Hampton 680 Pilothouse

Hampton highlife

The Hampton 680 Pilothouse is pitched at those who champion the boating lifestyle, who believe in float therapy to the core, espouse its benefits and hang out at anchor for days at time when not roaming the deep blue sea to some more desirable port for weeks of saltwater counselling. Such treatment doesn't come cheap, mind you, but at $2.9 million you get a loaded boat and good buying when you weigh up the Hampton 680 against alternative medicines.

So who is Hampton? Based in Shanghai but enjoying a strong following in America, where it ships most of its 30-strong annual production, Hampton is a semi-custom yard that builds boats for cruising buffs.

Jeff Chen, whose family has been building Formosa yachts in Taiwan for more than 40 years and put more than 2000 boats on the water, started Hampton in 1992 and, at last count, he was employing 200 skilled workers, finish carpenters, designers, technical engineers, and naval architects.

But as a semi-custom yachtbuilder, Hampton is happy to meet individual needs, create unique interior arrangements, and work with a huge wardrobe of woods, veneers, fabrics, and materials. That said, beauty is more than skin deep and the engineering and inventory are a step up in class. However, while there are accepted standards for such things in a serious passagemaker, not all seasoned captains and crew are in agreement about layouts. Realising as much, Hampton offers a range of boats from 58 to 82ft in pilothouse, aft cabin and sedan guises. We now have word that a 100-plus-footer is on the way, too.

Meantime, the 680 Pilothouse we drove off the Gold Coast is one of the more popular models. What you see here is hull No.11, but also the harbinger for Hampton in Australia. A product of 56,000 manhours, the boat reflects considerable faith from its savvy Queensland importers, the Leigh-Smith family, who had a hand in the layout by specifying things like an open galley to better suit the Australian way of entertaining.

With a separate cockpit docking station with throttles and dual 24V 15hp thrusters, the 680 Pilothouse is very much an owner-driver boat. Yet it comes with separate aft crew quarters in case you don't want that responsibility or for squirrelling away the grandkids during full-house summer holidays.

"It ticks all the boxes, as you must in a luxury motoryacht pitched at the 50-plus market," explains Dean Leigh-Smith, as I contemplate the accommodating crew berths.

Leigh-Smith, who also sells Alaska motoryachts, says the Hampton is a great example of getting what you pay for. Just about everywhere you turn there are impressive amenities, welcome accoutrements and terrific engineering. And there are things you can't see: the hull is baked at 55?C for a week, for example, and that superlative finish comes only after countless hours of fairing by Hampton foot soldiers wielding torture boards. Not a ripple to be seen - more a mirror finish.

In keeping with the American way of boating, as in reducing maintenance, the decks weren't teak planked, there were no teak covering boards, and the cockpit lunch table was Corian rather than timber. Indoors, you will find granite or marble counters, grain-matched cherrywood sourced from the one tree, and soft furnishings courtesy of the Leigh-Smith's Gold Coast City Marina and Identity Interiors. We're told there were $14,000 and 18 hides in the white-leather upholstery alone.

FOUNDATIONS FIRST
Like all good ships, Hampton begins with unbendingly solid foundations. Hull construction comes only one way: with Kevlar reinforcing in the chines and key impact areas, solid GRP with vinylester resin below the waterline, a grid stringer system comprising foam-cored stringers tied into longitudinals, and vacuum-bagged Divinycell foam-cored house and decks.

Add the relatively sleek lines and you get a motoryacht with a low centre of gravity, though it was bundled with Weimar 600 stabilisers for doubly surefooted displacement cruising at sea.

The three keys to a good liveaboard boat, plenty fuel, water and power, come in spades. There's 5700lt of diesel carried in three GRP tanks with sight gauges and manifold system so you can feed and draw to each at call, dual Racor filters for each engine, and a fuel polishing system is optional.

Although the boat was fitted with a 100lt/h desalinator, its 1500lt of water carried in integral GRP tanks, with stainless steel plumbing lines and charcoal filters, should last a fortnight without a fill. The 450lt holding tank buys some time between ocean empties.

Displacement of the dry ship is 37,000kg, so she's no lightweight, which isn't surprising once you climb or, rather, walk through the engineroom and note the extensive inventory. With a full flow-coated floor, oil leaks will stand out.  The Cats are linked to underwater exhausts, dripless shaft seals, with the coolant bottles forwards, and a Reverso oil-change system for the engines, generator and gearboxes nearby. The sea strainers are oversized with glass inspection cylinders. There is a back-up steering system and engineroom and transom cameras.

As for power, there were two generators, 13kW and 28kW Kohlers, plus a Victron 3kW inverter that runs the fridges, microwave, AV system and AC outlets. The boat was also fitted wit three-phase power, Cablemaster retractable Shorepower lead, a chilled-water air-con system, emergency engine-driven bilge pump, fore and aft fresh and saltwater washes, and I noted that the internal air intakes have membranes and there are extractor fans. Should the worst eventuate, you can crane an engine out through the soft patches in the saloon floor, we're told.

THE GREAT OUTDOORS
Thumbs up for the decent-sized cockpit with hardtop for shade, the Corian lunch table that, with aft lounge and four chairs, can seat eight, and the twin gates leading down to an oversized boarding platform from which, with minor modifications, you could fish, dive, hangout and barbecue. Aqualuma underwater lights add to the attraction at night.

