Monte Carlo 4S: First Drive

Monte Carlo yachts is company that is more renowned for its larger boats, having received numerous awards around the world for its bespoke motor yachts from 60 to 76 feet. But the company, now under the wing of the huge Beneteau Group has branched out into the world of smaller production cruisers, of which the Monte Carlo 4S is the smallest.

Although owned by the giant French manufacturer, Monte Carlos are designed and built in Monfalcone on the Gulf of Trieste in Italy, and it’s this Italian heritage that helps set them apart from the motor yachts we’re used to.

Add to that the fact that the company is young and vibrant and, according to importer Sundance Marine’s David Beck, “has no set DNA to adhere to” and you have the recipe for a thoroughly modern and exciting design.

As we cruised Melbourne’s Port Phillip aboard just the second Monte Carlo 4S to be built, Beck told us that the company has used a lot of its big-boat experience in the design and construction of this stunning 40 footer.

"The systems, furnishings and fittings have all filtered down from the big boats," he said. "And because the company started off building bigger boats and didn’t have to follow the design or style of any other boat they built, the designers could start with a clean sheet."

PRICE AND EQUIPMENT
- Luxury living and well equipped for under $1m
Make no mistake, the Monte Carlo 4S is a deluxe conveyance. It has all the features of a bigger boat in a package that starts at $885,000.

Our test boat however, was specced up with some extra goodies that could easily have you living aboard and cruising the waterways or coast hopping for a week or more.

Add electronics, and useful extras like the aft docking station with twin joysticks for the IPS and bow thruster, hydraulic swim platform, forward lounge, extra freezer, electric rear awning, air conditioning, generator,  aft camera, and more and the fully-loaded boat still beat the magic million-dollar mark coming in at around $998,000.

LAYOUT AND ACCOMODATION
- Two big cabins instead of a compromise three-cabin layout
The Monte Carlo 4S – the S denoting sedan, as opposed to the flybridge version – is a two-cabin boat with a full-beam owner’s cabin aft with a generous ensuite, and very roomy forward cabin with another bathroom to port which doubles as the day head.

Beck said that dealers from around the world were brought into the design phase of the boat and asked if they thought it would be better to have the boat with two larger cabins or have a third cabin at the expense of some room in the other two. It was unanimously decided to go for the two big ones, and after seeing the result we’d have to agree. This is a very room accommodation area.

The aft cabin features large circular windows giving wonderful views from the queen-size bed, but within these big windows, the circular theme is continued with opening ports for cross-flow ventilation.

There’s a lounge on the starboard side with storage underneath and more storage to port. The ensuite is to starboard and features a full-height shower stall, vanity and electric loo. There are robes either side of the cabin with enough storage for a few days at sea.

The forward cabin has a queen-size island bed and also offers twin robes. Once again opening ports allow for ventilation as does an opening hatch above and there is another skylight forward to bring more light into this roomy and welcoming abode.

The port-side bathroom which is set off a small vestibule at the bottom of the stairs has another separate shower stall, vanity and loo.

Back up top, we have a nice comfortable saloon with the galley aft and to port and starboard side L-shaped lounge with a lovely folding leather-trimmed table with a wood inlay.

The galley features a two-burner electric cooktop with a combination oven/grille, covered stainless-steel sink with a nifty fold-away hot/cold water tap, front-opening day fridge and heaps of cupboard and drawer space. Forward of the galley, there’s a pull-out freezer with ice maker that offers plenty of room to store your frozen goods for extended trips.

There’s more storage along the port side and to starboard is the raised bridge deck. The ’bridge’ is up a couple of steps and luxuriously carpeted. There’s a fully-adjustable double leather-covered helm seat that provides expansive views through the full-width one-piece windscreen. The screen is swept by a pair of big wipers with freshwater washers.

The skipper gets an electric opening window to let the breeze in and there’s also an expansive electric sunroof with sliding flyscreen.

The dash is neat and beautifully trimmed with leather and there’s plenty of room to mount extra electronics should you need them.

