Four Winns Vista 328

Sportscruising. Sometimes there's nothing more to it than the cruising. You turn the keys, cast the lines, leave the no-wash zone and glide speedily about the waterways.

Enjoyment comes from the sense of freedom; from the sensation of arcing about the harbour, bay, river or ocean, with no one in hot pursuit.

Behind the wheel of a sportscruiser one gets an immediate feeling of liberty. This is something you just can't get on the not-so-open road these days. At least not within a matter of minutes of a big-city marina.

Little wonder, then, that sportscruisers are the conveyance of choice for many boaties these days.

Besides the driving pleasure, good sportscruisers deliver passenger pleasure. That is to say, your passengers riding alongside on comfortable lounges, also deriving an immediate sense of independence. And being within earshot means you can shoot the breeze, chat and commentate as you partake in your sportscruising.

So, for many would-be boatbuyers, the decision isn't about which style of boat to buy, but rather which brand of sportscruiser. And in the land of the free, that's no easy decision.

You see, American sportscruisers are a dime a dozen, similar in their sameness, with cloned layouts and interiors that too often fail to excite.

But the Four Winns Vista range of sportscruisers is different. These boats aren't radically different, but subtly superior. They look good tied to the dock, as indeed they do carving a swathe on the water. The reason for their good looks is a finish that's a cut above, and fittings that appear to be built for saltwater boating.

Four Winns is one of 16 different boating badges built by marine giant Genmar, which claims to be the world's largest manufacturer of recreational boats. Of the 250-plus models that Genmar makes per year, the Four Winns Vista 328 can be considered one very comfortable sportscruiser.

PRECISION BUILT
The Four Winns boat seems to be assembled with more care and exactness than some mass-produced sportscruisers. The 16-stage lamination process includes a vinylester barrier coat, extra woven rovings in high-load areas, and balsa coring in the decks and hull sides.

The mouldings are fair and include details such as toerails around the cabin sides and through-bolted stainless-steel deck gear. Ergonomics and hull design comes with the aid of computer programs. The so-called Stable-Vee hull has reversed chines and a stepped running surface to reduce the wetter area and, thus, drag when you are sportscruising.

But it's with the finish and furnishings that you'll see a noticeable difference. The upholstery is a very soft-touch and nicely stitched Aquaflex vinyl; the snap-in cockpit carpet is rubber backed, and you get a choice of four interior-design packages, from the Blue Breeze kit of Ralph Lauren to the more coastal hues of Laguna Beach. The boat also comes with timber blinds.

The 328 has a standard-issue foot-controlled windlass, fog-free engine gauges and plenty of built-in storage amenities. The snap-lock canopy fittings and the easy adjustors for tensioning the struts are excellent. The boat comes with full camper covers. The heads are the popular Vacuflush numbers.

There are options from forward sunpads (fitted to this boat) on the bow and Flexi-teek on the swim platform to inner-sprung mattresses (fitted here) on the vee-berth. I was almost fooled by the targa arch. It's actually aluminium. I'm not entirely sure why, but one supposes the weight savings won't do any harm.

On the pegs, Four Winns' 328 offers plenty of bang for your buck - thanks in part to the local agent selecting the go-fast twin 300hp petrol motor package. The boats come standard with a 30amp battery charger, battery-management system, air-con in the cabin, and tank-level indicators.

Accessing the engine room requires you to pull back the cockpit carpet, fold the support leg of a lounge out of the way, and lift off a large fibreglass panel. I thought this was a bit fiddly and, well, the boat probably deserves a dash-operated push-button engine lid.

Sensibly, the agents fitted a 4kVa petrol Kohler generator, so you could run the air-con and microwave oven while you are away from the dock. This way you can have your sportscruiser and weekend away. 

TOUR OF DUTY
The all-important outdoor living area on the 328 can cater for a crowd. Coming aboard, I immediately note the double-width boarding platform with room for a couple of bods on unfurled beach towels.

The swim ladder is a deep-reach design; the handheld hot/cold shower is nearby, and the boat has a garage. The transom door is held open with a fiddly strap instead of a more convenient snap-lock clip.

The garage or aft locker has dedicated storage space for holding fenders and swinging mooring lines. There are dockside connectors for cable television, power, telephone line (internet access) and water. The rub rail is a stainless-steel number and the bowrail is one-piece welded 2.5cm-diameter stainless steel.

One derives support when going forward around the gunwales from handrails on the targa arch and that bowrail. You can also reach the foredeck through the opening windscreen and non-skid deck. Fit the boat's optional sunpads and you have a sundeck up front.

The cockpit is welcoming, what with overhead lights, courtesy lights and plush lounges. The circular aft lounge behind the skipper's seat wraps around a moulded cockpit table. There's room for six people to do lunch. You can covert lounge into a daybed using an infill.

