Eagle 58

Although Norman R Wright & Sons has been building boats for nearly 100 years, the company has only ever built three true gamefishing boats. And while better known for its classic cruisers, pilot boats and passenger ferries, the gameboats Norman R Wright & Sons has produced are considered some of the finest ever built.

Back in 1993 the company launched Big Buddy, a 60ft flybridge sportsfisher designed by Davis Boatworks in the USA. Then in 1999 Weapon was launched - a 63ft Wright-designed and built vessel which, to this day, is one of the biggest gameboats built in Australia.

The Wrights obviously learnt a lot during the production of those two boats, because their latest launching, a 58-footer called Eagle, is an absolute gem.

In my eyes, Eagle is drop-dead gorgeous. It's what the quintessential gameboat should look like.

It features a modern sheerline, low-profile flybridge and anodised aluminium tower, all of which are well proportioned. There is even a bit of that classic Carolina flare up front, to maintain tradition and help shed some water.

Eagle has been built for a Sydney-based gamefisherman who obviously knew what he wanted in a boat. After researching several custom boatyards in the US including Hines Farley and Garlington, the owner was able to provide Wrights with an accurate brief as to how his new custom gameboat should look and perform.

According to the owner, he wanted his new boat to be great in a headsea, have good lateral stability, and maintain a clean and understated, but stylish, look. From what I can see, they succeeded on all accounts.

IN-HOUSE DESIGNM
Eagle features a warped hull that was designed in-house by Wrights using Weapon's plans as a guideline. The plans were then sent to renowned US-based naval architects Donald Blount & Associates for final comment. Some minor changes were made, then a scale model was sent to the Australian Maritime College in Tasmania for tank-testing.

Eagle's construction comprises of a foam-cored GRP composite. A 40mm Airex linear foam core is used in the hull bottom, which provides a light, yet extremely strong, impact-resistant bottom. The rest of the vessel is cored using Herex rigid PVC foam of varying densities and thicknesses. The entire boat is laminated with E-glass and epoxy resin up to 3.5mm externally and 2.5mm internally.

This construction method means Eagle's lightship displacement is just 26 tonnes. Light, yes - but still strong enough to be built to DNV and USL surveys.

THREE-CABIN LAYOUT
Eagle's accommodation comprises a three-cabin, two-bathroom layout, and also features a separate tackle room.

The VIP cabin is located forward and features a raised double-island berth with large storage drawers below. American cherrywood is the dominant timber throughout.

A mirrored bedhead is located on the forward bulkhead, while hanging lockers and drawers are located aft on either side of the cabin. The padded vinyl deckhead features stylish downlights and a Leumar deckhatch finished with cherrywood trim. All switches are concealed to help produce a clean, seamless look.

Aft of the VIP cabin on the starboard side is the dayhead, which services the VIP and crew cabins. The dayhead features a separate shower stall with an acid-etched glass showerscreen, Grohe shower fittings and a seat. Corian benchtops highlight the washbasin, which incorporates drawers and cupboard storage below. A Raritan toilet features a Lectrasan system, and both forced and natural ventilation is provided.

All towel rails are hidden to maintain the clean look, although I did find it difficult to reach the door latch. While the teak and holly floors in the dayhead look fantastic, they aren't very practical. This surface gets very slippery when wet, so no doubt some bathmats will be required.

OWNER'S DOMAIN
Midships on the port side is the owner's cabin and ensuite. Exquisite cherrywood joinery is again dominant throughout. A queensize bed features a full walkaround, and storage drawers are located at the forward end. There is a bronze mirror bedhead, cherrywood pelmet with downlights and four-drawer sidetables with a stylish granite inlay.

A Panasonic DVD player is concealed on the outboard side of the owner's bed and a Samsung 14in flatscreen TV is recessed into the forward bulkhead, highlighted by a cherrywood surround. Niles speakers are recessed behind the deckhead.

The owner's ensuite is a duplicate of the dayhead and is accessed only via the owner's cabin. It is located immediately forward of the owner's cabin.

Midships on the starboard side is a tackle room that is finished in black frontrunner fabric and features four large shelves outboard. Rod storage is yet to be installed, but there is plenty of room to mount various outfits vertically against each bulkhead. Reels and lure rolls will be stored on the shelving, and Ian Miller's custom rods should look fantastic against the black frontrunner.

Directly aft of the tackle room is the crew cabin. It features two good-sized bunks, a chest of drawers against the aft bulkhead and a hanging locker against the forward bulkhead. Additional storage is provided below the lower bunk, and adjustable reading lights are a nice touch.

STYLISH SALOON
Five steps up from the companionway and you are in the saloon. The galley is located on the port side at the forward end of the saloon. A U-shaped configuration, the galley is both stylish and functional. The cherrywood joinery, black galaxy granite benchtops and stainless steel fittings all compliment each other, resulting in a modern but understated look.

