Cranchi Giada 30

It hails from near Lake Como in Italy's north, has been making boats since 1870, and is now the biggest buyer of Volvo Penta marine engines in Europe. Far from gondolas and push poles, serenades and spag bol, Cranchi is Italy's foremost sportscruiser builder.

The first 30-something from Cranchi to make it here, the Giada 30 (no, it's not some kind of waterborne bug) is the sweetest-made 30ft sportscruiser I've seen. In fact, the boat's importer, Steve Patterson from Australian Powerboat Centre, rates it up there with Ferrari.

In terms of finish and engineering, the Giada 30 could be likened to a contemporary palazzo del mar. It's the kind of boat a reborn Sophia Loren would be at home on, stretching her long legs on the sunpad as you fang across the Med. for a fettuccine cabonara, gelato and some Vespa exhaust.

Being Italian, looks are all important to Cranchi. Its Giada comes straight from the mould of Euro-sportscruiser styling, yet don't be mistaken for thinking engineering is any less important. The boatbuilder has ISO 9001 accreditation and all its boats are built to European survey standards.

This means that the Giada 30 has watertight bulkheads, copper fuel lines, a solid stringer system, and such niceties as all injection-moulded doors and panels. When you reach into a cupboard or swing open a cabinet door, you won't see ugly splattered flowcoat.

Indeed, every surface is immaculately finished thanks to the handiwork of gelcoat spray-painters which are in fact robots. The attention to detail goes so far as to include rubber boots covering every bolt end and hose clip tag. Nothing to get in the way of la dolce vita...

But to spend time on the Giada 30 is to find the true meaning of world-class boatbuilding. It begins upon the oil-teak covered boarding platform. It doesn't quite run the full width of the boat so you won't knock it when berthing, while a hatch hides the boarding ladder.

There are stainless (all 316 grade) fender baskets and, of course, a handheld hot/cold deck shower. But an interesting option was the retractable davits. Made by Berenzoni, each telescopic, anodised alloy pole can take 30kg, or at least a neat RIB ducky... Gelatos, here we come.

Unlike most American sportscruisers, the transom door is located on the starboard side and the lounges have been flipped to port. The base of the aft lounge lifts up to permit a spot check of engine oil and water levels, and the battery isolator switch is conveniently nearby.

The U-shaped lounge is bigger than those which most 30-footers carry and I judged there to be room for two Statues of David or, better still, Cleopatras to recline. You can also lower the lunch table and convert these lounges into one big sunpad.

For lunching, the dinette and U-shaped lounge comfortably seat five. For convenience, there's a wet bar opposite with a stylish stainless-steel sink, and storage space including room for a gas bottle. A cockpit fridge - surely a must-have on a 30-something - was going to be retrofitted.

Engine access via underfloor hatches is on par with most other brands, and the optional 3kVa genset seemed to slot in without compromising servicing room. There's good access to the stainless steel fueltank, and a dipstick is provided to confirm the accuracy (or otherwise) of an electronic fuel gauge.

More storage room exists around the engines in a quasi-lazarette, somewhere for a soft-bottom duckie minus its air.

While you're poking about the engines you'll notice lots of sound-deadening material. It surrounds the hatches and walls in the engine room, but it doesn't block the airvents in the hull sides.

Forward of the lower cockpit and up one step is the bridgedeck. Here, you'll find a curvaceous two-person lounge which, opposite the skipper, has been raked in such a way that everyone can converse and gesticulate in the manner to which latins are accustomed.

The helm station was particularly well done, with imitation-walnut facias, room for flush-mounting electronics, and wheel and throttle positions designed around driving and trimming the boat. Shade comes standard in the form of a bimini which, when rolled up, looks almost like a radar arch.

Access to the bow is around the side decks in calm water and across the tinted windscreen when it's rough. You can slide an optional foam mattress on the deck to create a second sunpad.

Bowrails are solid to keep you on deck, while the anchoring arrangement, with a concealed windlass and decent chain locker, sets the standard for imported 30s.

Down below is where the Giada 30 offers everything romantic, adorable and delectable about Italy. I'm not afraid to admit I was swept off my feet with this boat's finish. It's of custom rather than production boat standard, with wiring looms that are wonderfully organised and no loose ends, threads, or fittings left untied.

The Italian flair creativity delivers an interior which is refreshing, albeit not wildly generous with headroom. The conventional lounge in the bow, which converts to a double berth, was covered in a loose-fit aquamarine coloured fabric. With white curtains covering the portholes and a soft-touch white headliner above, the cabin looks first class.

Better again are the galley, entertainment station, bathroom furnishings, bedroom cupboards, doors and table. All are injection moulded and they give the Giada 30 its superior style and a level of integration which is yet to be realised by most other sportscruiser manufacturers.

Among the features which set these areas apart are innovative cupboards, a two-burner gas stove, designer kitchen and bathroom fittings, fridge and a compact TV, electric loo, handheld shower, and dainty white curtains.

The guests' cabin is a transverse double-back under the bridgedeck. Unlike the American move to open-plan 30s, the Giada 30 had a conventional full lock-up cabin with its own door and dedicated cupboard space. A neat touch was the retractable hanging rack which let you file your suit away without having to contort your arms into a tight locker. And the dressing chair was just the right height for plonking yourself down and pulling on your Italian-made boat shoes.

While the Giada 30 has the space to sleep four people with a greater degree of privacy than an open-plan 30, it's more a boat for a couple than a company. For dayboating duties, the cockpit can cater for up to eight guests. But at night the interior is so exquisite that I believe it's best reserved for a cruising couple.

But there's just one rub - the performance was less than satisfactory. The boat carried too much vee through to its transom, which meant it had little directional stability and was inclined to fall off its (non-existent) keel and travel on its side.

Even after you put the boat back upright using trim tabs, it only took some cross wind, some cross swell, some change in the passenger load for it to fall back down. Having said that, the twin 150hp Volvo diesel engines were remarkably quiet and smooth, with some zip courtesy of turbocharging. And of course the Duoprop legs didn't know the meaning of 'let go', no matter how hard you throw the wheel around.

With a clean hull and prior to antifouling, Cranchi claims its Giada 30 can do 30kt. This is acceptable top end for any sportscruiser, but especially impressive in the case of frugal four-cylinder diesel power.

At 3700rpm, the Volvos seemed content generating a steady if not more predictable 22kt. For long-range cruising, I wouldn't want to push them much harder considering the size of the fuel tank.

The word is Cranchi is now reworking the hull to give it a flatter run aft. Hopefully, this will renew my love affair for what is truly an Italian beauty.