Mustang 43 Sports Flybridge

Horses for courses

Chris Aldridge looks at home behind the helm of his new Mustang 43 Sports Flybridge. And why wouldn't he? The pleasureboat skipper is no stranger to boats. When we tested this, his latest and greatest boat, he still owned a Powercat 2600 with twin 140hp Suzuki outboards and a Fairway 36 single-screw cruiser moored in the Whitsundays.

"If you can berth a Fairway 36 you can berth anything," quips Aldridge, pointing to the fact his Fairway, an iconic Queensland cruiser, comes with a single screw and no bowthruster. "You quickly learn the ways of boat handling."

Suffice to say, the Mustang 43 Sports Flybridge is a vastly more sophisticated beast. There are twin engines for starters, fully electronic Volvo Penta D6s with common rail injection producing 435hp aside. But with Volvo Penta's revolutionary IPS system, which features steerable forward facing drives and a Joystick docking device, performance is something else.

Yet there's more to Aldridge's decision to buy the Mustang 43 with IPS than its wild horses. There are his crew's wishes. "My wife wanted a bigger boat for the family. And she loves the aft galley on this boat for entertaining. Add the cockpit space and three cabins, and the whole family can holiday aboard," he explains, before returning to the wonders of IPS technology.

Fact is, Volvo Penta's IPS system has given the Mustang M43 Sports Flybridge a new lease on life. The safe Kiwi-designed all-round family and fishing cruiser is ordinarily bundled with twin Cummins QSC-490s (490hp each), which are really nice engines. But with the $50,000 upgraded Volvo Penta IPS 600s, the boat is cutting edge.

Advance the fly-by-wire throttles and this safe straight-line cruiser leaps out of the water, turns off the wheel like a sportsboat, and boasts terrific economy and range. However, the close-quarters manoeuvring when using the signature Joystick device is something else again.

Furthermore, noise levels and drag are reduced - thanks also to the QL trim tabs instead of Bennett tabs - while the engineering space and engine bay have grown in stature. In fact, the engineroom has undergone more than just a facelift and something akin to an organ transplant.

HEART TRANSPLANT
With the IPS system, the diesel engines are reversed, so the gearboxes are forward as per vee drives, and the engines are located back aft in the boat. The twin D6s are actually mounted beneath the cockpit floor, in what would otherwise be the lazarette in a shaft-driven boat, and the engineroom becomes a huge utility space instead.

With the weight of the engines back aft, the key to making the M43 perform well lies in getting the balance right. So Mustang moved the 1900lt of fuel from under the cockpit floor into wing tanks in the utility space or old engineroom. The not inconsiderable 670lt of water was also shifted forward and, as a result, the weight has been removed from the ends to the boat's centre or fulcrum.

Of great benefit to those charged with maintaining a boat is the gain in servicing space. In fact, the utility space has room for an extra 500 litres of fuel should you want it, and options such as desalinator, washer/dryer and all manner of custom storage ideas. With the 9kW Kohler generator mounted back aft in the utility space, there's also less noise in the boat's living areas.

Meantime, you can jump down and around all sides of the compact D6 engines living back aft. Not that there is much required to maintain them. The electronic management panels tell you when you need to top up the coolant, oil and whether there are heating or fuel related problems. And with the water intakes and exhaust outlets built into the IPS drives, you don't have to worry about sea strainers or wet exhausts (the shaftdrive version has underwater exhausts). Advance the throttles and enjoy smoke-free diesel-powered cruising.

MUSTANG ON THE MOVE
It would be remiss of me not to mention the fact that Mustang Marine, one of this country's biggest boatbuilders, went into receivership in late 2007 and was subsequently bought by the Standard Bank of South Africa. I'm told the investor typically has a three to five-year turnaround period, whereby it reverses the fortunes of a company and eventually on sells it in much better health.

Those at the factory tell me they are thrilled with the commitment by Standard Bank, especially its investment in R&D. At its peak, the Gold Coast-based Mustang yard was building between 180 and 200 boats a year but mainly sportscruisers from 28 to 42ft. This year, Mustang expects to build about 50 boats but they are now mostly 43-footers.

Going forward, there will be more owner's rendezvous, CAN bus plug-and-play electrical systems, and the yard is looking seriously at closed-mould production to strip the weight out of its boats. Then there are all the gear and gadgets changing the face of boating. And you will soon be hearing a lot more about Mustang's exciting new Sports Coupe range soon.

If fishing floats your boat, Mustang offers a pretty decent options list. The M43 seen here had factory fitted Relax outrigger poles, five heavy-duty through-bolted rodholders, close to $20,000 worth of Raymarine electronics, a 200kg davit for its tender, and niceties such as an icemaker, filtered drinking water and cushions so you can kick back on the bow. Oh, and that $50,000 engine upgrade to the IPS 600s.

From a base price of $692,700, the M43 we drove cost $844,736 with enough goodies for serious fishing and not-so-serious fun. And the optional third cabin lets you spend a week aboard with the extended family. All of which is good buying for a 43-footer that, with the IPS 600s, won't burn a hole in your pocket.

At cruise speed of 22.5kts, give or take a knot of tide, the engines consume just 90lt/h in total. At the present price, cruising in a boat as accommodating as this remains affordable. For 800 litres you can reach a port four hours away and return home a week or two later. Forget paying high-season holiday rental tariffs.

