Azzura Commuter 33

If you have never visited Port Hacking, you really must. It is one of our finest waterways. Its steep hillsides are stacked with grand and, at times, garish residences. The rocky foreshores are dotted with a kaleidoscope of beautiful boatsheds in all kinds of interesting colours and plans. It's quaint.

The main tributaries, unimaginatively titled South West Arm, North West Arm and the Hacking River, flow through verdant Royal National Park where there are no houses. Verdant, that is, when the bushfires haven't turned the scrub to char, as happens every few years.

This fact - and a stiff flood tide - are responsible for the terrific clarity of water in Port Hacking. In full sunshine the sandy channels, often just a few metres deep, take on a magical azure hue reminiscent of the tropics rather than suburban Sydney. Even during winter they look inviting.

Local boaties therefore navigate with ease. They duck and weave and glide about the waterways in search of whiting on the bite, a place to lunch and swim, or perhaps one of the free moorings - where you can camp aboard for the night - in the aforementioned tributaries.

This was the picturesque Port Hacking I sailed into last week on a new classic craft called the Azzura Commuter 33. It, too, is an interesting mix of old and new - a romantic boat for a romantic waterway.

In fact, this wonderful period boat is close to the perfect cruiser for touring places like Port Hacking, Sydney Harbour, the Hawkesbury, Queensland's limpid channels, SA's shallows or Victoria's bays and lakes.

EMERGING AZZURA
Azzura Yachts is an emerging boatbuilder on the Gold Coast, is owned by Palm Beach businessman Denis O'Neil and his group of companies. The Executive Director is none other than Iain Murray AM. General Manager is master shipwright Paul Wrench.

These boating heavies swapped ideas with naval architect Andy Dovell to produce the first Azzura motoryacht, a flash 52. Following its release back in May, Azzura Yachts now has a groovy motorboat fleet that ranges from 33-52ft.

The boats are a combination of offshore styles melded into lovely-looking craft. They are based mostly on a design that once plied the waters around New York. The way-cool NY commuter craft was designed to take executives into the city at a fast clip without tossing them around.

These long and lean boats aren't, therefore, big on accommodation. Essentially, commuter boats are just that. But with grand lines, tumblehome, a steeped sheerline and rounded stem, these boats wow crowds.

Not surprisingly, the semi-custom boatbuilder has received four new motorboat contracts following this year's boat shows. A 100-footer - in the same style - is also presently under production for healthcare hotshot Paul Ramsay (for around $7 mill).

Reflecting the growth of its business, Azzura Yachts' staff has grown from nine to 82 in two years. Some of the work has come from the yachting front. For instance, Bob Oatley's new 60-footer, Wild Oats, which cleaned up at this year's Hamilton Island Race Week, was built by Azzura.

LOOK OF LOVE
Indicative of the high-quality boats made in Australia these days, the Azzura Commuter 33 looked as pretty as a postcard against the backdrop of old boatsheds, endless sandbanks, tall gums and well-to-do waterfronts on Port Hacking.

The boat has classic lines and an exquisite finish that includes a high-gloss teak transom, lots of lovely brightwork, posh portholes, and a work-of-art windscreen like that on a classic Jag racer. The foredeck 'mast' with nav lights is a nice nautical touch.

Finishes throughout are first class. There is cool canvas-like upholstery outdoors, perfect teak joinery, black-ice Corian counters, soft burgundy leather lounges and a traditional teak-lined cabin below.

While the baby of the range, the Azzura 33 Commuter I drove is certainly not short on charm. Costing from $310,000, the boat has comely lines, a summer-savvy layout and a slippery and seakindly hull for inshore or ocean passages.

FRIENDLY ON DECK
Cool mock-canvas upholstery, in a burgundy-and-white striped period pattern, and practical seating exists in the shade and sun for six to seven guests. There are aft and U-shaped lounges, the latter set around a timber table with a special compass-rose ash inlay, and a canopy that doesn't affect your view or the boat's lovely lines.

Having encountered more canopies than a Bedouin, I am prepared to stick my neck out and declare this the best sunshade I've seen on a boat. Priced at $19,570, the canopy has handcrafted stainless framework that was, to quote O'Neil, "what makes this boat Mercedes or BMW class".

But better than that, the canopy that shades the helm area and at least half the U-shaped lounge is tight and trim and doesn't flap around. It is what makes this commuter such a comfortable, well, social place to be. Guests can park themselves on a lounge, sit back and enjoy.

Outdoor amenities include a Bolly-sized icebox (no overboard drain), bottle and glass storage in a teak cabinet behind the helmseat and a sink with optional hot as well as cold water drawing from a 125lt supply. The handheld cockpit shower will help rinse the lunch plates.

