Maxum 3100 Sport Express Cruiser

American Brunswick Corporation is a boatbuilding goliath, the largest maker of pleasure boats in the world, with net sales last year of $US2.2 billion. It owns no less than 20 different brands of recreational craft designed for every type of boating from family pursuits to offshore fishing and serious sportscruising.

Indeed, it's in the realms of sportscruisers that Brunswick has the biggest-selling badges. Among them is Maxum, which the corporation positions as a cut above its popular Bayliner brand. Priced at a premium, and with superior finishes, the Maxums aren't so much caravans on water as genuine American sportscruisers rearing to go.

The boat has a moderate deadrise hull to get the best from both ride and stability, with chines that taper to wide aft sections for lift, a flat running section on the keel known as a Delta plank for level cruising and lift, and extended running surfaces that support the weight of the twin V8 engines and provide lift when planting the throttles.

While designated as a 3100, it is interesting to note that the measurement refers to the boat's length overall, so you might find bigger and more expensive 31ft cruisers out there. Instead of being overtly rakish like a lot of point-and-shoot sportscruisers, though, the Maxum uses a Beam Forward Design for a big interior.

The upside of the big forward beam is more space and plenty of support when cornering - the boat didn't dig in and drive off a fine point of entry in tight turns. The downside might be experienced when tackling rough water head-on. There's more boat to push through a headsea, and this will mean spray, if not porpoising.

On the construction front, the hull derives stiffness from a full-length fibreglass-encapsulated grid that's laminated to the hull. The internal fibreglass liner and key components are bonded to the grid.

Maxum also says it makes a fully functional prototype of each new boat and submits it to rigorous performance testing. This kind of R&D is something often lacking with sportscruiser yards. It goes on to say every new model is put through a "punishing regimen of endurance testing at the hands of professional drivers and technicians." Ripper!

Knowing this augured well for no-holds-barred sportscruising on test day, it was also nice to know the boat was backed by a Five-Year Limited Hull and Deck Transferable Warranty. But first a tour of duty where I found it's not all formulaic boatbuilding and cookie-cutter design inside the Maxum.

INNOVATION INDOORS
The 3100SE hails from Maxum's collection of mid-range Sport Express Cruisers from 24–33ft. This boat was powered by twin 5.7lt 350 MAG 300hp MPI petrol MerCruiser motors fitted with Bravo 2 sterndrive legs. The SmartCraft engine monitoring system and digital-throttle or DTS are options with these donks.

Options on the demo boat included a forward sunpad that made good use of the bow and created additional lounging space, an icemaker in the cockpit - every sportscruiser needs one in summer - stereo remote, remote spotlight and upgraded JBL sound system for entertaining the troops.

You might also consider a generator and air-con, plus snap davits on the transom to carry the tender, which you need to reach those beaches and waterfront digs. I am told 99 per cent of local sportscruiser owners opt for an 1800–2000W invertor to supply 240V power to the microwave and television when away from the dock.

Maxum offers three colour options: blue, red and yellow, and optional kingplank accent panel graphics as seen here.

Standard are a fire-suppression system, 240V hot water system via a heat exchanger, a transom shower, cockpit table convertible to a daybed, and a full set of covers including flyscreens and mooring covers.

While very much a production boat, the Maxum boasts excellent finishes, firm-fitting upholstery and fair fibreglass mouldings. The classy interior has mushroom-coloured vinyls, patterned upholstery, grey shag carpet and mock cherrywood timber joinery.

DIFFERENT BY DEGREES
However, the real point of difference here is the interior layout. Rather than being a caravan with lots of beds and a dinette and lounge that protrudes into the living space, the 3100SE has one big open-plan living room that says: we realise that majority of sportscruiser owners spend most of their time cruising and entertaining by day, now they can do that down below, too.

A ladder with three steps instead of a moulded staircase helps keep the interior open. Once inside, you can see from the bow to the aft wall of the mid-cabin. Besides head and leg room, and open floor space, the main feature is a long lounge that snakes forward along the portside to the bow, wraps around the dinette table, and arcs back along the starboard side to the galley.

 The lounge can seat eight people and the dinette will easily attend to the needs of a family of four. You can convert the latter into a vee-berth in the bow in case you need beds for four. The mid-cabin with its permanent double bed, away from the slap of water on the chines, is the pick of the possies to get some shuteye. Beds derive privacy through curtains on tracks - there are no bulkheads.

