Ocean Alexander 72 Pilothouse Motoryacht

As the brisk winter winds bite, the skinny sun barely warms the teak decks, and the dew on the clears doesn’t dry, thoughts turn to heading north and getting out of here. Enter Ocean Alexander, not quite a newcomer on our scene, but a ticket to your winter escape now making a welcome return. Upholding sound motor-cruising principles, and with everything including the kitchen sink, this new 72 Pilothouse demonstrator brings local adventurers up to speed with the latest from this long-standing, liveaboard brand.

OVERVIEW
- Re-emerging with new representation and retirees in its sights
Ocean Alexander enjoys a strong following with the cold-climate motor-cruising clique. In North America these are the preferred passagemakers for reeling in the sea miles and gadding about inshore waterways from the Great Lakes through the Great Loop but especially in the Pacific Northwest where their owners remain comfortably ensconced within their climate-controlled pilothouses.

This is relevant Down Under right about now. Not that Alexander Marine is a newcomer. Almost two decades ago your now-greying tester was driving Ocean Alexander’s 44-55 footers off the Gold Coast doing similar things. This new OA72, based on the previous 58-64 models it supplants, carries on a lot of good traditions while offering all the latest kit.

Ocean Alexander now offers four models from this 72 to 92 feet in its Motoryacht Series and five superyachts in the Megayacht Series from 100 to 155 feet. Although this OA72 is the baby in the yard’s range, it’s built with big-boat thinking brought back down the line.

The other big thing touted by Ocean Alexander’s CEO Johnny Chueh is the semi-custom build, layout options and flexibility that add to the brand’s appeal. They won't move bulkheads but just about everything else that’s non-structural is possible.

The OA72 is made in a Shanghai yard, the 78-120 footers hail from Taiwan, while the 120 footers and above are US-built in an alliance with Christensen Shipyards and internationally acclaimed yacht designer Evan K. Marshall. The smaller Ocean Alexander boats including this one have hulls designed by renowned naval architect Ed Monk Jr, who is something of a Pacific Northwest boating icon. Hence their appeal there.

Annual production across the Ocean Alexander ranges runs at 20-24 boats a year, with the 90 footer the most popular model. These bigger boats were the impetus for Grand Banks Australia’s new local representation of the brand. For now, GB ends with the 76 Aleutian from whence these Ocean Alexanders take over. There’s something of a crossover with this OA72, but it’s a pilothouse motoryacht with its own character all the same.

Time will tell how long the GB/OA distribution deal remains. Meantime, here are our thoughts on this comfortable pilothouse…

PRICE AND EQUIPMENT
- A $3.95 million moveable home with serious engineering and inbuilt redundancy
The OA72 we drove had a lot of top gear, time-proven systems and kit, and 110V wiring. Yes, it was built for the American market and shipped here on a whim. The boat will be on display again at this year’s Sydney International Boat Show opening July 31 before heading back overseas to North America. Meantime, the boat serves the purpose of a demonstrator.

The asking price as tested was $3.95 million with twin 1150hp Caterpillar C18 ACERT electronic diesel engines, twin 23kVa Kohler gensets, Victron inverter and twin chargers, hydraulic bow and stern thrusters, hydraulic Keypower stabilisers, Sea Recovery watermaker, Furuno electronics including radar, full AV systems and upgraded air-con in all cabins and saloon, and more.

The hydraulic 1500 Steelhead davit on the flybridge decks lets you swing a 12ft tender of your choice onto chocks. But the rest of the gear including dishwasher, garbage compactor, garbage disposal, side-by-side fridge and freezer, and washing machine/dryer give you the home-away-from-home experience aboard what is a loaded 72-footer by any measure.

LAYOUT AND ACCOMMODATION
- Three-cabin layout with owner’s sanctuary and crew options
The OA72 experience begins with the big boarding platform with U-rails from which you can fish and dive. A watertight portside transom door leads down into a hot shower and separate head just perfect for your après dive rinse. There’s a single berth nearby for crew or, rather, a keen fisher who wants to spend the night wrestling reef sharks at the anchorage. A second watertight door leads into the engine room forward.

