Fairline Squadron 55

In the blink of an eye, the weather had changed from sprightly Spring to something befitting of a London day. Black clouds blanketed the sun, the heavens grew heavier by the minute, and the rows of white boats were as grey as a dustman's jacket.

Not that anyone was too concerned, mind you. British-built for fair weather and the foul, the luxury Fairline 55 motoryacht is exactly the kind of cruiser in which you can escape with all - and I do mean all - the comforts of home.

We performed a rain dance down the marina and leaped into the boat's teak cockpit. Quicker than you could pop a brolly, we'd dropped our sodden shoes and slipped onto the deep, cappuccino-coloured shag pile carpet inside.

But for the mooring lines, we could have continued out in the harbour and not even got our socks wet. With a lower helm station, the boat is tailor-made from driving inside out as much as upside down.

There is a perfectly clear view stretching through the windscreen with wiper and also back aft, where you can see the transom for close-quarters parking. Added to this is a bowthruster to help you on your way. Too easy.

All the while, entertaining can continue inside unaffected by such incidentals as weather. Alongside the lower helm and skipper's seat is a big wraparound lounge. This way, you can drive and socialise at the same time.

Indeed, the Fairline relishes the role of a cosy floating home. Having spent the best part of a year living on a 45-footer on a marina in Sydney, this boat ranks close to my ideal liveaboard.

Not only do you get the television and stereo, but a laundry, full-sized galley, washing machine, twin bathrooms and three cabins, airconditioning, and a good dose of English comfort to boot.

LIVEABOARD LUXURY
Within minutes of assuming our positions on lounges in the saloon, local Fairline dealer Urs Wolfensburger has the aftermarket Bang and Olufsen sound system swinging. The dulcet tones of French cabaret singer Josephine Baker only serve to reinforce the boat's worldly appeal.

In the saloon, a curvaceous lounge to port is covered in a soft blue-and-gold speckled velvet material. Above is a foam-backed cream headliner with timber strips to create a classy panelling effect, embossed with an ostrich-skin pattern for added class.

The warm hues of high-gloss cherrywood shine at the entertainment cabinet on the starboard side. This conceals a television, VCR, bar unit and icemaker. All other timber cabinets have similar high-gloss cherrywood joinery.

Stained wooden-slat blinds and exotic timbers, such as good ol' eucalyptus, are used for tables and details. The door catches are gold anodised while the door knobs are fashioned from a turned-piece of eucalyptus.

The carpet is actually more cream than coffee coloured. With fair-sized tinted windows and a big sliding saloon door, mood lighting on the floor and ceiling, there is a feeling of space as well as privacy.

Of course, the Fairline 55 mollycoddles its guests. At the lower helm, for example, there is a double seat for the captain, separate seat for the navigator, and a generous camel-coloured circular lounge built around a dining or card table for the guests.

Doors lead outside to the springer cleats and flat fore and aft decks.

These doors operate on slides and are fully watertight. Their framework is fashioned from over-dimensional stainless, which is evident in the deck fittings and most hardware.

The galley, amidships and down three steps on the starboard side, is located in a stable and central part of the boat. From here, you can serve guests or whip up meals in a seaway. Yet when you step inside the boat, the recessed galley doesn't leap out at you like an open kitchen in a restaurant.

GALLEYING GOURMET
The galley deserves special mention because, as a would-be chef, I thought it fantastically workable for liveaboarding. It will also satiate caterers on those special occasions when you want someone else to garnish the canapes.

A nice touch was the way in which the sinks - twin-rounded stainless sinks with covers, so you can stack the plates for cleaning later on - are built into a separate console. This way, you are afforded greater benchtop space and aren't mixing return dishes with those about to be sent out to guests.

Naked, the galley tops look classy in a bone-flecked, buff-coloured Avonite. Facilities include a four-burner Bosch ceramic/halogen stove, high-tech microwave incorporating conventional grill (and pizza setting!), handy-sized fridge/freezer, concealed lighting, extractor fan, bone china dinner service, cutlery set and crystal glasses, dishwasher, and lots of cherrywood storage cupboards.

Other nice touches include the stainless grabrails running around the benchtops which can be used as a handrail, the separate drinking water spout alongside the main sink taps, and the pull-out teatowel rack.

Nearby is what's deemed the utility room. It's an amazing cabin, leading off the galley under the saloon floor, that includes a worktop and stowage space for tools or cleaning products, a full-sized Miele washer-dryer, pull-out ironing board, linen basket and separate home-sized deep freeze.

Engine access is through a sound-insulated watertight hatch from the utility room or you can go under the saloon floor. Back in the saloon, four steps down a cherrywood-lined companionway leads you to your cabin.

CABIN FEVER
There are three cabins and two heads on the Squadron 55 that, together, can accommodate six people for weeks on end. An option on the testboat was an aft cabin for crew or guests, which featured its own head and sink.

