Horizon Elegance 78

What do you worry about? Your bank balance, the mortgage, the money markets? How about being faced with taking a 78ft motoryacht out of its marina berth and through a tangle of boat moorings? Palms turning sweaty, heart rate up, chewing your nails?

Well, you don't have to worry about boat handling with the Horizon Elegance 78, even if you are maneouvring a craft valued at around $4m with twin 1100hp MAN diesel engines idling ominously below. The Horizon Elegance 78 is as easy to launch for a cruise as it is taking your dog for a walk in the local park... No, make that easier.

We sauntered along the wide teak decks which surround the boat, cast the lines and easily slipped sideways like a crab thanks to a very responsive 38hp bowthruster. And with the V12 MANs running on just six cylinders a side, our speed was governed nicely as we moseyed past the marina without kicking up a wash.

Then, easy as that, we were away. No crew needed and the MMC electronic shifts giving fingertip control. What's more, the boat reacted to the wheel surprisingly well. But such comforting truths are just the tip of the iceberg with this 62-tonne motoryacht, legally permitted to carry 36 people.

Spend time on the Horizon 78 Elegance, a boat definitely built for living life in the lap of luxury, and you will come across everything from built-in barbecues and icemakers to a central vacuuming system and swish European appliances.

IDEAL CORPORATE CRAFT
Hailing from Taiwan, Horizon Yachts is apparently the only boatbuilder in South East Asia with ISO 9002 accreditation. This, it should be noted, is a quality-accreditation standard which isn't easy to attain, nor hold onto.

The ISO 9002 accreditation may explain why Horizon has sold a good many glorious motoryachts in Europe and America in the past five years. Its range of boats goes from 49-120ft and delivery time is from six to 11 months.

But Kevin Hurley, the managing director of Horizon Pacific Marine, the sole importer and distributor of the marque in Australia and New Zealand, wasn't sold on reputation alone. He surveyed the field of overseas boatbuilding yards before settling on Horizon.

He says the brand's strengths are "the fact that Horizon is the biggest and most successful of all Taiwanese boatbuilding companies, plus the boat's build quality, its finish, its styling, and its engineering."

Hurley chose his 78-footer as a company demonstrator because the model looks stately and more timeless than some other more avant-garde motoryachts (his partner has a Horizon 68-footer with more curvaceous Euro-styling).

"The company wanted to put me into a 76 with that Euro-styling, but it's not my go," he says.

"I like the modern, contemporary design of the 80 series."

When you're investing a few million in a boat - and a boat such as this would make an ideal corporate craft for the upcoming Olympics and new millennium celebrations - exhibiting some restraint makes good economic sense.

The 78 has modern looks, but also has traditional motoryacht values and a sea-kindly sheer with a bow that doesn't drop down to the water when you aren't planing. There are collision and watertight bulkheads, though it costs an extra 4% or so to have a Horizon boat built to survey - a must in our book.

CRUISING COMFORT
Designed by Spadolini in Florence, the GRP hull is a semi-displacement design, says Hurley. Even so, it planes easily and displays a willingness to perform. The centre of gravity has been kept reasonably low - even with the hardtop included for Australian conditions - and the superstructure and decks are made from weight-saving foam sandwich construction.

I liked the way this 78 was set up as a genuine motoryacht - not built for outright speed but for comfort. Indeed, there's a good argument for cruising around at 12kt, letting your guests feel at ease and giving them a view which they can enjoy, rather than having everyone hanging on for grim life as the engines gulp fuel.

Having said that, we wasted no time taking the boat to its top speed.

From doing 6.5kt at 800rpm we cruised to a speed of 12kt where the MANs' motors are turning at 1300-1400rpm and each running on all 12 cylinders. And here the motors are sipping rather than gulping from the 7500lt of fuel in the tanks.

Fast cruising comes in at 1700-1800rpm where the boat turns in a useful 15kt. But it's interesting to note its willingness to run at 20kt at 2350rpm. And as you ease the throttles forward, you can feel the transfer of power as though the boat's a sportscruiser. You even get a jolt as it jumps.

Engine noise is noticeable by its absence. Indeed, the MANs teamed with this substantial 78-footer must rate among the quietest motorcruising set-ups I've come across. Anyone on the boat, even inside in the saloon, can hold a conversation without raising their voice. And with underwater exhausts, there was no sickly diesel whiff to contend with, even while seated at the transom.

INTERIOR GLOSS
The layout of this motoryacht is really up to you. The Horizon factory makes semi-production boats, allowing a choice in the number of cabins, the finishes and fabrics, and lots of input from the owner's interior decorator or partner (private or business).

Having said that, this 78ft Horizon was regarded as a standard boat, which is a misnomer considering the custom-like finish. The walls were lined with American maple, sanded and clear lacquered to a high gloss.