KIWI FISHER
You have to go back further to understand the Mustang M43's heritage. But for the keel, which was removed to accommodate the IPS pod drives, the hull remains unchanged from when it was acquired in 2004 from Kiwi boatbuilder Oliver Royale. From being a manufacturer of sportscruisers, Mustang Marine suddenly became a builder of flybridge boats with the acquisition of the moulds for Oliver's 37, 41, 43 and - to be released at this year's Sydney International Boat Show - the 56 Enclosed.

Construction is solid GRP but with a Kevlar layer for impact resistance. There is coring in the decks and flybridge superstructure to reduce weight and a watertight collision bulkhead forward. The boat comes with a 10-year hull structural hull warranty and I haven't heard of any issues with Oliver Royales running around today. Presumably the Mustang versions are built as tough. All the wiring and plumbing is colour coded and loomed, there are double hose clips on all lines below the waterline, and ball valves, of course.

As fishing is almost as big a part of the psyche of Kiwis as it is Australians, there are features such as a lockable outdoor rod locker in which you can wash your outfits as well as store them, outward opening marlin door with cutting board lid, two-tray tackle locker, 12V cockpit fridge/freezer (six-carton capacity I'm told), and small in-transom bait bin with livewell in the swim platform.

As it was destined to cater for family needs and not just fishing, the M43 we drove had a swim platform. The deep and accommodating cockpit has an aluminium plate ready to take a fighting chair, dot-pattern non-skid that will be easy to keep clean, and two lift-out fishboxes in the cockpit sole.

Meanwhile, the CE standard self-draining system proved adept at ridding the cockpit of water. Popup cleats help keep the gunwales snag free and there are toe kicks so you can gain support when leaning outboard. Spreader lights are supplied, though a 240V outlet would be handy for plugging in a barbie.

DECKED OUT
Steps lead up to the side decks, which are backed by moulded toe, grab and bowrails, the latter featuring an intermediate wire to enhance safety. A Maxwell windlass was fitted and I noted decent cleats and deck hardware. As with most 40-somethings, there's room to kick back on the foredeck and the optional sunpads add comfort.

A ladder leads to a flybridge with abundant floor space and great views to all quarters from the aft helm station. The big lounges will double as daybeds, while the high-backed helm chairs are supportive without getting in the way of your views when backing down.

On the dash I noted a Raymarine C120 - with room for more or bigger units - autopilot, QL trim tabs, twin Volvo Penta electronic EVC controls, Joystick controller and a sturdy stainless steel wheel with quick-spin knob. As ever, the EDC gearshifts are nice things to use, while the fly-by-wire steering is direct. The red night driving light is a nice touch, as are the overhead grabrails and (optional) six-stacker rocket launcher.

LIVE ABOARD
Of course, the saloon is air-conditioned and doubly pleasant with upgraded high-gloss cherrywood joinery. Loved by the Kiwis, the aft galley is fast finding favour here. Serving the indoors and outdoors are amenities including two-burner cooktop, convection microwave oven and dishwasher and, across to starboard, a 150lt fridge with small freezer.

Pantry space is abundant, there are solid counters and a water gauge at the AC/DC panel, alongside which was a small Grundig television over the top of a wet bar. U-shaped seating surrounds the dinette and with the L-shaped lounge opposite you can house a big family. Safety glass surrounds the saloon.

The optional three-cabin layout has the stateroom with island bed up front, the VIP guest's cabin to port with transverse double mattress, and twin bunks for the kids across the way. There's not a great deal of space over the top bunk and a lee cloth might help keep littlies contained there.

There are two heads, a communal one and owner's en suite, both of which have wall-hung showers and electric loos but not separate shower stalls. Still, there's a lot inside this 43 for those who like to spend more than a day aboard.

DRIVE TIME
Push the throttles forward and the M43 leaps out of the blocks. Keep in mind the following speeds may have been tide assisted. Give or take a knot, at 2500rpm I recorded a low-speed cruise of 18kts for 88lt/h. But you only consume 90lt/h at 2800rpm and you're doing 22.5kts. This setting gives an exceptional 427nm range from 90 per cent of the 1900-litre supply.

If conditions allow, the boat will happily sit on a 3100rpm cruise and 27.5kts consuming 122lt/h for a 385nm range. Maximum continuous for the blast back home is 30kts at 3300rpm, while top speed at 3500rpm is an impressive 32kts. And that's from twin 435hp engines!

The boat feels surefooted at low speeds, it doesn't leap around too much at cruise speed, and when we dashed about offshore it proved dry, with the chines turning down the water in all but the most radical IPS-inspired turns. Such manoeuvres could come in handy when tackling a bar.

You get a lot of boat for your buck here. And a boat that can cruise to faraway places. One couple took delivery of their Mustang 43 with IPS 600s in Queensland and promptly cruised north, across the top and back down to Mandurah in WA. They didn't have a wealth of experience, I'm told, but the boat and Volvo Pentas got them safely home.

"We plan to cruise around the Gold Coast but also the Whitsundays," explains Aldridge as he pushes the Joystick and the M43 slews sideways like a crab to gently kiss the fuel wharf. Docking doesn't get any easier than that and even experienced skippers are now embracing the IPS drive system.

LOWS