I guess you could sit side saddle.

Electronics are fitted in an overhead facia, while the dash harbours water and battery gauges, analogue engine gauges with SmartCraft offering such things as range to go and fuel consumption, plus there is a cute timber wheel, single gearshift lever, trim tabs and Fireboy system.

Ensconced in the cabin during a dramatically building storm, we dashed around the harbour without getting wet. All the while, vision and ventilation remain excellent, noise levels were pleasantly low, acceleration was on tap, and there wasn't a harsh thump. And the door alongside the helm improves the views astern when berthing.

Interestingly, Arvor fits a trolling valve to its boats to meet the needs of European fishers. Local anglers might actually get some value out of it, since the slip clutch mechanism lets you idle really slowly when, say, downrigging for kingfish. At faster trolling speeds the boat chugs along and feels defiant. But the 280 AS gets up and boogies when you apply the power.

The four-blade prop and gullwing hull thrust the 280 AS forward to an economical low-speed cruise of 17.5kts at 3000rpm, a handy everyday cruise of 20.6 to 21kts at 3200 to 3400rpm, before topping out at 25.5kts at 3800rpm. In the turns, especially at low speeds, the boat proved rather wet. But with a cabin enclosure and wiper, spray isn't an issue.

Best of all, the engine uses about 40lt/h at 20 to 21kts. That's frugal. And with a boat like this, the clean-up won't take long on Saturday arvo. Or stay over for the weekend and make a meal of it. Simple pleasures. Back to the future.

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