Clipper Cordova 60 Series II: Review

The Cordova 60 is one of the prettiest boats in today’s Clipper fleet. It’s got a balanced motoryacht line, rather than that the ‘clunkiness’ of a trawler, and now the Series II version has something else. This is a new-generation Clipper with a more practical layout by way of big aft galley and hopper window, single-level saloon and helm deck, plus lifted fit and contemporary finish. These things help put the traditional Clipper marque in front of today’s luxury-motoryacht buyers. There’s still the semi-displacement hull that Clipper espouses for economical passagemaking and a get-out-of-trouble fast clip of 20 knots-plus. But if you like to mix up your motorcruising with some entertaining, this new Series II Cordova 60 is for you.

OVERVIEW
- Clipper is wholly Australian-owned and shaping boats for local needs
In a Clipper 38 Sedan test for our sites back in October 2003 I wrote: "I'll bet some of you have skippered a Clipper before. The fetching cruisers were once one of the most popular charterboats for weekending away. Virtual homes-away-from-home, Clippers introduced countless clans to the joys of liveaboard boating."

In fact, Clippers were such a big hit in the 1970s and early-'80s that they became a household name in places like Sydney where you could Skipper a Clipper on the Hawkesbury. Some of those indefatigable boats are still going today. But, thankfully, Clipper has evolved into the modern era.

Today, the wholly Australian-owned company offers the Hudson Bay single-level sedan cruising boats from 32-51ft; the more classically styled but modernised Cordova motoryachts from 45-62ft; and the new Explorer long-range pilothouse designs from 46-58ft. The old Clipper trawlers are no more, but as a guess there’s probably more than 250 Clippers spanning some decades in Australia today.

The subject of this test, the new Clipper Cordova 60 Series II has been one of the best-selling bigger motoryachts in the fleet. There are a half-dozen 60s in Australian waters since the first one was released back in 2009. The boats are very well travelled, making passages from the tropics to Tassie, making our token trip off the Gold Coast seem ho-hum. But you can’t help being inspired by this new Cordova 60 Series II.

PRICE AND EQUIPMENT
- No two Clippers are the same these days and this was a loaded owner’s boat
The owner of our test boat was coming out of a 40ft sportscruiser with the galley down. Boat handling was important. He didn’t need a go-fast planing hull, but stability and predictable handling instead. He wanted easy docking outside his waterfront home, too.

A boat-show demonstration convinced him to buy the EJS hydraulic engine-and-thruster joystick docking system from Twin Disc. That option certainly takes charge of this solid 33 tonne (light displacement) motoryacht.

A mate had a Clipper 48, but this owner wanted more entertaining space and a comfortable private haven. For all these reasons and more, the Clipper Cordova 60 was a great fit.

Of course, no two Clippers are the same, especially at this $2M+ level. The test boat was a semi-custom motoryacht with a lot of specific owner kit including the optional aft crew cabin.

Among the key engineering upgrades were the EJS with Skyhook station-holding feature, Wesmar stabilisers, hydraulic windlass, SK watermaker, plus there was a Simrad electronics suite, cameras, underwater lights, hydraulic platform, walnut interior and more.

For what it’s worth, the base price of the Clipper Cordova 60 with a pair of 550hp Cummins QSC diesel engines is $1.95 million.

The standard specifications sheet is long, listing things such as a 22kVa Onan generator, tropical strength air-con, bow thruster, twin Racor fuel filters per main engine, full Raymarine electronics kit, electric 450kg davit, flat screen televisions and Fusion AV system, teak cockpit and side decks, and so on.

With upgraded twin 715hp QSM11 diesel engines and all the owner upgrades, the test boat had a ticket of about $2.4 million. The boat really needs to be viewed in the context of a floating waterfront home.

LAYOUT AND ACCOMMODATION
- Flowing open-plan living arrangement from cockpit to helm deck with ship-like accommodation
We came aboard via the big hydraulic platform with 600kg lift capacity that was awaiting its tender. This way, once loaded, you can range along the coast without the hassle of retrieving your RIB to the aft flybridge deck. The set-up also gives you scope to carry PWCs.

Angled moulded steps lead into the cockpit where there’s an inbuilt transom lounge. With loose table and chairs you can seat up to eight, at least partly in the shade of the moulded overhang. The cockpit had a fridge/freezer chest with 24V plate, but there’s scope for a lot of refrigeration if you want it.

The opening aft hopper window and bar stools fronting the new big aft galley creates a wonderfully open-plan arrangement on this Series II. What a great spot at cocktail hour, helping with food prep such as picking over mud crabs, tucking onto breakfast or serving a buffet.

Meanwhile, teak cappings or coamings and heavy-duty stainless steel rails trace the walkaround decks and add to this boat’s safety and accessibility. There’s non-skid in the foredeck and an anchoring set-up that let’s you run twin anchors. Extended families and dogs will be right at home getting around the Cordova 60.

