Perry 43 PassageMaker

Strictly speaking, the Perry 43 is not a new boat. Perry Catamarans has been building the in-house design for some four years now, with boat number 32 on the mould at the time of writing.

What is new is the company's move to market the catamaran fully fitted for liveaboard cruising, ranging from the Standard 43 version up to the Coastal Cruiser and then the top-of-the-range PassageMaker version provided for this review.

By fully fitted, Bryan Perry and his team really mean fully fitted. We're not talking about those ubiquitous 'sailaway' versions that don't include any of the navigational instruments, safety equipment, etc, needed for sailing further than the end of the bay.

It's a bold move, considering many sailboat manufacturers do their utmost to keep the 'base price' of their boats low (with an options list longer than your arm).

The Perry 43 PassageMaker starts at more than $720,000, placing it firmly in the luxury league. But it's worth stressing from the outset that its standard inclusions list is probably the most comprehensive I've ever come across for a production boat in this size range.

Items like the Kubota two-cylinder diesel generator with 180amp alternator and heat exchanger for the hotwater system; the Spectra 12V watermaker; the RapidFix 406 EPIRB and JonBuoy Man Overboard Recovery Module; a full array of Raymarine electronic instrumentation including speed, depth, radar, autopilot and GPS chartplotter; the Electrolux 3kg washing machine; even the inclusion of two anchors rather than one, add thousands of dollars to the standard price, but ensure that the boat really is ready to take on a long distance cruise from the moment it's handed over to the new owner.

CRUISING LIFESTYLE
Another interesting aspect of the new Perry 43 packages is the emphasis on meeting the needs of long-term cruising couples rather than holiday charter groups of, say, three or four couples.

Plenty of Perry 43s have gone into charter, and suitable interior layouts with lots of private cabins and ensuite bathrooms remain optional. But with the PassageMaker's standard interior layout the company has really considered the needs of private buyers seeking a floating home rather than a floating hotel/restaurant.

Perry Catamaran's Bryan and Jenny Perry are probably better qualified than most in this area, having lived aboard a 56ft cruising yacht for some 18 years before swallowing the anchor in Queensland.

Bryan is a fourth-generation shipwright who has built all sorts of boats, both monohulls and multis. Joining him more recently as Production Manager is another very experienced shipwright, Peter O'Brien, who has been building multihulls since 1981.

During that time, offshore multihulls have come a long, long way in terms of their design, safety and public image. "Cats have become so much more acceptable," O'Brien says.

Fast passagemaking capabilities and a level ride, combined with unrivalled deck and interior space and privacy, are cited amongst the big advantages of modern cruising multihulls when the inevitable comparisons to cruising monohulls begin.

Monohull adherents often point to the extra expense involved in owning and mooring big multis, or their lack of upwind pointing ability compared to a keelboat, but are more likely to move straight to the subject of survival in extreme conditions.

It's here that subjectivity and conjecture inevitably take over, because so many elements are involved in getting any boat through an ultimate storm (a challenge that with prudence and luck most of us will never have to face), including the boat's design and equipment and the skill and experience of the people onboard.

And it's fair to say that modern cruising cats like the Perry 43 are worlds apart from the early, accident-prone multis (and the high-flying racing multis) that gave the breed a bad name. They incorporate safety features such as forward collision bulkheads and separately moulded keels (designed to bear the brunt of a grounding rather than damage the hulls), and are set up with manageable rigs that are designed to be easily-handled by a cruising couple.

BOUND FOR NOUMEA
Desert Wind, the Perry 43 PassageMaker featured on these pages, completed a long bluewater passage soon after its launching last April. Built for an American buyer from Tucson, Arizona, who likes to spend time in Australia and has developed an interest in the Perry Catamarans business, the boat sailed to Noumea in June.

Bryan and Jenny Perry were onboard for the trip, which Bryan describes as a fast broad reach most of the way. "We took four days and one hour; we averaged 9kt sailing all the way and helped by the motor a bit when it was light," he says.

At the start of our test sail on the Gold Coast, both around the Broadwater and offshore through the Southport Seaway, I noticed some glass ornaments on the saloon benchtop and - with my keelboat background to the fore - queried if we should tuck them away for safekeeping. This amused Bryan, who told me those ornaments had remained on display all the way to Noumea and back, the motion and angle of heel being so steady on the big cat. Sure enough, they were still sitting upright in their positions at the end of our test sail.

CONSTRUCTION
Hulls and decks are built to commercial offshore survey standards in accordance with the USL Code. The hulls are laid up with a solid fibreglass strip of about 600mm along the centreline, while the remainder of the hulls, deck and coachhouse are a sandwich of Klegecell foam and GRP, using vacuum-bagging and Vinylester resin. Kevlar is used to reinforce the high load-bearing area around the chainplates.

The fuel and water tanks are integral GRP mouldings and there are 250lt waste-holding tanks built into each of the separately-moulded keels.

LUXURY AND SPACE
The standard layout includes a large saloon with excellent all-round vision (6mm toughened glass is used throughout) and loads of seating space around the handsome table, which can be raised or lowered on an adjustable ram to provide a dining or coffee table.

Cherrywood veneers and solid timbers have been used to good effect throughout Desert Wind, while South American myrtle wood is another option.

At the aft port side of the saloon is a built in entertainment centre with a colour stereo television, VCR, tuner and multi-disk CD player. This is also the navigation station, but there isn't really any room to store paper charts, etc. These are more likely to be stored down in the (optional) owner's study, and used there or at the main saloon table.

