Lord 22 Launch

Traditional boatbuilder, Marshall Lord makes putt-putts and pretty period powerboats in which you can travel as fast or as slow as you fancy. Using moulds made from boats often found on a barnacle-encrusted mooring somewhere, Lord embraces the romance of period boating by building modern renditions of the real thing.

His quaint fibreglass-hulled open and cabin-topped launches, with little diesel kickers of a few horsepower, have won the hearts of many conventionalists. Those who prefer to potter about the estuary, take in the birdlife, wet a line on the drift and unfurl the picnic set from a wicker basket &151 well, they are the kind of people who regard Lord's launches as a ticket back to a better time.

Realising that not all traditional motorboaties prefer life in the slow lane, Lord has a range of classic runabouts styled like the Rivas and suchlike of mid last century. These fast launches capture a different &151 but no less charming &151 period of time, the halcyon days of speed boating. Think wind in the red poker-dotted scarf and all that.

Though he hasn't got hands scattered with calluses, Lord has taken to his role of traditional motorboat builder like a duck to water in the past decade or so. Not content with building fibreglass replicas, he is now as happy as a worm because, at long last, he is working in wood.

By far the best boat Lord has ever made, the Lord 22 pictured on these pages, was fashioned from timber for a Sydney waterfront resident. A veritable work of art, the boat pays homage to traditional shipwright skills with tremendous craftsmanship.

Lord's eyes almost sparkle with pride when he reflects on how he and five men toiled over nine months in a shed. As though assembling a living thing, each plank and nail slowly, but surely, brought the Lord 22 to life.

"I've always loved timber boats," Lord says. "If there was more demand for them, I would build them all the time. But this was a special order for a special customer, who had owned a number of dayboats before."

TURNING TO TIMBER
No stranger to timber boats, having repaired them, restored them, pulled them apart and generally admired their construction, Lord knew only too well how to build a traditional go-fast 22. His best shipwright, Bob Boreham, cut his teeth with the Swanson brothers and is regarded as something of a modern-day master craftsman when it comes to building wooden boats.

The hull was fashioned using triple diagonal 1/4in ply, with a top layer strip-planked in Brazilian mahogany. The underside is sheathed in epoxy, but virtually everything above the coamings is either oiled or high-gloss Burmese teak.

Oregon forms the framework &151 glued, screwed and nailed &151 for what is a hard-chine planing hull. The hull is based on Lord's 25-footer, designed by classic-boat compatriot, Peter Maclean. There is a small spray chine and a wee keel for directional stability at displacement speeds.

More than a looker, the hull was fashioned with a purpose in mind &151 chomping through the chop in places such as Sydney Harbour. Hence the tomahawk-like vee up front and the much appreciated smoothness of the ride.

DESIGNED FOR DAYBOATING
Moored at Woolloomooloo Finger Wharf, the timber runabout is used by its owner as a stylish restaurant runner. Though the eateries aren't half bad at the flash Finger Wharf, the launch gives the boating gastronome the choice of more than 20 harbourside tables.

To reduce maintenance, the launch is housed in a camel-coloured canvas hanger fashioned over aluminium framework. The boat rests on a floating pontoon. Press a button or two and water floods the pontoon so the boat can be floated or driven free. Reverse the process and the timber boat can be lifted out of the harbour, safe from marine growth. Due to the 'hanger', it is largely free from big-city grime.

The Lord 22 packs a good dose of practicality, comfort and performance into the pretty package. Its runabout layout can seat six people and there is cavernous storage space for everything you might pack in the station wagon when setting off for a Sunday picnic.

Topped with lots of luscious oiled teak, the foredeck holds a flagstaff flying a Sydney city flag. There are pop-up mooring cleats and a central chrome navigation light that points to the chrome-and-teak theme inside.

Deck gear includes pop-up cleats at two other points along the gunwale and back aft, upmarket fuel fillers recessed into either coaming for the 90lt fuel tanks, a stainless rubbing strip and a wonderful teak boarding platform that lets the water pass through when reversing.

Though I have previously waxed lyrical about the windscreen on Lord's 25-footer, once again it is the highlight of the hand-crafted fittings here. The framework is fashioned from chrome-plated bronze and there are two curved sheets of safety glass held inside. It reminds me of the screen on a classic car, being high and dry, while offering a clear view when driving.

There are twin wipers and two freshwater washers, plus a canopy that can be unfurled from its sock and attached to the leading edge of the screen. Enjoying the autumn sun and not wanting to compromise the boat's pretty lines, we left the canopy scrolled up on the day of this review.

The space beneath the foredeck is a huge storage area, but it is big enough to house a double berth. With cushions, it might make a neat retreat in which to take a catnap and recoup from a long week behind the mahogany desk.

There are removable side panels in the teak liner, granting access to the boat's plumbing and wiring. The self-draining cockpit has a central timber engine box with fiddle rails, so it can double as a lunch table. Sound insulation was very effective.

A three-person white leather lounge traces the transom, which has a heavy-duty flagstaff-come-skipole. Add the big leather lounge bench at the helm, where three people can sit, and the boat can effectively carry a restaurant booking for six.