Dotted about the teak decks are lots of gorgeous fittings. The most imaginative of these are the trick side steps that clip in place inside the port and starboard cockpit lockers. The idea is that, once assembled, the steps will help passengers climb aboard.

The boat needs moulded aft steps or perhaps a transom door to improve its aft access, especially if you are moored stern-to or returning from a swim off the duckboard. You risk doing a groin injury if you throw a leg over the transom.

But full marks for the wide sidedecks that let the first mate reach the foredeck and toss the mooring lines when everyone is aboard.

The optional push-button windlass is a must for hands-free anchoring. The bowplate and stainless anchor are lovely touches.

BUILT TO LAST
Engineering is a strong point, with labels on everything that is important underfloor. I couldn't get over the serious stainless plumbing gear, which is akin to what you would expect on a custom-made superyacht.

All the seacocks are bronze, the dual water tanks, fuel tank and hot-water tank are stainless steel, while the steering is Hydrive hydraulic. The boat has a wet exhaust system and sound insulation, which Azzura needs to improve to reduce engine noise on future models.

The engine, a single 370hp Yanmar diesel upgraded from the standard 315hp motor, hides beneath the cockpit sole almost amidships to keep weight out of the boat's ends. It was fitted with a ZF 1.96:1 gearbox and a survey-sized shaft.

For servicing and pre-cruising checks, press a button and watch in wonder as the entire cockpit sole lifts on a hydraulic ram. Fully elevated, there is only room to crawl around the motor because back aft the hull is so flat and narrow-draft.

Before you baulk at the thought of a single motor, note that this boat has 3hp bowthrusters and sternthrusters that make docking child's play. And underway she is a darling to drive.

While the hull is not a conventional deep-vee, it is darn smooth riding. The super-sharp rounded stem sluices the waves like the good ol' destroyers of the 'Fifties. The flat run aft and hard chines give lift and efficiency.

Balsa-cored and vacuum-bagged, the hull and deck have a feeling of unity. They also enjoy terrific weight savings compared with a solid fibreglass boat. Lean and lithesome, the 33 tips the scales at just 4400kg dry.

The master battery switch resides in a hatch and is marked parallel, house and start. A trick 12V switch panel with electronic bilge alarm, fuel tank gauge, freshwater gauge and breakers is close to the helm. A cockpit courtesy light and a rear flagstaff add to the charm.

AN ELEGANT LADY
The timber benchseat for two, a pretty planked number, reminded me of something you might find up the back of an English garden, and could probably do with a cushion - in a turn-of-the-century American print - if you plan to head to sea.

Sportscar rather than ferry handling will excite discerning drivers. The boat jumps out of the hole, with practically no change to its running attitude, and turns in a cool cruise of 14-15kt at 2000rpm and a handy 18kt at 2400rpm.

You can cruise at 21kt for a big range from the 333lt fuel tank. Top speed is in the 26kt range at 3400rpm. So think of it as a fast commuter, not an old classic chugger.

The boat turns on the wheel and doesn't dig in much at all in tight turns. It is really very nimble for a sleek hull. The full-length keel helps tracking and protects the prop from accidental groundings.

With a low-profile and shallow draft, this would be a wonderful craft for skinny waterways and for slipping under low-slung bridges. Calling all Gold Coast boaties!

NAUTICAL NOSH-UP
Everyone will appreciate the interior with its almost palpable air of sophistication, accommodation for a couple and amenities for guests while day or night boating. Headroom ranges from 1800-1900mm.

Guests will appreciate the full-sized bathroom to starboard. It has a handheld shower (nowhere to hang the rose), a Lectrasan loo, handy floorspace, lots of headroom, a Corian sink and a dressing mirror. The head has an opening porthole, but no extractor fan.

The neat little galley, opposite to port, will serve the prawn and bubbly just fine. It has enough benchspace to butter a baguette, a small sink with hot/cold water, cupboard for plates, drawers for cutlery and a little 12V fridge.

It would be entirely possible to stage a dinner setting for four on the sophisticated burgundy-coloured leather lounges set around a small timber table at the foot of the bed. The floor is high-gloss teak and teak-planked walls make for a warm, nautical welcome.

But in terms of cots, the Azzura Commuter 33 is a boat built for two. The double berth in the bow will beckon after that late night nautical nosh-up. I never got that far, however.

Port Hacking was a day playground on which I fairly flew about the deep expanses, while idling carefully about the narrow channels, which in parts flow frighteningly close to sandbanks below.

They tell me the Royal Motor Yacht Club is the place to eat on Port Hacking. Maybe next time. But if not, no worries, I will die contented, having driven the classy Azzura 33 on one of the most delightful waterways around town. One of the best.