The galley, while not overly endowed, will serve your entertaining needs. The cabinetry harbours three drawers and some small overhead cupboards, a good amount of counter space for food prep, and a big sink with a cutting-board lid. There is a standard-issue microwave (available with shorepower only until you fit an invertor), and a single-burner electric/alcohol element.

Under the counter is a Norcold 12/240V fridge with a freezer tray. The brochure has a coffee-maker above the microwave; the test boat had a TV. Add a cappuccino machine and sandwich press and you're done. The supplied grabrail was a handy addition.

The convenient head near the stairs is one big moulded unit with plenty of headroom, a Vacuflush loo, H/C handheld shower that can be placed on a hook so you can wash your hair, and a curtain to protect the door from splash. I found an extractor fan and an opening porthole, plus storage under the sink and behind the mirrored vanity.

The boat's water capacity of 117lt is adequate for overnighters, and the 117lt holding tank is relatively generous. The sump pump is easily accessible under the stairs. Across the way is a basic 12V switch panel with Shorepower switch. A small cedar-lined hanging locker is alongside.

STACKED DECK
The cockpit, deck mouldings and dayboating amenities don't stray from the sportscruiser mould. There's an integrated boarding platform with concealed swim ladder, aft mooring cleats, fuel, waste and water fillers, and water, Shorepower and TV/phone jacks.

The aft garage is polypropylene lined, with room for stowing fenders and mooring lines, the boathook, watertoys and tackle. The battery isolators and the breaker for the windlass, another supplied option, are here. The targa arch is fitted with a bimini top for shade and lights for night trips. To the sides I noted high-grade non-skid.

Seating comes by way of a U-shaped aft lounge - rearmost section removable for fishing - that can take four around a small cockpit table. A carry-on Igloo for the drinks and lunch lives under a seat base, and there's a moulded sink with a huge polypropylene-lined storage area and the optional icemaker. Two crew members can ride opposite the two-person helm seat, which has a flip-up bolster for legroom when driving.

The walkthrough dash and opening windscreen are coveted by sun-seekers who like to loll about on the foredeck sunpads of their sportscruisers. A non-skid catwalk bisects the two sunpads and drinkholders. The bowrail and moulded toerails will help the crew check on the ground tackle, though the windlass makes light work of anchoring.

PEDAL TO THE METAL
Ahead of the helm, the windscreen cuts the wind as intended and it has a pantograph wiper to boot. The adjustable sports wheel is linked to power-assisted rack-and-pinion steering. The grey low-glare dash has a big switch panel, groovy Faria gauges, digital depth readout, windlass remote, spotlight toggle and room for a GPS, which you may need since you can venture to other ports if you're careful about the twin V8s and 568lt fuel supply.

The trim tabs were conveniently near the throttles, which also have leg trim buttons linked to trim gauges. The boat needed some leg intrim and trim tabs down to stop it porpoising across the swells rolling through the entrance to Broken Bay during this test drive. Perhaps some anchor gear in the chain locker would help to keep the bow down.

The boat was also quite doughy and slow to jump out of the hole. This was surprising considering it was fitted with twin 300hp V8 petrol motors. And at full throttle, the motors didn't reach their expected maximum revs of 4800–5200rpm.

Shellgrowth on the props was probably the problem, or maybe the props were simply too big. I'm sure we can do better here.

Any way, minimum plane was recorded at 2500rpm and with full intrim the boat held a handy cruise of 25mph on the speedo at 3000rpm, which equates to about 21.7 knots at this fuel-efficient setting. I recorded a comfortable cruise of 32mph on the speedo (about 27.8 knots) at 3500rpm.

The boat started porpoising at 4000rpm and 38mph (about 33 knots) and when running flat out at 4500rpm and 44mph (about 38.2 knots) on the speedo. Remember, too, that simple boat speedos aren't the most accurate of things, with variations of up to 10 per cent commonplace. Still, this boat felt fast.

But what the Maxums 3100SE did do best of all was provide grip-it-and-rip-it sportcruiser cornering. As such, you can dodge and weave you way through the pack to a quiet corner of the ring somewhere. And with the throaty V8 notes playing astern you are reminded that this is indeed a Yankee sportscruiser. Thanks heavens they haven't seen fit to change that.

HIGHS

LOWS