Our test boat was fitted with a multifunction Simrad 12-inch NSS screen for the plotter radar and sounder as well as digital and analogue monitoring of the engine systems. As part of the electronics package we also had Simrad VHF with AIS, wi-fi connection for ipad, auto pilot, and the Simrad broadband 4G radar.

One thing my notes did tell me was that the interior of this boat is extremely well finished. The brushed oak, leather and soft furnishings really made it very tactile and classy feel.

Out in the cockpit and the comfort continues. A lovely two seater lounge adorns the transom and there’s another lounge to port.

Step up onto the walkaround decks and head forward and there are another couple of sun lounges on the foredeck with built-in drink holders – how thoughtful!

The advantages and safety aspect of the walkaround decks was not lost on us, nor were the high bulwarks and stainless-steel safety rail that came right aft and included an intermediate wire. Great for kids and pets when on the move.

Back aft, there is a unique feature of this sports cruiser – a ladder up onto the roof where there’s another double sunlounge rimmed by a low stainless-steel rail; it might sound silly, but what great place to loll around and read a book while at anchor!

ON THE WATER
- Oh so easy!
Getting out of our pen and around to the fuelling dock presented no problems with the combination of the IPS and bow thruster. Though the bow thruster might seem superfluous to some with the joystick technology of the IPS, it does add another layer of security if you’re in heavy wind or current and it means that in tight situations, the 4S can spin on its own length.

After fuelling, we headed off towards the city into a 15-20-knot nor’wester, and unfortunately some cloud. But warmly cocooned in our Monte Carlo, we wouldn’t have cared if it was raining.

A push on the throttles and bow lifted evenly with barely a hint of a ‘hump’. This is a very efficient and easily driven hull, as evidenced by the lack of wake behind us.

With the IPS, the boat steered beautifully off the wheel and with the fine entry and reverse chines combined with the high freeboard, we didn’t get so much as a drop over the decks.

With the modest horsepower from the Volvo IPS500s, the 4S is not meant to be a rocket ship. That said, we found a comfortable cruise of about 18-20 knots at 3000rpm using about 84 litres per hour in total.

At that speed, even with the rear doors open, we could comfortably converse from the helm. It is a quiet boat and even quieter when we headed home with the doors shut.

We opened the boat up and got just under 30 knots at WOT of 3500rpm using around 150 litres per hour. While this might sound a lot, not many owners will be thrashing the boat over long distances at WOT. Back it off to say 2800rpm and 15 knots and you’re only using 70 litres per hour giving a theoretical range of 215nm with a 20 per cent safety margin in reserve.

Kicking back in the comfy helm seat riding the following wind and sea home, we could see how easy it would be to eat up some serious sea miles in the MC 4S.

Back at the yacht club, parking was a breeze from the cockpit cocking station and we were soon tied up after a very easy and pleasurable cruise.

Overall, we really enjoyed a day aboard the Monte Carlo 4S. It’s a roomy boat, easy to get around, it has big cabins, big bathrooms and certainly doesn’t scrimp on features, luxury appointments and sumptuous finishes.

The boat is a dream to drive, pretty economical and it’s highly manoeuvrable.

It’s a credit to the importers Sundance Marine that the company saw fit to give them only the second boat off the production line and it shows the confidence that Monte Carlo has in the Australia/Pacific market.

If this boat is anything to go by, I think we’ll be seeing a quite a few more Monte Carlos on our waterways in the future.

Specifications:
Price as tested: $998,750
Priced from: $885,000
LOA: 13.80 metres (45ft 3in)
Beam: 4.06 metres (13ft 4in)
Draft: 0.90 metres (3ft 9in)
Light displacement: 12.023kg
Engines: Volvo Penta IPS500 370hp
Fuel: 2 x 550 litres
Water: 2 x 200 litres

Supplied by:
Sundance Marine
Jetty Road,
Sandringham, Vic
www.sundancemarine.com.au