The amenities centre to port has a classy Corian top, sink and cockpit icemaker (second fridge is an option). There is a portside lounge, with storage under, plus a footrest that folds out into the companionway. A couple can sit here, opposite a couple at the helm bench seat, and converse while sportscruising.

There is also room to laze as one might on a chaise lounge. The helm seat has a flip-up bolster for a better view when negotiating busy water, and storage beneath its base.

Wherever you are seated, the big wraparound windscreen offers good protection from, in my case, the mid-winter air. The big matt dash meant the views out weren't reduced by glare. The dash has a full spread of Faria gauges, sounder with shallow-water alarm, windlass controls and remote for the Clarion sound system - which comes with a subwoofer as standard.

The boat offers intuitive driving pleasure by way of twin throttles that fall to hand beside convenient trim-tab switches. The leather-wrapped wood-grain wheel is an adjustable number, as is the helm seat. The burlwood dash panels looked sharp.

INDOOR LIVING
In the world of high-volume sportscruisers, the Four Winns 328 could be considered to have a five-star finish indoors. There's plush carpet underfoot, Sunbrella runners to protect you when partying, easy-clean headliners, and interior décor choices that include fitted sheets on the master bed and a pillow package.

Multi-zone lighting, opening deck hatches, stainless-steel-rimmed port lights, timber blinds and air conditioning let you control the climate and set the mood. It's a function of the boat's surprisingly high volume that there is headroom of 185cm and even 180cm at the vee-berth.

The boat's accommodation is terrific: the aft cabin isn't at all pokey, thanks to an open-plan layout. The bed measures about 180cm long and is flanked by a cedar-lined hanging locker and four shelves for the guests' or kids' clothing.

Between the aft double berth, which has a privacy curtain, the offset double berth in the bow and the convertible dinette in the saloon, the boat can sleep six. Add the camper covers and infill in the cockpit and it's possible to accommodate eight. In other words, two families can camp aboard.

The aptly named South Pacific leatherette on the lounge hits it off with the easy-clean wood-look joinery, though parquetry floor might be more practical than the plush carpet along the galley.

The Vista galley to port has more food-prep space and storage than you'll find in many token galleys. The counter included a small fiddle rail, and the sink was deep enough to stack plates for post-party cleanups.

Amenities include a two-burner electric stove (no pot-holder fitted), microwave oven that you can use at anchor thanks to the genset, coffee maker and waist-high 12/240V fridge. There is a small garbage bin behind a door.

While there was no extractor fan, there was an opening port light nearby.

The master bed in the bow is offset, thereby maximising space. It's a big bed by any measure, and comfortable thanks to an innerspring mattress. There is also a cedar-lined hanging locker. The 10in flatscreen television with DVD player faces the lounge, not the bed.

As with most sportscruisers, you step up into this boat's moulded head compartment, which is conveniently close to the companionway. I found headroom, a handheld hot/cold shower (whose rose can be swung from a hook on the wall), an extractor fan, mirror, and trick Vacuflush loo. There is a shower curtain, but no hook to hang your towel behind it - where it remains dry when showering.

But the bigger picture reveals that this is a well-fitted interior. Consider this a spacious cruiser that can carry the sports part of its genre equally well. In other words, it's high volume and pleasing to the eye.

And the fuel capacity of 832lt, 166lt of portable water and a 113lt holding tank should hold it in good stead too. 

DRIVE TIME
In my experience, Mercury's Bravo III sterndrives - two of which were fitted to this boat - usually maintain a very good hold of the water. But for whatever reason, the demo boat didn't have a big trim range.

It is just a hunch, but I suspect those legs could do with a different set of propellers. However, the motors did pull full revs of 5000rpm.

The twin 350 MPI V8 petrol MerCruisers sure gave a level and speedy holeshot. At 3000rpm, you get what amounts to the boat's best efficiency at the modest cruising speed of about 21kt. What I would term 'everyday cruising speed' was clocked at 25kt at 3500rpm. Still, the boat remained smooth and quiet enough to carry out a conversation. And the vision from the helm was reassuringly clear.

At 4000rpm the boat's doing 30.5-31.5kt. A touch of trim tab to level the ride in crosswinds kept us skipping along smoothly. The best I clocked was 34.4kt, but the boat didn't take too kindly to out-trim, and the propellers slipped.

I think some finetuning would get the most out of this hull. As it was, the boat was smooth; a little bit wet at times due to its big forward sections; and noisy only when you drove it up around full noise. At 3000-3500rpm it was comfortable.

In fact, such is the slippery cruising speed that a pod of dolphins looking for some action inside the harbour simply couldn't keep up. And such was the fun I was having at the wheel, merely sportscruising, that I wasn't going to stop for anything.

HIGHS

LOWS