Maple is a butter-coloured timber which has a warm feel about it, particularly when matched with camel carpets and large windows streaming natural light. Cupboards and lockers, which are in abundance wherever you look, are all fully-lined with maple, while the fabrics you see in the interior photos were hand-picked and sent over to Taiwan from a shop in the Sydney suburb of Mosman.

What's most obvious when you walk in is the terrific headroom throughout this boat and the bump-free curves to all the joinery. The big saloon is on the same level as the cockpit for easy entertaining, with floor space for 20 or more.

From the cockpit - which has a lounge and folding table that can seat half a dozen or more guests - you walk in through a big sliding door and there, right at hand, is a maple-lined wet bar, which includes a sink, icemaker and fridge.

The saloon itself has a clean and uncluttered feel to it. There's a massive lounge for up to 10 guests looking out the vessel's windows at the view or across to the entertainment centre with TV, video and CD stacker.

Step up and you enter the forward saloon, which includes a compact but workable U-shaped galley with German-made appliances. There is a household-size fridge and freezer, cooktop and oven, microwave and (yippee) a dishwasher. Teak is used in the flooring and the living areas.

Behind the wraparound windscreen hides a dinette which can seat six for a meal. This is alongside the lower helm station, which offers the skipper a good view of the bow. Port and starboard sliding ships' doors - the locking and watertight type - lead to the outside walkways.

Or you can take the ladder up to the flybridge, following the wonderfully-crafted wooden handrails which turn and twist in a wondrous sort of way. Fitted with a hardtop, the bridge is perfect for the Aussie boating lifestyle.

You can drive from up top with a better view of the water than the lower station, and do it while sharing the room with up to 10 guests seated on a big lounge around a dinette, a co-pilot's pedestal seat next to the skipper and a forward-facing bench seat.

CABIN FEVER
The Elegance has a 21ft-wide aft master suite with walk-in wardrobes, an en suite with his and her sinks, and marble bench tops. Headroom throughout is a high point, while conversely you can sink into the deep bath.

A nice design touch is the way in which the master cabin is separate from the rest of the accommodation, accessed down a companionway in the forward saloon. And, just as sensibly, the first thing you come across is a head with a toilet in case you want to freshen up before bed.

A three-cabin boat, with air-conditioning throughout, the two guest cabins include one with twin single bunks and an en suite on the starboard side, and a master guest cabin in the bow. This cabin has an island double berth and another marble bathroom with a full-height shower stall, his and her sinks, Corian floor and big gold door handles.

Amidships is the engineroom - with full standing room and prominent grabrails for the engineer. And aft is standing-height access to a lazarette with all the steering gear. Servicemen will love you for them both.

The engineroom television monitor, the German light switches and the separate laundry were all nice touches, as were the separate crew quarters in the bow, accessed through a hatch, which would be a fun place for the kids to camp for a night or seven.

While I was taken by the twin Miele electric barbecues in the flybridge, the piece de resistance must be the remote helm on a long lead which lets you walk around the boat's decks and steer this ship at the push of a few buttons.

With a bowthruster and even an optional sternthruster, the Horizon 78 makes you wonder whether big boat berthing and motorcruising get any more comfortable.

Worry about taking this sucker out? No way! Given the chance, I'd set sail tomorrow without a care in the world.

Box Story: THE STRONG MAN

MAN's D2842LE402 is a 22lt V12 engine with turbo-charging and after-cooling. It's also a low-profile motor with a good power-to-weight ratio. It attains 1100hp at 2300rpm, but hasn't any complex electronic management system to run amuck.

With a direct-injection fuel system from Bosch and a weight of 17,020kg, the motor is noticeably smooth and quiet. At idle, it has a cylinder cut-out feature which allows it to run on just six cylinders - that is, one bank - and thus create less smoke during warm-up and less speed as you edge your way around the marina.

But with wastegate turbo-charging, the D2842LE402 also generates bullock loads of torque at low engine revs.

This translates to acceleration - something you can actually feel on the 65-tonne Horizon 78 as you advance its electronic throttles.

Alex Copland, MD of Seapower Australia, the sole distributor of MAN powerplants in Australia, says the marque is selling very well and the rate of sales is increasing, with requests for quotes from everywhere around Australia.

"Initially, our sales were nearly all commercial - mainly to the WA rock lobster industry - but now it's extending to recreational boats and leisure cruisers.

"There are a lot of imported as well as local cruisers now fitted with MAN marine engines. This is recognition that the engines are finely engineered and reliable and economical to run," says Copland.

"But above all, the increasing recreational use of MAN powerplants is recognition that they are intelligent motors."

"MAN built the first diesel engine in the world and now it is one of the only diesel motors to meet strict new environmental laws in Europe and America without needing to go to extreme lengths."

All of which augers well for maintenance. The big motors, simple but sweet, are surely one of the easiest to maintain and made for easy access to filters and injectors. In the stand-up engine room on the Horizon 78, other engine makes can only dream.

For more information, contact Seapower Australia, tel (08) 9335 9777.