Bayliner 2655/2855

Life is one big journey. You start out being dragged aboard your parents' powerboat, quickly develop a love for the water, and eventually find yourself lashing on your own boat one day. Then, once you're through with doing day trips, a bigger boat beckons.

American production-boat giant, Bayliner, is a master at catering for each step in the boating journey. The factory makes everything from introductory trailerboats that are packaged-up and priced down, to luxury motoryachts that have all the bells and whistles to satisfy retirees setting out on their final journey in life.

But, to my mind, Bayliner is foremost a master at building big-little boats or, if you prefer, little-big boats. Of all the models in all its ranges, the Cieras hold the most appeal. At every stage of life's little journey, a Ciera cruiser appeals.

Beginning at around 23ft in length, the Cieras are something you can step-up to without worrying about scuttling the marina, forking out for huge fuel bills, or having to plonk yourself down on nothing more than a wet cockpit seat.

Concurrently, these are boats you can step-down to and still get many of the comforts of a full-blown cruiser. Attractive family or couples boats, the Cieras offer a mix of dayboating comforts and handy amenities down below.

Though they are relatively compact, each is exceedingly high volume. Bayliner doesn't hide from this fact. Certainly, it prides itself on making mid-sized production cruisers that offer more for your money.

CIERA CRUISING
I've cruised aboard several Cieras over the years, both in the name of duty and for the sheer fun of it. There are those which I have viewed and reviewed with an analytical eye. Then there are others, like the 25-footer my brother-in-law owned in Sydney, in which I kicked back and thought about, well, nothing much at all.

This time, my Ciera cruising offered a mix between work and play. I spent the best part of a perfect autumn afternoon in the new 2655 and 2855 Sunbridges on Sydney's Berowra Waters. Some time was given over to opening cupboards and doing speed assessments. Then, left to my own devices, I cruised the waterway like a tourist on a coach in a new city.

Bathed in sun and without a breath of wind, Berowra was just like you'd imagine a North American lake to be. In other words, it was as flat as a skating rink. While these relaxed conditions added to the comfort of each boat, they preclude me from commenting on the boats' performance in open waters.

What I can assume, however, is that the Ciera hulls have sufficient waterline length to safely and swiftly traverse harbour or bay chop.

Pick the good days and you could nip outside and trounce down the coast to a nearby port.

Still, for the most part, these are boats to get to your favourite anchorage, cast a line, take a swim, and spend the day doing what you have always loved most. Unlike those trailerboats you grew up with, you can call the Cieras home.

The boats come with bathrooms and toilets and hot showers, cabins with double bunks, dinettes, and galleys with microwave ovens. Both the 26 and 28-footers offer enough cabin space for a family of four or two couples to sleep with a fair degree of comfort and privacy.

LOOKING THE PART
If you thought styling doesn't play a big part in mid-range cruiser design, think again. As one of the most accessible cruisers on the market, the Cieras need to look sexy and standout from the pack.

Thus, over the years, the Ciera range has become progressively more curvaceous, more European looking, and less cut-and-shut inside. The makeover began with the introduction of the 30-footer several years back. Its Euro lines proved a big hit all-round the world. That look has been transposed to the 24, 26 and 28-footers.

These three mid-sized Ciera cruisers are, in many ways, like Russian dolls. That is to say each is a model of its sistership. The slight changes to the interiors and cockpit are brought about by more beam. The bigger the Ciera, the bigger the lounges and accommodation inside.In fact, a change in dimensions marks a new direction for Bayliner's Ciera range. All three models are no longer legally trailerable. Instead, Bayliner has gone for maximum beam to deliver even more for your dollar.

Take a look inside to see what I mean about big-little boats.

Other changes to the Cieras include deleting the bowsprit for a sleeker look, including more rounded bulkheads for snazzier styling, designing better sun lounges so more people can converse in the cockpit, and introducing a very effective step-up dash for better access to the bow.

These features were apparently on the Cieras I reviewed. For one reason or another, I spent most time on the 2655. As for the 2455, I indulged in little more than a passing look. Part of the reason for this is, in my opinion, the mid-range cruiser concept works best with hulls from 26-30ft. Indeed, the 2655 and 2855 give you just the right amount of room below without having to make the hulls too high-sided. Any less waterline length and most midsized cruisers start to look too chunky.

GROWING A LEG
The 2655 Ciera Sunbridge is the best all-round, mid-sized cruiser in Bayliner's line-up. Matched to the petrol-powered 250hp MerCruiser engine with a Bravo III sterndrive leg, the boat offers a handy turn of speed and great manoeuvrability.

This is because the Bravo III leg spins a counter-rotating prop. The 2655 with the smaller 5.0lt engine and Alpha Bravo I or II sterndrive would be a lesser boat. Prospective buyers would be well advised to pay that little more for the better leg.

Unfortunately, however, the Berowra importers were still toying with propeller size. The heavily pitched prop they had fitted was slow at getting the boat out of the hole, offered less trim range than it should, and let go or cavitated before the boat was sitting right-up on its tail.

Still, it was a neat boat to drive. The new, bigger and higher Clearview windscreen serves its purpose well. Being clear instead of tinted, it doesn't impede on vision. The helm chair, meanwhile, has been changed to include a slide. It's a half-person wider than a single chair, thereby granting plenty of room for the skipper to sit side-saddle when low-speed cruising or socialising at anchor.

As with all Bayliners, the dash is a moulded insert that really can't be faulted. It is best described as car-like, with an imitation walnut facia on the top tier for engine gauges, a bottom tier with all the switches and the marine radio (LX model), and a middle section offering room for flush-mounting electronics either side of the tilt-adjustable wheel.

