Eureka 42

Aussie gold

The old saying horses for courses leapt to mind as we donned the lifejackets - as you must when crossing a bar in NSW - to perform a white-knuckled test of the Eureka 42 Offshore out of the Tweed River. The handbuilt, bluewater family cruiser and game fishing boat is a real labour of love for local shipwright Laurie Toms and his crew in the namesake boatyard based upriver near Murwillumbah. As we were to discover, you can't argue with local knowledge when you are crossing a bar or building a boat for it.

Though Eureka is a new name on the Australian boatbuilding seascape, Toms, the operations manager, is no stranger to the industry. He completed his apprenticeship with a Dutch-born Tweed shipwright, Robert Romyn, whose passion was converting double-ended timber trawlers into coastal cruisers. Then he worked for Riviera and Blackwatch, the lines of which you can see in some small way in his Eureka.

"I set out to build an Australian-made product that can handle our oceans," Toms says, adding that his senior tradespeople, Adam Kirkby and Brett Carlson, should be recognised for their contribution to the Eureka team. Then it was all eyes on the breaking waves ahead.

As with all bar crossings, the key is to time your run. The breakwaters at the entrance are 180m apart, but you must keep close to the north wall, punch through some pressure waves if the tide is ebbing, and head due north to avoid the whitewater before you can run east with abandon.

In fair weather on a flood tide, it is easy going crossing the Tweed River bar. Sand dredging helps maintain water depths, too. But in heavy seas you are better heading for Southport. That said, both bars have claimed lives before. Best you don't tackle them when the seas are rough or in a boat not built for it.

EUREKA FAMILY CRUISER
But it's in the context of more than just a bar crossing that Eureka Cruisers epitomises that never-say-die Australian spirit. In the face of adversity, its new 42-footer proved a cracker. And with a new 42 Vista model, the boat has even more appeal for the cruising/leisure boater.

"The Vista is a result of feedback received from the boating public, primarily at the Sydney boat show. The boat will feature forward windows to the brow, an aft galley layout and a swim platform," Toms told Trade-a-Boat, adding that this more cruisy 42 still has the same great hull and stylish lines as the 42 Offshore tested here.

"Our ability to offer semi-custom builds and meet clients' individual requests through a personalised service is another attraction of purchasing a 100 per cent Australian-designed and built Eureka," boasts Toms. While he conceded the economic climate isn't the best for boatbuilding, he says Eureka is well placed, debt free and operating on an extremely efficient and low overhead structure.

Toms' target is to build six boats a year. If hull #1 seen here is any indication, the boats will earn a following. With a huge 10.2m² cockpit and a terrific owner's stateroom amidships, the Eureka 42 is a comfortable boat. But it's also a handy owner/driver craft that you can maintain yourself and which isn't prohibitively expensive to run.

HULL OF A TIME
The Eureka hull has a variable deadrise, with a sharp entry tapering to 14° at the transom. That flattish run aft and an especially wide beam of 4.55m provide a lot of buoyancy and lift, thereby assisting acceleration, efficiency and stability. The addition of a big, flared bow keeps the water at bay - this was a truly dry boat with no blowback in the cockpit, either - and a lot of thought went into perfecting weight distribution.

The buoyancy of the aft sections is offset to a degree by the alloy fuel tanks under the cockpit sole. But because the weight distribution is spot on, the recessed Bennett trim tabs are virtually superfluous. And as testament to the carefully controlled layout, Toms, who was always aiming for a 12,500kg boat (dry), built #1 that tipped the scales to 12,600kg.

Solid handlaid GRP with biaxial rovings and vinylester resin are used for the running surfaces and the laminates are weighed and measured, meet USL survey, and are eventually carefully cured. The hull sides and decks are balsa-cored, with double full-length foam stringers for hull stiffness, and the deck is through-bolted and glassed to the hull.

The 42 has a watertight collision bulkhead and additional watertight compartments every 900mm. There is also a fully moulded engineroom and racy custom engine vents with sportscar-like grills. The shipwright with 20 years experience, much of which was spent fixing broken craft, really has built a boat to last (visit www.eurekacruisers.com.au for a blow-by-blow account of the making of the moulds and more).

Meanwhile, beefy survey standard running gear, with 2.25in shafts, stainless steel rudders and four-blade props, high coaming heights, wide step widths, accommodating companionways and bed heights all add to the boat's user-friendliness. But in respect of the fitout, you can go as loaded or unladen as you prefer. Suffice to say, the options are many on a semi-custom craft.

TICKING THE BOXES
Despite an impressive standard inventory, the Eureka 42 is a well-priced boat considering its semi-custom. Base price was $943,000 for the Offshore or Vista models, but the demonstrator pictured here still came in under the seven-figure mark at $983,000 as tested with plenty of options, such as Reelax Maxi 2000 outriggers and fully rigged 6.50m poles, teak cockpit, Simrad electronics package with 1kW sounder and 24nm radar, 16,500 BTUs of air-con, décor package, and more.

The electrical system is 24/240V, with an 11kw Caterpillar generator to match the twin Cat C9 575hp main propulsion package. A 2000W Mastervolt inverter comes standard and besides plenty of power, the boat carries 500lt of water, a 50lt hot-water service and a 225lt holding tank. Its 2500lt of fuel gives a range of anywhere from 1000-plus nautical miles at displacement or hull speed of 9.5kts to more than 400nm at 28.5kts maximum continuous cruise.

