Everingham Excelle 20

There is a lot of history tied-up in the Australian ski and raceboat scene. This is not surprising given the popularity of both disciplines. But in the annals of ski and raceboat history, few names command as much respect as Everingham.

Everingham needs no introduction, but what the heck. The name is to the skiboat world what Haines Hunter is to fishing boats. If you've never heard of Everingham, well, you must be green around the gills.

I mention this because the history of Everingham, while never documented, ought to be. It is a classic story of a family business built around a passion for performance skiboats and raceboats.

Bert Senior made the first Everingham boat around 60 years ago. Sadly, he passed away aged 94 last year. His first boat, Casenails, was a 15-footer powered by a 10hp Ford engine and made from, you guessed it, case nails and case boards.

Over the years, well over 1000 ski and raceboats have been built by Everingham in the Sackville factory just a stone's throw from the Hawkesbury River. In its heyday, the family built two timber raceboats a week. The frames are still in place Everingham could build a timber boat in the traditional way today.

Anyway, Bert Senior had two sons, Bert Junior and Bruce, who took up the tools in the Sackville factory. Bert Junior's son Malcolm, builds boats under the Evercraft and, more recently, Everingham brands at the same Sackville factory today.

Not surprisingly, Malcolm has been behind the wheel of one boat or another for the past 28 years, since he was 16. Born on the Hawkesbury, he learnt to ski behind a raceboat, not a Monark, and was soon immersed in circuit racing.

Malcolm holds a lot of records, but the boats he has built over the years hold many more. They have won lots of Bridge to Bridges, hydro events, blown raceboat meets, you name it.

Malcolm's son, Bryce, came along for the ride on this latest Everingham. The 15-year-old, fifth-generation family boatie, says he is "into skiing and wake-boarding in a big way on most weekends".

As Bryce attests, things have changed in 60 years. Malcolm is the first to say that while he has been into racing all his life, he is now building more social boats. But while the trend is to family boats (a lot of bowriders with sterndrives), he isn't convinced they are the best way to go.

RUNABOUT FUN
Malcolm and Bryce towed the Everingham Excelle 20 across town, through horrendous Sydney traffic, to Kogarah Bay for my drive. While a social boat, it is a traditional runabout or closed-decker. Reason being: you can't ship water aboard.

Malcolm says too many bowriders are low-slung things in which you will get wet. He says it is just a matter of time before someone drops the nose of fast bowrider, and, well, you get the idea.

Based on a US hull, the Excelle 20 blends Everingham-esque performance with how do I put this idiot-proof handling. The boat gives thrills without spills. Having said that, the Excelle 20 is a credited tournament skiboat, though the next one to roll off the Sackville factory floor will carry built-in ballast tanks with electric pumps for wakeboarding.

Arriving on a dual-axle Easytow trailer with mechanical brakes, the Excelle 20 looks fast sitting still. It has hydro and aerodynamic lines, with an unusually high, imported US windscreen that doesn't just look good but actually works better than many so-called deflectors.

BUILT TO RACE
What isn't immediately obvious is the way the Excelle 20 is built. The hand-laid hull is balsa cored and meets US Coast Guard codes. Balsa is used for stiffness without weight. There is a fibreglass liner but no frames. The strength is in the design and the fact that the hull and deck are glassed together.

The only timber in the Excelle is hardwood engine mounts and a glass-encapsulated marine ply transom. The glass is all double biaxial and the gelcoat is the top-shelf isopthalic stuff. The finish is custom colour-coded with thick vinyl or velour upholstery and options such as sidestorage nets, a high pole and bimini.

Fair mouldings and quality fittings are part of the Everingham package. Malcolm is currently setting-up an anodised-alloy facility, so his Excelle 20 will have less imported parts most of the fittings are from the US and perhaps more individual style in future.

The hull shape is quite complex. You have to get down on your haunches to appreciate the underwater sections. Being a centre-mount, there is a flat-run aft with two deltas either side, a recessed step in the chines to reduce drag, and a second aft chine for lift.