Attention has been paid to the saloon lighting, including dimmer switch and spotlighting around the pelmet and down the steps into each hull.

The port hull includes the master cabin forward, including a large queen-sized berth with innerspring mattress, plus hanging lockers and storage area forward, and a large bathroom aft, including a separate shower stall, laundry facilities including the washing machine and the 12V Spectra watermaker, rated to provide 62lt/hr.

In the opposite hull is the galley, which is well-equipped with a front-opening day fridge and top-opening 12V electric freezer; 240V microwave oven, two-burner stove and separate wall-mounted oven and grill; and a stainless steel double sink with drain board and hot and cold pressurised water supply.

The timber pantry cupboard is a completely separate unit that can be removed for maintenance purposes, one more indication of the attention to detail throughout the boat.

A double berth guest cabin with ensuite bathroom is located forward, while the aft section has been set up with an optional owner's study/office, including a desk and fold-out seat, bookshelves and a settee that converts to a double berth by pulling out the rear partition wall. In this case the office is well-equipped for long-range cruising, with a KVH Tracphone 25 satellite phone for voice, fax and data transmission allowing business to continue from that distant palm-fringed lagoon.

ON DECK
The rig is by David Lambourne in Brisbane, and consists of a tapered aluminium mast, seven-eighths fractional rigged with double spreaders. Sails are by Rob White's Quantum loft in Southport. The mainsail is set up with Harken batten cars, an adjustable lazy jack system, in-boom reefing system and a storage bag permanently mounted on the boom. The tri-radial genoa is set up on a Profurl roller-furler. The sheeting is organised so that you can trim the genoa on both tacks and the mainsail from the steering station.

The PassageMaker also comes equipped with a storm trysail with sheeting and mast track; an asymmetrical multi-purpose gennaker, sock and sheets.

The deck hardware is mainly by Ronstan, with the mainsheet and genoa tracks fitted to the cabin roof, alongside Spinlock jammers and deck organisers for the halyards, sheets and control lines, plus a range of Harken 48 self-tailing winches. Desert Wind has optional electric winch power, which can be operated from the steering station, to take the grunt out of all the sail-handling duties.

Forward are bowrail dolphin seats and the aluminium forebeam, which is glassed into each hull, strengthened with an A-frame and carrying a separate roller for mooring lines and heavy duty attachments for the anchor bridle. The central fibreglass anchor walkway has provision for both main and spare anchors, both of which are supplied as standard, along with lots of chain.

The large anchor locker just forward of the mast also houses all manner of items including the genset, spare sails, Scuba dive bottles, ducting for the air-conditioning, etc.

JUST CRUISING
Transition between the saloon and the cockpit is seamless via the sliding glass doors, providing a very large amount of entertaining space. The glass panels can be replaced by full flyscreens to increase air circulation without the mozzies throughout the interior.

The cockpit is well protected by the coachroof from sun, wind and spray and clear covers can be set up at the aft end of the cockpit, or replaced with shade cloth versions that allow some breeze through.

The cockpit has laid teak flooring and transom steps, comfy seating (even the helmseat backrest can be reversed to join in the party at anchor), a cockpit ice chest and cold storage box under the starboard settee, a rail-mounted stainless steel barbecue and cockpit shower with hot and cold water.

Between the hulls at the aft end of the cockpit is storage space for an optional tender, suspended from GRP moulded davits that also provide mounting space for two solar panels.

Nice touches include the spotlights, which make launching or retrieving the tender and using the barbecue easier at night, and the aluminium tracks attached to the concealed inside lip of the coachroof to allow all-round deck covers to be attached easily.

PERFORMANCE
We sailed the Perry 43 PassageMaker in light to moderate wind and flat water inshore and a low swell offshore. Because this particular boat not only carries all the PassageMaker specified equipment, but also almost every conceivable option (eg air-con, Scuba dive bottles, etc), it is not what you'd call a lightweight flyer.

However, we had no difficulties achieving speeds of 7-8kt sailing at apparent wind angles of around 60o in a breeze of about 15kt. There was a hesitation between receiving a gust and beginning to surge forward; once underway the motion was steady and the sailing effortless.

The boat tacked well without any need to back the genoa heavily and sailed happily to windward at up to 40o apparent. Pointing any higher than that washed the speed off fairly rapidly and no doubt in rougher water the slight tendency to hobbyhorse fore-and-aft would be more pronounced. Cracking sheets to bear away would be a suitable antidote.

At first I thought it was going to seem weird standing half-in and half-out of the coachroof, but this did not turn out to be the case. The all-round vision is excellent, high above the spray across the foredeck, and all the sail and engine controls and navigation instruments are right at hand.

Under power, the boat really steamed along; Desert Wind has upgraded twin 58hp Volvo saildrives that can push it along at up to 10-11kt.

Having twin engines compensates for the boat's high windage when it comes to manoeuvring in tight spaces such as the marina.

EXPANSION PLANS
Each of the Perry 43s takes about six months to complete and the company currently has the capacity to build about 12 a year, with an increasing interest in export markets. One of the most recent boats, for example, was for a couple from Chile.

The company is also gearing up to build a slightly longer, powercat version of the 43 with a flybridge, is looking at introducing a larger version in the 52-53ft range, and has been negotiating to build a big powercat around 70ft LOA for an overseas client.

Perry Catamarans is just one of a number of Gold Coast boatbuilders professing to be experiencing boom times. With the 43 PassageMaker, it definitely has something special to offer the international market.

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