The fully moulded engineroom, with accommodating entrance and master battery breakers from Outback Marine, makes a real impact. It's spacious and clean, with serviceability the primary goal after having worked on many a poor engineroom before. As a result, you could easily get around the C12 715hp engines (Cummins and Volvos are all optional), the sea strainers are heavy-duty stainless steel sea models, the skin fittings stainless steel, with deep-cycle batteries, Separ fuel filters, wet exhausts and a transverse stainless steel water tank forward.

Shaft angles are just 11.5°, which helps with the transfer of thrust. And should the worst eventuate, you can crane an engine out through the saloon floor and door. Up front, there's a massive utility room under the galley with the boat's plumbing systems, hot-water accumulator, air-con, inverter and ZF electronic control panels. And there's storage space left over for provisions, tackle, perhaps even a surfboard. A well thought out boat.

FISHING STATIONS
The beautifully big 10.2m² cockpit is traced by wide gunwales and padded coamings, five heavy-duty rodholders, and two infloor killtanks. An in-transom livebait tank with toe kicks is optional, along with various fishing chairs (the Reelax one was on loan), custom rodholder arrangements, so on and so forth. Really, it's your call in the cockpit as to whether you want to fish or cruise or do a bit of both.

The 24V high-pressure deckwash comes standard, as does the expectedly big outward opening marlin door and remarkable stability under foot. With hawsepipes, there's nothing much to foul lines and, per survey, the boat had oversized stainless steel scupper flaps.

A boarding platform is standard on the Vista, as are 300lt bait fridge/freezer and cockpit sink that could easily be converted into a bait-rigging centre. Moulded stairs lead to the truly wide sidedecks backed by a heavy-duty stainless steel bowrail. As such, it's a cinch reaching the flat foredeck where you can fit a tender and crane and liferaft if you plan to cruise the coast.

Anchoring hardware is all heavy duty, running from a Muir windlass to a 27kg stainless steel plough anchor attached to 25m of 10mm chain and 50m of rope. There are nice big cleats for rafting up, too, and, as the deck and flybridge are one piece, the aerodynamic and hydrodynamic lines cut the wind and, should you take green water over the bow, the waves. The glass on the boat is all 10mm tinted, toughened, frameless and, we're told, leakproof.

COMMANDING BRIDGE
The rake of the survey standard ladder assists with reaching the bridge where there is LED red night lighting, LED navigation lights, and Vibac clears. Storage is plentiful under the brow and there's terrific access to the back of the big dash, which was designed for a spread of 15in screens. The demonstrator has two Simrad NX45 NavStations, twin Cat panels, electronic shifts and a serious stainless steel wheel with crank knob.

Seating includes a fish-spotter's aft-facing perch, a lounge for three, and twin Reelax helm seats. Importantly, the views forward and back over the cockpit are unfettered. Rod storage included a six-stacker rocket launcher and you can fit a Black Marlin tower if you want to look the part. A grabrail is needed on the flybridge hardtop, as is a hatch so you can clean the lid.

INDOOR LIVING
The saloon was at once plush but practical, with an L-shaped lounge that converts to a queen-sized sofa bed with innerspring mattress in case extra crew drop by. There's also a dedicated dinette with L-shaped lounge around a triangular burl tabletop that was to be refined.

The satin finish on the teak joinery was rather good and, with air-con and a rear opening window, plus big picture windows, the saloon isn't stuffy. The demonstrator had an optional icemaker, grog locker and hard-wearing Amtico flooring, too. The 80cm Panasonic flat-screen HD TV was forward, along with the Clarion sound system, and full marks for providing access to the back of the television and the boat's convection and steam microwave oven nearby.

Down a step, the portside galley is traced by useful Corian counters. Amenities include a two-burner Blanco stove, dual voltage bench-height fridge and freezer, deep sink and storage in drawers and cupboard with slam-proof catches. Then there was the aforesaid utility room below the floor where you could sleep stowaways.

A wide companionway and three steps range down to the accommodation plan. Full credit for managing to fit an owner's stateroom to starboard and amidships, away from the slap of water on the chines. The stateroom has an island double berth with innerspring mattress, side lockers and drawers, hanging space, even a private en suite with Tecma loo. A shower is optional in the en suite, but both natural and fan-forced ventilation come standard.

The main feature of the communal or dayhead is the oversized shower stall, while the bow cabin has a king single bed below and twin standard sized single berths as well. I tried the bunks on for size and there's good shoulder and leg room. All told, you can sleep up to eight aboard the Eureka 42. The finish, fittings and attention to detail, plus the terrific headroom impressed me. It's a big 42-footer. Take a look for yourself.

TWEED HEADS BAR
Thankfully, we strike it lucky on the bar, power up and power down, ride over and on the top of some swells, before running far enough east with the pegs down to get a real sense of the ride. At all stages, the Eureka gave the impression it can be relied upon, which is one reason I will quote the supplied sea trial figures from the yard.

At 700rpm, the Cats push the boat to a seven knots troll speed for a total of 8lt/h. Hull speed is around 900rpm at 9.5kts for 16lt/h and a range of more than 1000nm. The boat planes and holds a handy low-speed cruise of 15kts at 1700rpm for 96lt/h. But this isn't the most efficient speed. Cruise at 2100rpm and 24kts gives an outstanding range of 428nm, says Eureka, adding that the boat tops out at 33kts lugging full fuel.

But it was the motion that appealed to me: smooth, solid, and dry. And with the wide beam and footprint, it feels incredibly stable in the bridge and down below. "I've long been thinking about building a boat and this really is a dream come true," says Toms, as we cruise back up the Tweed River.

As a final enticement, should you need one, all new Eureka boat purchases this summer will score free fuel for a year, up to $1000 a week for 52 weeks.That's a lot of fishing and cruising. Eureka!

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