There are side gates for access and provisioning at the marina and a foredeck with dedicated dolphin- and whale-spotting lounge. The sun pad on the bow adds to the outdoor options, creating a teenage retreat and optional nose-to-the-wind spot at anchor.

The step-down optional aft crew cabin didn’t have full standing headroom, but it did have twin single beds and a Simrad MFD, a small WC, Miele washer/dryer, cedar-lined hanging space and opening portlight. You can otherwise create a utility room and storage area in this aft space.

Back to that open-plan saloon, which brings the biggest changes to this Series II. There’s still a big call for pilothouse Clippers, mind you, but these new open models appeal to younger buyers, too.

The huge aft galley is the hub, which takes up more than half the saloon, has two more bar stools inside fronting an island servery, plus home-sized counters atop a network of storage cupboards and drawers. The food-prep and servery space will cater for a 20-person party.

Galleying gourmands will welcome the Miele combi oven, four-burner cooktop, four fridge and freezer drawers, twin sinks, Zip Hydrotap, and dish-drawer dishwasher for the clean-up. Ventilation is on tap, too, via opening windows and the aft hopper and opening doors.

Leave the doors open and feed a crowd, letting them wander from the cockpit to the foredeck and up to the bridge. Otherwise, there is a large L-shaped lounge forward with convertible table that could seat up to eight with loose chairs. It’s opposite the TV, wet bar and wine fridge.

The ducted air conditioning, stone bench tops and on-trend walnut joinery all add to the aesthetic of this Series II. But the timber and soft furnishing touches are personal and you could open things up further with, say, a lighter oak veneer.

This forward passenger lounge also works when passagemaking, as it’s located behind the single helm seat and lower station. One person can face forward with back support. Twin helm seats might be an option worth considering. Otherwise head up top to drive.

An internal staircase leads to the flying bridge, which with hardtop and forward clears is at least as comfortable as your traditional convertible cruiser. There are twin helm chairs, decent crew seating, a good amount of storage and an amenities centre with sink, griddle and fridge.

I’d add a bigger table for lunching, a proper barbecue like a Weber and make this bridge a bit of a lunching zone. The Wesmar stabilisers with zero-speed operation will help and the tender can be carried on the swim platform, right. Beanbags in the photo shoot also suggest you can just kick back.

Below decks, accommodation spans three cabins, with an island bed and en suite forward featuring planked cabin sides for a traditional, warm timber ambience. Lots of opening portlights and headroom add to your comfort. The portside cabin with twin single bunks shares the communal bathroom and to this point it’s all very inviting.

But the owners are spoilt, with their near-amidships stable cabin running more or less full-beam, with an open bathroom alongside to port. There are opening portlights, hanging space and storage, separate AV system and just a nice sense of space that reflects the liveaboard nature of this 60 footer.

HULL AND ENGINEERING
- Time-proven systems overseen and quality assured by Australians
Clippers are still built by Ningbo Fuhua Boat Building Industry Co., Ltd, in China. Fuhua’s boats are exported to America, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Europe.

The Cordova 60 uses a hard-chine semi-displacement hull with a full keel designed by Canadian naval architects Trevor Bolt and Associates. With plenty of Clippers before it, and plenty of sea miles under the 60’s keel, the hull and engineering — using traditional shaft drives — is best described as proven.

The hand-laid solid -fibreglass hull from the chines down is topped with a composite deck and flybridge. But Clippers like this 33T Cordova 60 are heavyweights.

We like the fact Clipper uses 316 stainless steel fastenings and fittings, Aquamet shafts with PYI dripless seals, Groco sea strainers, 24V engine ventilation, GRP fuel tanks with sight gauges and manholes, and so on.

In the electrical department, there are three house and separate engine-start batteries including for the generator; a combined 70A battery charger/3000W inverter; full copper bonding system; and our boat had hydraulics for the Wesmar stabilisers, the EJS thrusters and the windlass. So it is a real little ship.

For owners, the engine room had piles of room around the Cummins diesels, which were traced by safety rails, and pre-departure checks and maintenance will be encouraged by this simple layout.

ON THE WATER
- Easy exit and a smooth offshore cruise
Leaving our tight berth was a snap thanks to the cockpit docking station. The EJS with hydraulic thrusters and engine shifts has a lot of grunt and incremental operation that requires just a little tweak of the joystick.

Skyhook let us hold station and pack the lines, aided by the walkaround decks and the starboard side door back into the helm station. Hey, it’s pretty much a one-man boat given the fact I did very little.

Up top, I noted twin helm seats, two big Simrad displays, a Simrad remote and autopilot, the EJY Express joystick system, twin VesselView displays for the Cummins engine data, Wesmar stabiliser activators, and more.