Back on the swim platform, two flights of moulded stairs grant access to a decent cockpit with inbuilt lounge and table needing only casual chairs for doing lunch. The flybridge overhang offers shade, there’s a portside concealed wing docking station, and plenty of scope to enclose the cockpit with clears for all-weather al fresco dining.

The raised cockpit sole facilitates headroom in the crew quarters and engine room below, while level teak decks and wide walkaways range forward (via a starboard side pantograph-type ship’s door to the pilothouse), with just a few moulded steps to contend with. Big hawsepipes and cleats, solid rails and inboard engine vents are welcome, as will be the hydraulic anchor winch, 80-pound stainless-steel anchor and 100 metres of heavy-duty chain. A sunpad on the bow adds to the utility of the foredeck.

Both internal and external staircases lead to the enlarged flybridge. In the bridge, twin Stidd helm seats and an L-shaped lounge set around a dinette let you seat a bunch. But the impressive inbuilt bar is the crowd puller

Solid counters with food and drink-prep space and serveries, swing-out stools, sink and fridge, plus an integrated barbecue complete one of the best entertaining arrangements we’ve seen on any boat. Launch the tender and you’ve got the ultimate rooftop terrace for doing sundowners and staging a party.

Views extend in all directions, rails add your safety, while the Keypower stabilisers and inherently stable and heavy (50t dry) hull mean the boat just sits in the water. At least that’s the impression we had in balmy conditions.

Take the stairs back down into the pilothouse or the electric compressed-air door that automatically opens from the cockpit into the saloon. The interior ambience is homely, with a plush modular sofa and tub chairs, dedicated wet-bar, pop-up television and deep windows. LED lighting, teak joinery and blue trim create a timeless ambience. The finishes are rather American and austere, but there are endless options.

A staircase leads from the saloon to the private owner’s stateroom, described as a sanctuary due to the separate access and, at the widest point of the boat, it’s an accommodating cabin. There’s a king bed amid surround storage, flanked by hull windows that don’t open. However, the massive upmarket bathroom/en suite with double shower does feature natural ventilation via its portlight.

Another staircase leads forward off the pilothouse and galley to the forward accommodation area, with VIP stateroom with island bed in the bow and a third cabin that can be optioned up with a double bed. This demo boat had transverse single beds and more floor space as befitting of a kids’ cabin. Both forward cabins had their own bathrooms, hanging space and storage room, with a very cosy onboard feel.

With the raised pilothouse and galley on the same level, you can reel in the sea miles while whipping up breakfast, lunch and dinner. The dinette will seat a small family alongside the helm where everyone enjoys stellar views, while the loaded galley space has an island servery, a full spread of appliances, and big domestic fridge.

Put it all together and the transition from terrestrial to floating home is seamless. And with sleeping for six plus one (ignoring sofa options) the OA72 would make a great boat for family fly-ins.

HULL AND ENGINEERING
- Proven over decades and with a big-boat slant
With standing room and stainless-steel guardrails around the big six-cylinder CATs, this is an obliging engine room. We noted heavy-duty mounts, fan-assisted ventilation, underwater exhausts, big running gear, oil transfer system, wing fuel tanks and day tank with sight gauges and manifold/transfer system, big glass sea strainers, inverter, chargers, aft battery banks, good sound insulation and more.

Alexander Marine insists on using a solid GRP bottom, with a collision bulkhead forward, carbon-fibre reinforcement in critical areas such as stringers tops, load-bearing aluminium I-beams, balsa-cored and vac-bagged decks and superstructure, while the fuel and electrical systems are simple, tried and tested. The result of all this integration is that the boat seems to be working as one rather than lots of little bits.

