Mustang 3800 Royal

In 2000, a panel of judges awarded the Mustang 3800 the prestigious title of Australian Boat of the Year. I wasn't part of that panel, mind you, though time has proven them right. After thoroughly examining and testing the boat, I can say that it's actually improved with age.

The Mustang 3800, which lays claim to being the widest sportscruiser in its class, now comes with a new factory-fitted specification known as the Royal. Part of Mustang policy these days is to provide turn-key boats - all that's left wanting on the 3800 Royal is a weekend to spare.

But what really impresses me are the improvements to detail. A boatbuilder on the march, Mustang won the Exporter of the Year Award in 2002. Compared with early boats, the new models are way better finished, better assembled, and fitted with higher quality fittings.

The boats can now match it with imports from anywhere in the world. This is not something I say lightly, but as a result of serious examination of this boat. The Mustang 3800 Royal is the company's neatest boat yet.

The other thing that impresses me about this new spec is the bottom line. You get a lot for your $314,000 (standard boat). In fact, what you get is the reason why some sportscruiser imports are doing it tough. Local boats like this are plainly good buying.

But Mustang isn't solely responsible for the improvements. Its marketing department says the new 3800 Royal is the product of customer feedback. Boaties apparently requested more goodies on deck for entertaining, a convertible cockpit, and less austere decorating compared with the company's heavily forested 3800 Limited Edition. So Mustang delivered.

TRACK RECORD
The only extras on the demo boat were upgraded motors, a holding tank and a royal-blue hull. With more features, the Mustang 3800 Royal will replace the 3800 Standard. In the first three months since its release, five of these boats have been sold.

As far as 3800 hulls are concerned, this was boat number 107. The biggest selling of all Mustang sportscruisers and the best export model, the 3800 sells at the rate of one boat per week, the company says. These are sold through dealers in all Australian states as well as North America and New Zealand. There are even boats in Japan and Hong Kong.

Locally, the 3800 has been an especially big hit around the Gold Coast, where 40-something of them live at marinas and canal estates. In Sydney, 20-odd 3800s are running around. Such is demand that the Queensland factory, which did 220 boats last year, is looking at the spare 1000m2 it set aside for expansion.

Buyers of the 3800 are typically husband and wife teams who want a great all-rounder for weekending away and entertaining friends and family. The boat comfortably sleeps four, while its single-level outdoor deck is great for socialising. The layout and finish could be described as Euro-inspired.

TOUR OF DUTY
Some things about this boat can't be improved upon. The full-width moulded boarding platform with concealed swim ladder and hot/cold deck shower is a case in point. The platform extends the living area, offering a place to unfurl a deck chair or towel, cast a line, dive or swim while swinging at anchor.

A lockable boot, its lid lifting on a gas strut and piano hinges, is big enough for stowing not only fenders and mooring warps but also dive gear and fishing rods. The transom door invites you aboard and moulded cockpit steps and a walk-through dash make for an all-over accessible deck.

While there are no handrails on the targa arch for crew, there is a handy one-piece bowrail mounted on stylish stainless steel stanchions. A nice spread of deck cleats jut out from obvious places, and there is a concealed anchor in a moulded bowsprit and chain locker (albeit accessed from inside the cabin only).

Dash and deck remotes control the factory-supplied windlass for push button set-and-forget anchoring. Moulded steps in the dash and a flat foredeck with non-skid provide secure footing. The recessed moulded sections on the foredeck come with upholstered sunpads on the Limited Edition. But you can use your towel here and save some brass.

The moulded targa arch adds to the styling lines and, thankfully, provides somewhere to swing the Sunbrella canvas covers. Despite a deluge, I managed to stay dry under the fore and aft bimini top and clears buttoned to the windscreen. Mustang intends to supply a neat canopy clip tool with future boats to make the job of assembling the covers easier from inside the boat.

COCKPIT CAPERS
Day access to the motors can be gained by folding back the clip-out carpet and lifting a small hatch. You need to remove the aft cockpit lounge to access the engineroom for more serious work. The heavy-duty legs screw out, the lounge base clips free, and the cockpit floor lifts on struts to reveal a big engine bay.

There is a lot of room around the twin 320hp 5.7lt Volvo blocks, stainless steel fuel tank, and 6.5kVa Kohler generator. I noted separate fuel filters and water separators for the engines and genset, a separate hot-water service, and room left over for lazarette-style storage of goods.

There are various cockpit lockers for holding mooring lines, hardware and suchlike, courtesy lights and a hatch to port with the house battery system. This includes the isolating switches, a charger and a standard-issue galvanic isolator that should stop the rot.

The shorepower plugs into a connection at the foot of the targa arch to port. If you park the wrong way in, you might have to drag the lead across the cockpit. Thus, the connection is better on the transom. In fair weather you can neatly stow each half of the canopy in a sock either side of the targa arch. The boat looks much sportier with its top up.

LIFESTYLE CENTRE
The removable aft lounge can seat three/four people around a lift-out moulded lunch table that can be assembled further forward. But if you bring the dinette table from down below, you can create two outdoor lunch settings for, say, six people.

The built-in cockpit amenities centre to starboard is apparently customer driven. You get a Granicoat counter top, circular sink, hot/cold water and electric Technika 240V hot-rock barbie. Unfortunately, there is no cover over the cooking appliance, so you will need to keep little Johnny under surveillance after charring the snags.

To port, two moulded steps lead up to a lounge big enough to seat three people. Carbon fibre drinkholders and a base for the second table make this a neat area to relax while cruising at low speed.