To keep the weight down, the granite benchtops have actually been ground down to a 6mm thickness and applied to an aluminium honeycomb core. No doubt expensive, but very clever.

Other features in the galley include a Smeg convection microwave, which is concealed behind a roll-back door, Miele ceramic hob, Qasair rangehood, Clark sink and two Fisher & Paykel 120lt fridges.

Although there is a freezer in the cockpit, more freezer space in the galley would be nice - and like the bathrooms, the teak and holly floor looks great but not too practical in a potentially wet area like the galley.

An L-shaped dinette is located on the starboard side, opposite the galley. A five-seater, it features quality leather upholstery and storage below. The tabletop is also finished in black galaxy granite and is mounted on a polished stainless steel leg with a cherrywood veneer.

Aft of the dinette is a cherrywood sideboard that houses the entertainment centre, which is hidden behind retractable doors. The centrepiece is the large Panasonic flatscreen digital TV, which is flanked by a Denon DVD player and amplifier, plus a Sony VCR. A Bose centre speaker is installed below the TV and four Niles speakers are recessed behind the deckhead to complete the surround sound system.

The sideboard also incorporates storage for DVDs, CDs and videos, as well as custom-built wine and glass drawers.

Opposite the entertainment centre is a large L-shaped leather lounge that should seat six people in relative comfort.

Natural light in the saloon is excellent thanks to large side windows and another huge window in the aft bulkhead. All the windows feature sheer Hunter Douglas blinds that are UV-resistant, and are easily raised or lowered to any height. There is a total of twelve recessed downlights in the deckhead, which are all on dimmers. The saloon door is offset to starboard.

The deckhead panels can be removed to access wiring if required, and there are two soft-patches in the saloon floor just in case you have to pull an engine out. Unfortunately the big MANs won't fit through the door, so you would have to remove the rear bulkhead.

THE BATTLE DECK
It's three steps down from the saloon to the cockpit, where you'll find a beautiful teak-laid deck and solid teak covering boards. A magnificent heavy-tackle chair from US-based Release Marine takes centre stage, and deeply padded coaming ensure those thighs are well protected.

In my opinion the coaming height on Eagle is just right, but I'd get rid of those sidelockers, which are nothing but knee-breakers when trying to wire fish - even if they have got toe-unders.

The livebait setup incorporated in the transom is very nice and includes two tuna tubes and a decent-sized livewell. The livewell lid is centrally hinged, but can be removed altogether. Four Lees rodholders grace the covering boards.

The door is quite large, but I doubt you would drag a grander through there. The owner must have had this in mind however, because there is a removable roller on the leading bottom edge of the door, and a pulling point in a locker at the forward end of the cockpit.

Heavy-duty stainless cleats that are tapped into reinforcing plates are located in each aft corner, and hawsepipes are located on the transom. I feel the hawsepipes should be on the sides also to prevent water ingress while backing up. There is a freshwater tap and washdown outlet located very close to the cleat on the starboard side, which could potentially get in the way when you're trying to get a rope on the cleat in a hurry.

The scuppers have been intelligently positioned on the hull sides rather than on the transom, but they will need some minor modification. While they perform the job of clearing the cockpit of water admirably, they also let quite a lot in while in a tight turn at speed.

Two big deck hatches in the cockpit sole reveal huge removable fishboxes, and another hatch aft of the gamechair provides access to the lazarette. It amazes me though, that big, nasty piano hinges are used on these hatches, which are just waiting to rip open a bare foot. With the availability of recessed heavy-duty stainless hinges these days, why would you use anything else?

At the forward end of the cockpit on the starboard side is a concealed sink with freshwater washdown. A cupboard below houses the manual bilge pump and fire-fighting equipment.

To port of the steps is the engineroom access, which is again concealed behind a swing-out door. Continuing to port is another concealed sink with tackle drawers below, and a large custom freezer by Freezetec is positioned behind the flybridge ladder.

This is the only freezer in the boat, so if bait fishing is your gig, you may want a freezer inside for frozen food. All these compartments feature radiused edges and no sharp latches to get things caught on, so it's a great place to sit and watch the lures. A big overhang will also provide some shelter from the elements.

One thing missing from the cockpit was small steps to access the sidedecks. It was quite a leap from the cockpit if you wanted to make your way to the foredeck.

THE SHOWROOM
Access to the engineroom from the cockpit was okay, but the slimline treads on the stainless steel ladder could be slippery if you had wet feet. The engineroom itself can only be described as magnificent. The brief was to produce an engineroom to 'show' condition, and that has certainly been achieved.

The 1050hp MAN diesels are mounted on engine beds that run from bow to stern. The engines sit nice and low, and really look the goods with their sparkling white paint and polished chrome fittings. Access to filters, belts and water strainers is excellent.