ON THE WATER
- That feeling of invincibility when underway
The hull shape has some flare in the topsides forward, high chines and rake on the stem. Underway, the displaced water rolls up so far before being turned back down. We had calm conditions offshore so we can’t comment with conviction on the extent of this displaced water at speed and in wind. Suffice to say, with wipers and a pilothouse, a radar and AIS, the view of the road will remain clear come rain, hail or shine. The central helm seat also affords a pretty good look back through the saloon and into the cockpit, too.

It’s difficult to comment on the rough-water performance, suffice to say the loaded 72-footer felt determined and unstoppable in the millpond off the Gold Coast. Noise levels were fine. According to the delivery skipper’s report, with 75 per cent fuel and water and four aboard, top speed is 23.3 knots at 2364rpm WOT and 93 per cent engine load, which leaves room for stacking the gear.

Moreover, this planing hull holds a comfortable 2000rpm cruise, where the big boat is up and running at a sprightly 18.7 knots, consuming 266lph for a safe 360nm range leaving 10 per cent in reserve. It’s nice to know you have that speed for closing out passages and beating weather systems, running bars and short-haul weekend boating.

The OA72 happily planes down to 14.7 knots at 1800rpm and a semi-displacement speed of 12 knots at 1600rpm, where the range lifts to 400nm with the reserve in tact. However, hull speed of around 10.6 knots at 1200rpm is where the long-haul attributes come to the fore. Using 64lt/hr or 6.037lt/nm, your safe cruising range is 850nm at this ‘fast’ displacement speed.

All the while, the stabilisers enhance the run and reduce roll, the elevation of the pilothouse and flying bridge ensure ship-like views and attitude ahead, while the abundant home-like comforts and amenities at arm’s reach let you go places without compromise. It would be a very comfortable boat to live aboard and this is what the Ocean Alexanders do best.

VERDICT
- Home away from home and a brand with renewed local backing
We drove the new Ocean Alexander 72 Pilothouse Motoryacht on an absolutely passage-making kind of day off the Gold Coast. There was barely a ripple upon mirror-calm seas. The scene was set and any footloose boater with a whiff of salt in his and her veins would seize the day and steam north. Indeed, the OA72 is that kind of boat. You’re not leaving anything behind on this purpose-built passagemaker with user-friendly controls, hydraulic thrusters and docking station, homely comforts and handy cruising range.

The smooth hull doesn’t appear to thump, a fact confirmed by the delivery to Sydney in stiff winter winds, while the big-boat engineering systems with inbuilt redundancy ensure you can stay out. Alexander Marine has a long history here and there is renewed representation through the Grand Banks national distributorship at least in the immediate future.

LIKES
>> All the mod cons of home in a comfortable pilothouse passagemaker
>> Accommodating outdoor living space, big cockpit and flybridge
>> Time-proven engineering and big-boat systems
>> Private owner’s mid-ships stateroom with huge en suite
>> The best bar we’ve ever seen on a 70-80 footer

NOT SO MUCH
>> Exterior styling has a sameness seen in many motoryachts
>> Austere ambience and interior finish for US market
>> Demo boat’s 110V electrical systems for US market
>> Bow displaces a fair bit of water while planing
>> No opening windows in stateroom

Specifications:
Price: $3.95 million?fully loaded as drive-away boat with 1150hp Caterpillar C18 ACERT electronic diesel engines, twin 23kVa Kohler gensets and loads of options
LOA: 23.37m
Hull length: 18.61m
Beam: 5.77m
Draft: 1.65m max
Weight: 49,4895kg unloaded ?
Engines: 1150hp Caterpillar C18 ACERT electronic diesel engines x 2
Water: 1136 litres?
Black tank: 379 litres?
Fuel: 5677 litres
Berths: 6+1?

Supplied by:?
Grand Banks Yachts Australia?
Suite 1A, The Boardwalk?
1 Rialto Quay Drive,
Hope Island?QLD, Australia 4212
See www.grandbanks.com.au