Full bulwarks lead to two steps and then the bow. There is no Portuguese bridge, but a nice high bowrail with lifelines, recessed Tassie-made Muir anchor winch, storage bins for fenders and things, and a big twin sunpad that creates a destination. Side gates and bridge doors assist with provisioning.

There are internal and external access routes to the separate aft crew quarters that, with en suite featuring Tecma head and shower, will come in handy as a dayhead when in swimming or diving modes.

Besides two big berths, I noted separate Miele washing machine and dryer, and a central-vacuuming system. See what I mean about loaded?

Internal and external stairwells lead from the cockpit and pilothouse to the bridge, described as a huge flight deck on my notepad. There's a 500kg slew and lift davit aft and room for a toting big RIB or tinnie if you're heading north.

Amenities include a small 240V hot-rock Gaggenhau barbie, but I'd add a serious outdoor model for cooking for a crowd. The boat had an icemaker/fridge, sink, big servery and fold-down television in the hardtop.

You could feed a small army at the supplied fibreglass table from the U-shaped lounge upholstered in a nice beige-and-white weave fabric.

The helm is up two steps with a second three to four person crew lounge and single aft-facing seat. Strataglass clears provide additional weather protection, there's a central vac outlet for post-party cleanups, while the dash awaited Raymarine electronics, which we believe have now been fitted.

LIVING ABOARD
A heavy-duty stainless steel framed door leads into the impressive saloon, where you step down to gain maximum headroom. Frameless windows enhance the views and, in keeping with the contemporary lines, there is freestanding furniture including an L-shaped lounge for five that doubles as a daybed and two occasional chairs opposite. The quasi office area was wired for a laptop and had a pullout stool and stirring views. Tassie boaters note: Hampton 680s heading to North America are also often fitted with gas fireplaces complete with mantles.

Meantime, the carpet was a wool blend basket weave, there was a ceiling feature, trick Italian Cantaloupe lighting and stainless steel light switches, high-low dining/coffee table with burl and suede inlay, Luxaflex Silhouette blinds, while the sparkling stainless steel hails from Japan. A 42in LCD television lived in a cherrywood cabinet, near the wetbar with wine fridge and sink, while access panels everywhere grant access to all the CE-standard wiring that comes with a full schematic diagram.

Without the usual bulkhead, the galley adds to the boat's open-plan living areas. It boasts Miele appliances from wall oven to convection microwave, four-burner stove to domestic-sized fridge/freezer, dishwasher and garbage compactor. The solid granite counters will come in handy for making pasta or pizzas, while the solid timber dinette with 15 coats of German varnish is found forward. It's big enough for four to six if you include swivelling helm seat, while the lounge doubles as a sea berth.

As ever, the three-cabin/two head accommodation is forward, with owners treated to a full-beam stateroom with king-sized bed on the centreline, a huge cedar-lined walk-in wardrobe with air-con to keep their clothes smelling sweet, second hanging locker, oodles of storage including 15 drawers, and a leather settee. There was Dolby surround sound, a flatscreen television, Japanese screens over opening portlights for natural ventilation and views, and an en suite with Corian floor, mirrored ceiling, Tecma loo and two-person shower with body wash and five spray outlets. A bath is an option and, as you no doubt see hereabouts, the cherrywood joinery and marble vanity tops look stunning.

The communal head off the companionway can double as the VIP guest's en suite. The forward cabin includes an island double berth, oodles more clothes storage and cherrywood, and separate AV system. But that's not to say you're hard done by in the third cabin with twin single beds. One option is to convert this cabin into a dedicated office or media room. However, Leigh-Smith considers most owners will put family first. There's also a pile of room under the floor, where the plumbing room is located.

DRIVE TIME
Twin watertight aircraft-style doors lead from the sidedecks to the pilothouse, where the main AC/DC panel, generator ignitions and inverter switch are located. The central high-backed helm seat was a top-shelf Pompanette number worth in the order of $12,000. A second seat is an option worth considering. As touched on, electronics were forthcoming and, as such, the big burl dash looked kind of bare.

I noted 24V thruster controls, electronic Cat shifts and digital engine monitoring panels, Wesmar stabiliser controls, hydraulic trim tabs, Ritchie compass, wipers with washers, and great views of the ocean road ahead. But unlike traditional plodding pilothouse motoryachts, the Hampton 680 Pilothouse is performance orientated.

"The marketplace has changed," explains Leigh-Smith, “with liveaboard buyers wanting speed as well as range."

To this end, the Hampton variable deadrise hard-chine planing hull has a fine entry to cleave the waves, and a flat run for lift and speed from the latest common rail Caterpillar C18 1015hp engines.

There is a three-quarter keel and nice low shaft angles of about 10? for efficiency. Leigh-Smith says he has seen a brisk 26.2kts but quotes 25kts.

But it was at more moderate cruise speeds of 18 to 21kts that the Hampton felt so very dignified. According to the sea trials, the Cats use between 215 to 270lt/h at such speeds for a 470 to 430nm range from 5500lt of the 5700lt tank. So that's Sydney to the Gold Coast in one safe and fast passage. But if you want range then pull the throttles back to displacement speed. We're told you will get 2960nm at 7.7kts and, at displacement speeds, with the stabilisers operating, you can kick back in the pilothouse and travel in style while taking comfort from the fact the Cats are running on a lean fuel mix.

Fast or slow, you need to think of the Hampton 680 Pilothouse as, well, a floating house. It's an awful lot of real estate, a resort of sorts with nothing but the provisioning left wanting. And take it from me - you can't help enjoy the float therapy along the way.

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