Offering more than a modicum of comfort, each cabin is graced with fully-lined and illuminated hanging lockers that are big enough to stow away all the glad rags. Fairline also provides each with storage for personals in timber cupboards, and separate airconditioning units and TV outlets.

The two guests cabins on the port and starboard sides mirror each other, with twin two-metre-long single beds with firm inner-spring mattresses - no bunks or seacots here - classy blue bedspreads with raised piping, and soft-touch nova-suede panels alongside the beds. There are two portholes, floor and reading lights.

The only difference is that the portside cabin has an en suite that doubles as the day head, while the starboard guests cabin has a full-length mirror. Either way, these are eminently comfortable cabins with room to stand and dress at the foot of the beds, and at least sit on your bunk and read a novel.

Likewise, the heads closely resemble each other. Each has non-slip timber flooring, a shower reminiscent of Dr Who's Tardis, top-quality chrome fittings including a massage setting on the showerhead, and smart pin-striped white moulded liners.

The benchtops in the bathrooms are a jade-coloured Avonite and moulded so you won't do your hip on a hard edge. Regardless of whether someone is showering or not, each bathroom is truly big enough for two.

Niceties include extractor fan, towel rack, Vacuflush loo, chrome and gold taps, lots of mirrored lockers, and automatic sump-pumps for the showers. The sinks are deep enough for a decent shave using the 240V razor-point plugs nearby - so very British, indeed.

But nothing quite prepared me for my cabin in the bow. Open the cherrywood door and you're hit-for-six by a quilted gold bedspread and matching pillowcases shimmering like Barbarella's bikini. The bed is a giant double, big enough for us both.

A blue-and-gold flecked nova-suede bolster runs around the cabins walls before turning into the cherrywood bedhead, while hanging lockers, underbunk drawers, a full-length mirror, wooden venetians and a three-way overhead hatch add to the ambience. The en suite is on the starboard side.

One couple or three, the very private cabins and two bathrooms ensure plenty of personal space, and room for extended cruising or liveaboarding. But if you really want to indulge yourself, consider ordering that four cabin version with separate crew or kid's quarters back under the cockpit.

,B>DECKED OUT
Despite the craft's 55ft length, the saloon is pinched only slightly to allow for the external walkways. The foredeck has a huge sun lounge with classic blue-and-white striped (non-absorbent) cushions and drink holders, while the cockpit has an aft three-person settee positioned under the flybridge overhang.

This settee is often out of the sun, while its base lifts to reveal access to the aft cabin. Despite how it may look, the cockpit is actually roomy enough to host drinks for 10 guests.

Cockpit features include transom shower, huge boarding platform, and room to carry a RIB on the tail. The hydraulic passerelle doubles as a davit, while any number of hatches underfloor and in the side decks harbour everything from fender to gas bottle and mooring lines.

LIVING ON THE BRIDGE
Of course, if the Gods are smiling then there's no better vantage point than up top. You can access the flybridge, actually a bridge deck since it extends so far aft, via an internal stairwell or from the cockpit.

Designed as an outdoor entertaining area, the bridge deck is much like a penthouse and it has the amenities of a modern apartment. There are twin seats for captain and first mate, a separate seat for the navigator, and a huge semi-circular lounge and padded aft sundeck for baking.

A table is mounted near the lounge which includes a fridge and central barbecue griddle - yakitori, here we come - and sink with hot and cold running water. Stainless rails keep you contained while moving about, though a bimini top is needed to reduce glare in summer.

At the other end of the boat, the well-insulated engine room contains twin 3196TA Caterpillar engines and a genset. Engine exhausts are baffled by pong boxes and side outlets, there is an automatic fire-extinguisher system, stainless Temet shafts, and watertight bulkheads fore and aft.

OFFSHORE ARTISAN
Beauty also runs hull deep. An Olesinski-design, the 55 has that signature vee hull with 18° of deadrise, aggressive moulded chines and strakes, and a running attitude that produces a dry and efficient ride.

You quickly gain confidence with the single lever controls, three turns to the wheel, and synchroniser. With propellers mounted in tunnels, there's very little slip. Plant the throttles and the boat rises on its strakes and sits perfectly upright on its vee.

We left Manly wharf at 3pm and blasted offshore into a sizeable swell. Designed for fast passage-making, the 55's low profile, high stability and deep-vee hull cut through the sea without getting airborne. Incredibly, we were doing 24.5kt while the hull was stiff and solid underfoot.

From up top, the Fairline 55 is a different boat again. It comes to life not only as an entertainer and floating home-away-from-home, but as a cruising system comprising lots of clever parts that come together when you're running from port-to-port.

While you can't sneeze at the price of just under $2 million with all the goodies, the Fairline 55 is one of the most comfortable waterfront homes on the market.

Come rain, hail or sunshine, I can't think of a better place to spend a month, no a year, of Sundays.