Lewis Eclipse 21

Kids in Japan today partake in the most extreme things. They join clubs offering daredevil sports and queue up for anything where they might fly by the seat of their pants, literally.

The latest craze in Japan, wakeboarding, has been taken to new heights of late. The higher you go, the longer the hang time, the more wild manoeuvres you can do. Getting maximum air is all the rage. So, too, owning the hottest wakeboarding boat afloat.

To this end, the Japanese have just ordered 80 wakeboarding-dedicated boats from Australian sportsboat builder Lewis. Eighty Eclipse 21s with wake-enhancers - more on this tricky toy later - is a big order by any standards. It even made news in Sydney's most respected newspaper.

Not long after the boss of Lewis Boats, Steve Parker, signed off on the deal, he showed me what was going up and down in the world of wakeboarding. Images of men getting maximum air, while being towed behind Lewis boats, grace page after page of a Japanese wakeboarding-dedicated journal.

Up against the best towboats from all round the world, the Lewis label pulls no punches. The boats are now enjoying unprecedented support here and abroad. The new Lewis Eclipse, a 21-footer based on the award-winning Outback, is making especially big waves in wakeboarding circles.

The Eclipse offers more seating, more space and, with an optional tower, I dare say, more air time than any other Lewis boat before it. While I didn't test this latter point, being the middle of winter in Sydney with water temperatures hovering around 14°C, I sure got a taste for the bright new Eclipse.

KEEPING UP APPEARANCES
The Eclipse arrived at the boat ramp on a colour-coded Easytow trailer - a dual-axle cradle with sporty rims bearing Lewis insignias, chrome guards and mechanical brakes - looking unmistakably, unashamedly, a sports machine.

The hull had a garnet paintjob with colour-coded camel upholstery - your choice of vinyl or velour - a trademark Lewis skiing kangaroo emblem on a lovely chrome nose cone, a raked wraparound windscreen and plainly playful lines.

Starting life as a tournament skiboat dubbed the Outback, the new Eclipse is some 210mm longer than its predecessor. It has some trick changes to the underwater sections, most noticeably a reverse run aft so the boat travels flat and generates a great wash.

The underwater sections have a sharp entry for smoothing out the waves, a Delta plank, down-turned chines, and a flat run aft for lift. The beam is the same as the Outback, but there is around 50kg more weight via materials.

Construction is GRP with a timber stringer system that Parker stands behind. The ACQ-treated ply is encapsulated in glass. He will tell you the timber, exposed bare to the elements, has a 40-year guarantee.

"It costs $500 more to build this boat with timber not glass stringers," says Parker. "This is one reason it is so smooth across the water. The reason behind some all-glass boats is nothing more than cost cutting."

The hull and deck are bonded four ways - with rivets, screws, glassed up front and Sikaflexed - and special frames are used amidships to beef-up the boat.

Options on the Eclipse seen here include a wake-enhancer, engine upgrade and a few extra speakers. Personally, I like the idea of the optional infill that turns the bow into one big sunpad and the teak, instead of glass, boarding platform, which is removable in minutes.

But Parker says many sportsboaters are more daring these days and don't hold back on accessories for their wakeboarding boats. Apparently, things such as showers, heaters, towers, biminis, and CD stackers with 100W speakers are all the rage.

FITTED OUT FOR FUN
While it's true a lot of wakeboarding boats are sold to extreme sportsboaters, it's also true that many more are sold to social boaters who like the idea of wakeboarding. Lewis boats always satisfy both devotees and would-be's looking for comfort, quality and driving pleasure.

The foredeck has a stylish bow handle incorporating a split nav light, two stainless grabrails and three strategically-placed drinkholders for crew. Two adults or three children can travel up front, and Parker says the bow section on the Eclipse is the largest in its class.

There is lined storage under the bow seating, which has plastic-backed lids, and a fully insulated icebox up front. The deck itself is a one-piece moulding with a black or silver-framed windscreen imported from Atlanta. Its opening section rests thoughtfully on a small stopper and there are intakes under the screen to feed fresh air through underfloor ducts to the centremount motor.

A comfortable U-shaped lounge that can double as a love seat is fixed behind the screen for the observer. There is a wakeboard or waterski locker at foot level and a glovebox with two drinkholders dead ahead.

Parker has created a pretty dash for his Eclipse. Walnut or carbon, it comes with a spread of sexy Faria gauges with colour-coded bezels, a 12V accessory plug for the mobile or Camcorder, and car-like waterproof switches for the blower, bilge pump and so on.

The timber wheel, which has chrome spokes, and throttle fall to hand. A fully adjustable, hip-hugging helmseat, fixed through a thick timber board that won't tear out, keeps you contained in tight turns. A trick trim tab control near the throttle lets you play with the Italian-designed wake-enhancer, which is a big hydraulically-operated flap on the transom.

In the broad cockpit, nets add to the storage in the sidepockets, which are long enough to carry waterskis. The engine top, with nice chrome vents, includes two drinkholders and a neat little aft seat for a camera man. Waterproof speakers pump out the volume should you want attitude with your altitude.

For crew, the three person aft lounge, which remained dry even in tight turns, is the top spot. There is an icebox beneath its base and a hatch in the floor grants access to the steering gear. The fuel tank sits behind the lounge in an accessible locker. At the transom is a removable boarding platform, ski hook and a grabrail.

The Eclipse is a big 21-footer with seating for six people, yet it is still an easy launch for one person, thanks to the Easytow trailer, and not difficult to drive. After just a few minutes aboard, I felt like I belonged behind the wheel of the Eclipse. Crew will feel similarly relaxed in their seating.

TIME TO TURN IT ON
Such is the widespread appeal of wakeboarding that it's impossible to paint an identikit image of a typical proponent. Buyers may be 10 to 60 years of age, explains Parker, adding that many people buy wakeboarding boats as family boats and that only about 20% are hardcore.

I fall into the former group, who prefer to do nothing too serious afloat. For me, the performance didn't disappoint. With a 315hp MPI MerCruiser motor, I hit an exhilarating 77kmh at 4400rpm, according to the Faria speedo.

The hull travels quite flat and generates a natural wake-enhancing effect. It also crosses waves without the usual thump-thump-thump, but with a single sluicing noise. At 3000rpm, I cruised down the river with a broad smile on my dial, thinking about the social aspects of the Eclipse.

For the sake of our jetty-bound photographer, I swung the boat into some tight turns. It pivoted on its forward fin and the big bladed, heavily-cupped, 12.5in x 13in prop didn't get bogged down. This means you can drive the Eclipse out of the bends with oomph.

The only thing you need to watch is crossing wash at low speed - it's possible to ship water over the bow if you don't throttle up. A touch of throttle and the nose lifts above the waves, however, and before long you'll be doing it without thinking.

Press a button and you can increase the wake, which is a beautiful, steep, rolling wave. Little wonder the Japanese are going crazy over the Eclipse. As you see it here, selling for $44,000, ready to take to the air, the boat represents fair dinkum value.

But while the Japanese and countless others are chasing maximum hang time, for this little duck it is something called driving pleasure which most impresses. Parker had to act like a negotiator, not talking me down, but virtually prising me from the wheel.