Opposite, the skipper has a two-person bench seat with a neat lift-up base or bolster to improve standing room and create a kind of leaning post when driving in rough water. Another nice touch was the small sidepocket for personals and the moulded footwell under the dash.

A white moulded helm module holds US Faria gauges - some of which fogged up during the course of testing in the rain - and a mahogany-looking Italian-made tilt sports wheel. Seastar hydraulic steering takes the hard work out of tight turns. The Volvo dual throttles with leg-trim buttons are also easy to use.

Twin switch panels control everything from navigation lights to the anchor winch, bilgepump, blower, horn and so on. There are separate trim-tab buttons but no trim gauges. The view through the wraparound five-piece safety-glass windscreen, with side opening vents for fresh air, is excellent.

Outdoors, Mustang's living and driving areas are nothing if not accommodating. Fortunately, the same can be said about the open-plan interior, which is accessed through a stiff sliding door and a series of moulded steps.

INDOOR LIVING
A boatload more reasons to buy the 3800 Royal can be found inside. Things like separate fore and aft cabins, a stand-up head with shower, and a generous galley count for plenty. But only now has the interior received due attention to detail.

Royal-blue carpet, fitted blue bedspreads with gold accents, scatter cushions, off-white liners, charcoal-coloured Granicoat benchtops, and cherrywood with a high-gloss finish help make this boat shine in a non-glitzy way.

Add big circular hatches, port lights, 12V halogens and courtesy lights and you have a bright and bubbly boat. On close examination, all the liners butt up evenly, the joinery fits together snugly, and the hinges and catches function without fuss. The boat has a lot of headroom and shoulder room about the saloon, too.

Four of us sat inside and chatted without feeling claustrophobic, despite the humid conditions and rain on the Gold Coast. This might also have something to do with the boat's standard-issue 16,000BTU air-conditioning unit. The sea strainer for this and plumbing for the bathroom are hidden under the steps inside.

BIG ROOMS
The moulded head is in a handy location beside the companionway. Inside, a six-footer has headroom.

Plus, there is enough room to at least stoop and wash your hair under the sliding German Grohe shower rose. A single mixer tap and an opening porthole and air-conditioning outlet, to help with ventilation, add to your showering pleasure.

The head comes with an electric loo, stainless steel sink, locker with a toilet-roll holder, nice big mirror and additional mirror-backed sliding doors on an overhead vanity cupboard. The waste tank gauge hides inside the cupboard with the toilet flush button.

The aft cabin with transverse queen-sized mattress is surely the Royal's premier sleeping address. Measuring 1.55m wide, the bed can swallow two lanky adults or three kiddies. Loads of natural light and fresh air come courtesy of big hatches and port lights, a mirror-backed bedhead, and reading lights.

At the foot of the bed is a moulded cabinet with three drawers, a lined jewellery compartment, a full-length hanging space and an air-conditioning outlet. A three-person leather settee runs all the way forward to the wetbar.

The boat comes with a standard-issue Samsung flat-screen television mounted on the bulkhead beside the dinette. The old recess for the entertainment centre has been converted into a bottle locker. A fridge with cherrywood facia hides under the counter.

There is storage under the leather lounge and in overhead lockers. The DVD player and six-stacker Clarion CD are also overhead, while the AC/DC control panel sits within arm's reach of the steps down from the cockpit.

Galley benchtops to port are set quite low, but there is space to assemble a meal. Amenities include a square sink, two-burner ceramic hotplate (no fiddle rail) and a small microwave oven in an overhead cupboard, three drawers, four cupboards, and an opening port light ? all you need on a boat like this.

Opposite the galley, a family of four can dine or play board games on the dinette with U-shaped leather lounge seating. There is the option of converting the dinette into a third double bed, though it must be said the days of boating with the Brady Bunch seem long gone.

Last but not least, the bow is taken up by a double bed about 1.80m long with pretty fitted covers and oodles of cushions, opening port lights, hatches and sidepockets. With curtains drawn, guests have privacy from owners sleeping back in that tremendous aft cabin.

CAPTAIN COURAGEOUS
I was determined to sally forth into the fray despite the late summer tropical downpours that drenched the Gold Coast. The boat turned up on the morning of our test in fine fettle, ready for a spot of sportscruising under leaden skies.

The twin 320hp petrol Volvo motors seemed to clunk a little going into gear, but otherwise this was a smooth operator.

Low-speed cruising could be maintained at 3000rpm or 22mph using a touch of in-trim.

Add another 500rpm and the boat levelled out to a happy cruise speed of around 30mph on the speedo. At 4000rpm, the Mustang 3800 was zipping along and really going places at 37mph or so.

According to the speedo, the lightly laden boat touched on 48mph at 4500rpm, whereas 42mph is said to be the normal top speed.

Either way, the handling was nice and sporty and the hull responded really well to the wheel. The twin Volvo Duoprops can take the credit for the turning ability and the excellent low-speed handling about the marina.

Three years down the track, a good boat called the 3800 Standard has become an even better boat called the Royal. Answering the call of customers, the company has formed Mustang Living, an owner's club where membership includes seasonal newsletters and invitations to boating events.

Buy a 3800 Royal and you also get a boat-care kit and access to branded merchandise. And to answer any remaining concerns, Mustang has introduced a 10-year structural warranty. It will be interesting to see what comes of the next three years, as some 5% of turnover is currently being spent on R&D.

Lows