The exhaust system was imported from Marine Exhaust Systems in the USA and featured insulated risers and 12in linear mufflers. The gearbox is a two-speed ZF550ATS with 1.97:1 and 1.65:1 ratios. The low gear makes moving around a marina much easier.

A 12.5kVa Seawasp genset is located aft of the engineroom ladder, while six 200Ah gel cell batteries are concealed in a separate battery compartment. The engineroom also features 100mm fire and sound insulation, while all wiring and piping is concealed behind removable panelling.

Again, the teak and holly is probably an inappropriate flooring for an engineroom, but boy, does it look good! Perhaps some of the rubberised checkerplate used elsewhere in the enginespace would be a more appropriate flooring material.

A separate plant room is located forward of the engineroom and houses a Spectra desalinator, Cruiseair airconditioning unit and NAF S-111 fire extinguishing system. An emergency escape hatch also joins the engineroom to the saloon.

FLYING HIGH
Back out in the cockpit, access to the flybridge is via an anodised aluminium ladder with heavy-duty piping and solid teak treads. This ladder, that outstanding tower, and the stainless steel bowrail were all produced by Paul Selby from Black Marlin Towers. This man is a true craftsman, and every tower he builds just looks better and better.

Once on the flybridge, you are again greeted by a clean and somewhat understated layout. When the helm console is in the stowed position, the flybridge is pretty, errrr, white. The only splash of colour comes from the flashy chromed steering wheel and Mathers single-lever controls. One flick of a switch though, and hey presto - electric actuators reveal a dash full of the latest goodies from Simrad.

The helm and passenger seats were very comfortable. Like the gamechair, these pair of beauties was imported from Release Marine in the US. Both featured swivel footrests, adjustable slides and removable backrests to aid vision to the cockpit while fighting a fish.

The steering wheel was mounted on a Palm Beach-style pod, which certainly looked the goods - but in my opinion, it was a little too high. Even though I'm not the tallest guy in the world, there is no way I could rest my bum on the wheel while backing up on a fish. That said, I could grab the gear levers okay, so something wasn't quite right.

Although the one-piece retractable electronics pod is a good idea in theory, it just doesn't work on this boat. For starters, you have to get off the helmchair to operate any of the electronics. Then there is a stainless steel hardtop support blocking the helmsman's view of the chartplotter. And if you want to read your radar or operate your CD player, you'll have to leave the helm altogether or ask your co-pilot to help out.

Another feature of the helmstation that didn't really work, in my opinion, was the concealed radio compartment. Sure, a great idea to hide the radios out of the way - but too bad if you actually want to listen to them. With the lid closed, you won't hear them - and with the lid open, you can't see your radar. This seems indeed to be a setup where looks have taken a priority over practicality.

There is and L-shaped lounge forward of the helm console and another to port, which will no doubt get plenty of use when the fishing is slow. No clears were fitted to Eagle on the test day - hence the big jackets - but they were set to be installed a couple of days later.

TOWERING SUCCESS
Access from the flybridge to the tower is fine, and the angles all seem okay. The tower features oversized legs with four clearing rodholders and an eight-pot rocket launcher behind the helmchairs.

There is a 1.1m gap between the hardtop and the tower floor, which in my opinion is spot on. Any higher and the boat begins to look out of proportion - not to mention the effect it has on the centre of gravity and stability of the boat.

The tower helm is a quality setup, with plenty of padding, two drop-down seats, aluminium steering wheel, ZF electronic controls, Raymarine L760 sounder and Coursemaster autopilot.

Unfortunately we tested Eagle in almost glassy conditions, so we can't really comment on its seaworthiness. But based on its heritage, plus the design and tank-testing that was done prior to construction, it should be very good.

Being quite light for a 58-footer, the twin 1050hp MANs provide a good turn of speed. A 25kt cruise was comfortably achieved at 1850rpm, while at 2300rpm we reached a top speed of 33kt. Yep, that's moving for a big boat like this.

Chasing my imaginary marlin around the ocean in reverse was a lot of fun, and I found manoeuvrability to be very good - and although I tried quite hard, I didn't manage to get any green water over the transom.

DIFFERENT STROKES
Norman R Wright & Sons is a custom boatbuilder, and Eagle is indeed a custom-built boat. When you order a custom-built boat, you get what you want - not necessarily what the boatbuilder wants.

The point I am making here is that some of my criticisms in this review are not a reflection on the boatbuilder. The quality of the workmanship and finish in general is as good as I've seen, and Norman R Wright & Sons and its engineering team should be applauded for producing such a magnificent vessel.

The owner of Eagle new exactly what he wanted, and he got it. Custom boats are a very personal thing and the fact that I don't like some aspects doesn't make them wrong - it just means that if it were my custom boat, I would do things a little differently.

That said, there's not a great deal I'd change about Eagle - and rest assured, I'd be a happy chappy if it was parked at my pontoon.

Now if only those lottery numbers would come up on Saturday night!