A fine entry forward chops the chop, should you be so unlucky as to strike some during your ski sessions, and at no time did the boat feel inclined to ship water in the cockpit. That is, over the long foredeck or back in the transom when you suddenly pull the throttle back.

FLASH FITTINGS
The transom is graced with a lovely teak boarding platform that pops out of an alloy frame in a jiffy. There are two ski hooks, an optional centre tow ring, transom exhaust outlets and senders for two speedos because the US dash has space for them.

You get a transom fuel filter for the 95lt sub-floor tank, smart black engine vents with a blower vent, rubber rub rails and a big bung to ensure any ambient water and seagrass that comes aboard can be quickly drained back at the ramp.

A central Everingham plaque reminds you of what you have bought. The testboat was finished in groovy purple, the first metal flake job Malcolm has done, with matching upholstery from Marine Seating up Newcastle way.

The internal deck moulding was really quite smart, with cut-outs in the coamings to improve elbow and hip room alongside the seating. This comprised an aft lounge for three people, an observer's benchseat, and a fully-adjustable helmseat. All seat bases are angled up for support and are polypropylene to prevent rot.

The large aft lounge lifts to grant access into the bilge, while the central engine box acts as a quasi-amenities centre, with a pocket for holding personal effects, four drinkholders, and a moulded top that doubles as a bumrest or prop for shooting video.

While the boat has no sidepockets, side nets are, as mentioned, an option. As it is, the Excelle 20 has one of the widest cockpits around. You can move freely around the engine box unlike some narrower skiboats with big coamings and centremounts.

There were speaker cut-outs for your after-market sound system everyone wants something different and a central alloy ski pole. It goes without saying that Everingham offers all the options regarding ski gear.

The observer's lounge lifts on gas struts to reveal a cavernous storage compartment that runs all the way under the foredeck for skis and wakeboards. An in-floor icebox is, however, an option.

DRIVER'S BOAT
It is flattering to call the Excelle 20 a driver's boat. It is set-up for pleasure behind the wheel. The dash with mock walnut insert has twin speedos, tacho, fuel, engine temp, oil, volt and hour gauges. Alongside is a trick switch panel sourced from the US with rubber-booted toggles and individual fuses.

The wheel is an Italian woodgrain number with stainless steel spokes. Like the helmseat, the wheel is fully adjustable. Surrounding the dash is a large area of shiny black moulded fibreglass, with a recess for sunnies, that did show some slight moulding imperfections.

But it's difficult not to like the Aldon black alloy-framed five-piece windscreen, which has an almost retro look about it. It has safety-glass panels, a centre opening section and it really works at cutting the wind, which is just as well...

Running gear includes a LT1 13in by 13in three-blade bronze prop, a bronze rudder, and three fins around which the boat turns. The gearbox is a Velvet drive with forward, neutral and reverse. The throttle falls to hand when you slump behind the wheel and, with the turn of a key, the 315hp MerCruiser 350 MAG MPI bellowed a V-eight "vroooom!"

The Excelle 20 launches straight out of the hole and runs with an inherently level trim. Having said that, it doesn't dig in even the tightest of turns. Likewise, when you cross boat wake at perilously slow speeds, no water splashes aboard.

Full noise, the MerCruiser takes the slippery 20-footer to 92kmh. With two skiers in tow you can maintain 84-85kmh at around 5000rpm. There is a nice clean wash at all speeds.

Social skiers will find 51kmh at 2600rpm more their cup of tea. Wakeboarders won't miss out, as the boat planes down to 26-29kmh, where it makes a steeper ramp. At any speed, the steering feels lovely and direct, but not twitchy.

There was some chop on Kogarah Bay that created sound reverberation within the closed foredeck. Otherwise, the boat was very quiet, with the upholstered engine box having a surprisingly deadening effect considering there is no other insulation.

So there you have it. The old and the new. Some Everingham family history and a new generation poised to continue the tradition of making performance skiboats and raceboats in the Sackville factory.

While Malcolm is saddened by the cancellation of the Bridge to Bridge (with 50-60 of the 320-boat fleet made by him), there is plenty to look forward to like a whole new rank and file looking for an Everingham with a more social spin. That's the Excelle 20.