At the lower helm, the side door and open rear widow and door keep you connected with the outdoors before you secure everything and head out to sea. Not that we have any ingress of spray or anything on our test day.

The little bit of amateur video I shot going through the Seaway shows how smartly the Cordova 60 with the twin 715hp QSM11s gets along. It also reveals the dream weather we had for our Gold Coast test. Beyond the Seaway it was barely heaving.

So let’s defer to a Tasmanian delivery on a Clipper Cordova 60 sister ship with the smaller 670hp QSM11 engines.

Clipper MD Brett Thurley and Andy Diehm from Clipper Sales completed a Bass Strait crossing last year that spoke volumes for the boat’s seaworthiness and the advantage of speed to outrun a wicked approaching storm.

They went from the Gold Coast to Hobart in three days and three hours averaging 17.5 knots all the way to the eastern side of Tassie.

At 9 knots, this 60 footer powered by 670hp Cummins QSM11s averages 36lt/hr in total. Nothing new there, as displacement speeds are pretty much the same once you get the hull balance and drag sorted out.

But the Cordova 60 has a big fuel capacity. Standard capacity is 4300 litres. The optional long-range tank on the Tassie boat and this new Series 11 we drove is 5800 litres.

They Clipper boys did the Gold Coast to Sydney in one leg then Sydney to Tassie in the next leg, refuelling at Triabunna.

"The boat was just phenomenal, with five-metre seas on the beam. We ran into foul weather on the other side of Bass Strait, but continued averaging 17.5 knots in that big sea," Diehm says as we slide out the Seaway in glassy conditions.

"With the 60, the deep keel (1.67m draft!) and hull shape… the combination, and the weight, sees the boat just gobble up the rough water," Diehm adds.

Diem has circumnavigated Australia by the sea and has run boats long distances out the Great Barrier Reef as a Class IV Master, so his comments are not made from a weekend sailor’s point of view.

Indeed, the Cordova 60 is a go-anywhere coastal cruiser with a range at 9 knots from 90 per cent of the extended 5800 litre tank of around 1300nm.

I noted 22 knots offshore on the day, but with a clean running surface they’ve had 23.5 knots at 2400rpm WOT. Certainly, you’ll get 20+ knots for bar crossings and 17-18 knots cruise if you want it. All the way to Tassie from Sydney.

VERDICT
- One of the best Clippers in today’s modern fleet
On top of this cruising range and performance, the new Series II iteration of the Cordova 60 is an even better boat for entertaining. This is very much a part of the agenda of most footloose Baby Boomers these days.

Such is the ease with which couples can navigate and go places, the ocean highway has never been busier and, well, quite as social. More and more grey nomads are spending time aboard, rafted up or visiting neighbouring boats at anchorages, than they are ranging ashore to explore these days.

The Series II Cordova works very well as an entertainer, if not at distant anchorages for sundowners then certainly in backyard waterways with family and friends. It’s a home-like motoryacht with lots of living space, the popular aft galley layout, and three cabins including a full-beam owner's stateroom with en suite.

With Clipper Regattas to Fraser Island and out to the Reef, you can cruise in company. Clipper is forging ahead, with three of its new Explorer 50 pilothouse boats sold already.

It’s the combination of tried-and-tested performance, fast and slow motorcruising, and flexibility in build that is answering the call of today’s adventurous boaters on the road more or less travelled.

LIKES
>> Huge aft galley and new contemporary interior aesthetic
>> Serious short-handed coastal cruiser with EJS docking
>> Time-proven seaworthy hull, performance and engineering
>> Long-range cruising for serious coastal adventure
>> All-Australian owned, strong local backing and regattas

NOT SO MUCH
>> Wipers a long way from helm seat
>> Curved entry stairs from swim platform to cockpit
>> Flybridge tables are small; could do with one big table up top

Specifications: Clipper Cordova 60
Price as tested: With upgraded twin 715hp QSM11 diesel engines and all the owner upgrades from stabilisers to EJS and more, the test boat had a ticket of about $2.4 million.
Priced From: The base price of the Clipper Cordova 60 with a pair of 550hp Cummins QSC diesel engines is $1.95 million.
Length Overall: 18.60m
Beam: 5.12m
Draft: 1.67m
Displacement: 33,000kg dry as tested
Cabins: 3
Berths: 6-8
Engine: 2 x 715hp Cummins QSMIIs, 2 x 550hp QSC standard
Generator: Onan 22.5kVa
Fuel: 5800 litres long-range tank
Water: 1500 litres
Holding tank: 418 litres

Supplied by:
Clipper Motor Yachts
Gold Coast City Marina
46-84 Waterway Drive
Coomera, QLD, 4209
Phone : 07 5519 4019
Email : brett@clippermotoryachts.com    
Web : www.clippermotoryachts.com