Trick LCD courtesy cockpit lights, which cast a blue hue, add to the ambience for the return journey at night. But for the facia of the Clarion CD player, the dash is romantically inclined.

Before you are chrome-rimmed VDO gauges, including tacho, fuel and speedo. Chrome toggle switches are labelled for the instrument lights, cockpit lights, navigation lights, bilge pumps (two in separate compartments), wipers and freshwater windscreen washers.

BOUND FOR BALMAIN
The Austrian-made Steyr diesel engine started first go, discharging little in the way of smoke, and idling quite ambitiously.

Putting out 144hp, the compact four-cylinder, turbocharged motor runs through a Hearth hydraulic gearbox, with a 1 1/4in Aquamet shaft spinning a four-bladed bronze prop.

A continuous feed exists between the two 90lt fuel tanks, ensuring even trim, and fuel shut-off taps are provided. With 180lt at your disposal, the perky little Steyr will run all weekend. This is just as well, as I fancied more than a fleeting drive of Lord's image enhancer.

I left Woolloomooloo bound for the classic-boat home of Balmain. The runabout proved a smooth operator through the whirlpool of ferry, ship, charter and recreational boat wake that rebounds off the retaining walls under the Harbour Bridge.

A curtain of spray licked up the sides and aboard as we launched off a roller and into a trough. Sitting on the aft lounge, one can indeed get wet. But this is definitely Lord's driest and best-performing launch yet and, well, it is a 22ft boat.

Behind the big screen, I was well protected and never, not even fleetingly, did I suffer a hard knock. Fixed trim tabs keep the boat in a level trim and ensure vision isn't compromised. The boat travels with a slight bow-up attitude, but it doesn't struggle out of the hole.

Due to the sharp entry, its 1800kg displacement (only 100kg heavier than a fibreglass version), but mainly because of the wonders of timber, the Lord 22 is forgiving. It is sound-absorbing, soft and smooth, and very much alive. In that sense, it is anything but wooden.

An exciting boat to drive, at 3500rpm it will travel at a sprightly 29mph, and that feels fast. Treasuring the moment, I did the rounds of the Balmain waterfront &151 where many a sage old shipwright has trotted out a timber treasure &151 at cruise speeds. The hull banks gradually, like you would expect on an inboard boat, but it accelerates out of the turns better than I anticipated.

Though most wooden boats travel in the slow lane, this fast runabout has plenty of charm. With the leather-bound wheel in one hand, my arm leaning on the bronze windscreen and some music playing, what was a tough day in the office turned into a great day on the harbour.

The only thing that could have made it better would be to have had my first-mate beside me and a booking at a swish harbourside eatery. Lord's 22 is a nice way to travel and there would be few better ways to make an entry. Oh well, maybe next time.

HIGHS

LOWS

Classic Charmer

The Classic 22 Open is one of Marshall Lord's more sedate launches, fashioned from fibreglass and still harbouring plenty of classical charm, writes David Lockwood.

While the Lord 22 fairly flew to Balmain, the pace changed soon after arrival when I met up with a Classic 22 Open.

Owner, Steve Insley runs the Claremont B&B at Balmain, itself a quaint 19th century timber Federation home. An historic society member, Insley (pictured above and left) has his 22 Open in survey for eight people. The plan one day is to run tours of the old maritime precincts around Spectacle, Snapper and Cockatoo islands.

But thus far the traditionalist boatie has been gadding about the harbour, big timber tiller in hand, his foot never far from the throttle which is positioned especially for big-toe operation.

With a fibreglass hardtop, the 22 Open has plenty of shaded seating on moulded benches lining the cockpit. There is storage beneath the benches, two insulated lockers in the transom for drinks and an anchorwell in the foredeck.

Teak trim, a probing bowsprit and bronze deck fittings add vigour to the 22 Open. Dry storage exists under the foredeck, where you will also find the fuel tank and tap. A boat hook was lashed onto a bracket on the portside coaming within easy reach of the helm.

In-floor hatches reveal the seacock, strainer and shaft for the freshwater-cooled, three-cylinder Beta 28hp inboard. The centre-mounted motor is linked to a PRM 2.5:1 gearbox, coupled to a 1in shaft and three-bladed bronze prop.

The ignition panel, opposite the foot throttle, includes a tacho for good measure. When I assumed the position — semi-reclined at the transom, leaning on tiller linked to a bloody big rudder — it felt like I was creating an image of old juxtaposed with new, plying the Balmain waterfront past high-class homes with jetties where clone-like white cruisers were parked outside.

The classic beauty was perhaps more at home touring Spectacle Island, where the historic backdrop is more fitting, even though it comprises derelict waterfront businesses whose doors have long been shut.

The 22 Open travels with a nice high bow for traversing waves and it inspires a sense of invulnerability and everlasting purpose. At 2800rpm, the boat hits its hull speed of around 8kt. Cruising comes in at 2500rpm and 6kt.

If engine noise can be reduced so you can hear the commentary, the Classic 22 Open will make a terrific historical tour boat for skipper Insley, who most certainly looked the part in his rolled-up jeans and braces.

The Classic 22 Open, with hardtop and 28hp Beta inboard, sells for around $35,000.