A new walk-up-and-over arrangement on the camel-coloured dash is a step in the right direction. Nice big moulded tread steps let you launch onto a big non-skid platform behind the windscreen. Open the centre section of the screen and you can step onto the foredeck.

Backed by a stainless bowrail, the non-skid foredeck includes a central recess where you could fit an optional sunpad (imagine how sexy your Ciera would look if that sunpad was a chic tweed or blue-and-white striped fabric).

Though the foredeck bears some obvious reverse sheer, which is all part of the Euro look, it's not too raked. Back on the so-called sunbridge and in the cockpit the impression is one of width.

To port is a full-length sun lounge called a Sunchaser. One person can recline on the contoured lounge and drift off to sleep. Underway, with the backrest propped up, two or three people can sit opposite the skipper. All-up, including the two-person foldaway benchseat at the transom, the 2655 can seat seven outdoors.

An easy boat to move around, the 2655 is well mapped with strategically-placed dayboating amenities. There were waterproof speakers, five drinkholders, a transom platform with a fold-down ladder, and moulded steps in the sidedeck so you can disembark to that waterfront restaurant with ease.

Below the skipper's seat was a moulded storage area harbouring the battery switch and windlass switch (hiding this is a good precaution). On the LX model, clip-in carpets make maintenance less bothersome and the hot/cold transom shower is a bonus. On both high and low-spec models, engine access through a central cockpit hatch with gas-assisted struts leaves no excuse for not making routine inspections.

When your day's over, or during the course of the day if you can get away with it, the 2655 offers plenty of comforts below. The mid cabin, while without a door, is spacious enough for two people to bed down without feeling claustrophobic. A padded headboard and stowage locker add to the comfort.

The light-timber clad galley, amidships on the portside, is as smart as one of those kitchens put together by a cabinet-maker. Features of the base model include sink with cold water, cabinet with searail, benchtop space, and a single-burner stove. Buy the LX version and you'll get a microwave, fridge, and pressure hot water.

Opposite is a very simple dinette-cum-card table. A removable backrest on the bow side of the table lets you create one big rumpus room-cum-double berth. With four scatter cushions and headroom throughout, the 2655 plays the part of a compact home-away-from-home.

A big attraction for passengers is the fully-moulded, enclosed head on the starboard side. It includes a manual-flush toilet with a holding tank, vanity and moulded sink, and a hot/cold tap that doubles as a hand-held shower. There is no extractor fan, however.

Unfortunately, if there's something to denounce it's the fabrics and carpet.

Having seen Cieras that are two, three, four and more years old, their interiors seem to date. Currently, there's too much beige, for my liking, the motley upholstery looks bland, and the carpet seems to rough-up too easily.

But no doubt I looked smart cruising along Berowra. A swarm of Cub Scouts in canoes with firewood tied to their bows, paddling en route to a bivouac downstream, looked up enviously. The pack leader yelled: "Nice boat." A cheeky couple running astern asked for a tow.

According to the speedo, the Ciera 2655 Sunbridge returned a credible 41mph at 4200rpm. Cruising speed was 31mph at 3500rpm. The boat was less comfortable at low speeds because of its prop. But with a better prop, the hull's relatively moderate vee of 16° and wide beam should see it amble along nicely.

The other facet of the 2655 to shine through was its handling. At least on calm water, you could throw the boat around in tight turns as though it was an overgrown trailerboat. Thus, the dayboat and weekender has enough sportiness to win over just about everyone.

BY DEGREES
The 2855 Ciera Sunbridge is a good example of Bayliner doing things by degrees. Some 500mm longer overall and 230mm wider, the 2855 offers a bit more space inside and out, a greater degree of privacy thanks to a door on the aft cabin, and a more abiding layout for weekending away.

That little extra waterline length and beam also allows for less compromise in the hull shape. It's definitely more sporty looking than chunky and better performing than the 2655 thanks to an extra 60hp in the engine bay. What's more, it will be a lot more capable offshore.

Because stability isn't quite such an issue at this size, the hull has 21| of deadrise compared with the 16| on the 2655. Built on what Bayliner terms a sequential lift hull, the 2855 is a modern, efficient shape. But as with the 2655, the stringers are fibreglass and the hull is backed by a five-year transferable warranty.

As one might expect, the 2855 offers more in the way of amenities than its smaller sistership. Pressure hot and cold water, a dual-voltage fridge, cockpit shower, extra transom locker, stereo, magazine rack, 10-amp battery charger, and circuit-breaker board are among the extras that are now standard issue.

Aside from a cabin door, bigger companionway and hanging locker inside the mid cabin, the 2855 has a more capable dinette. There are no pull-apart backrests. Instead, the dinette can seat four any time and convert in minutes to a capable impromptu double.

Stepping inside you get the feeling of this being a true 28-footer. You can see all the way to the forepeak cabin, through a half bulkhead with rounded edges, to where a big vee-shaped double berth hides.

There's plenty of room to mount a television, airconditioning is an option, and the greater permanency about the layout means this boat is better suited to extended cruising. An extra 80lt in fuel capacity won't be missed by the 7.4lt petrol engine. And with the Bravo III leg, parking was a breeze.

Underway, the 2855 reached over 40mph without much fuss. A touch of in-trim helped the boat make a snappy exit to planing speeds, but not long into my drive the Bennett hydraulic trim tabs quit.

I felt the power steering, which is part of the up-market LX pack, was a tad sloppy. Once again, a change of fabrics would be nice. But for all intents and purposes, the Bayliner Cieras rate highly. The 2655 and 2855 even the little 2455 fills a niche in the market where more and more boat-owners are shopping these days.

With a Ciera you can embark on a journey to freedom. A bit like those Cub Scouts who looked on from their canoes with wide eyes and wondered what they could get up to if they had a boat like this.

HIGHS

LOWS