Princess 56

People say these are pretty boats but ask: 'Hey, what can they do?' This is what I set out to answer," says Wally Pec, lounging in the saloon of his English-built Princess 56 tied to Sandringham Marina, as a terrific southern storm paints the Melbourne skyline London grey and the lines creak.

In the UK, where Princess motoryachts are hometown favourites, seaworthiness is their selling point. The boats are ready to cruise at short notice, allowing owners to down tools, pack some pork pies aboard and zip down to Gibraltar, Corsica, Majorca or the Greek Islands. That is, without fear of sinking.

But while the suave Princess cruisers have that reputation abroad, the boat's wet-track form has, till now, remained an unknown here. How would they perform on the infamous Bass Strait, down the treacherous Tassie Coast and on long hauls from, say, the Whitsundays all the way south to Melbourne?

While I can't report firsthand on such voyages, Wally and his wife Sandra can. Members of Sandringham Yacht Club, the cruising couple were so smitten by the performance of the Princess 56 that they (and now Melbourne's Pier 35) became dealers for the marque Down Under.

In 18 months, the husband-and-wife team completed 4500nm, clocking up 380 engine hours, taking their Princess 56 demo boat between Hamilton Island and Hobart and lots of ports in between.

Their Princess marathon began in March 2000 when they took delivery of the new P56 in Brisbane. After displaying the boat at the Sanctuary Cove Boat Show, the couple headed off into the unknown, in the unknown.

Running typically 120-200nm a day - the boat's safe cruising range is 280nm at 25kt or up to 500nm on 10kt - they headed for Hamilton Island on a serious shake-down cruise.

TEST OF METTLE
The first real test came around Fraser Island where a 3m swell was joined by 1.5m of chop. Unperturbed, Wally kept the P56 above 20kt. Before long they were ensconced in a six-week tour around the Whitsunday Islands.

From the tropics, Wally and Sandra ran all the way to Sydney for the Big Smoke boat show. Near Port Stephens, a nasty low-pressure cell drove a big southeast stream onto the coast. But again, no problems.

After Sydney, it was all aboard - just Wally and Sandra - for the trip back to Melbourne. They had a fuel stop in Bermagui, where the local trawler men came dressed up to the nines to have a gander at their boat. They even scored a basket of fresh crabs and fish.

Wally says the fresh seafood was one of the reasons behind a three-day stay in Bermagui. They picked a window of good weather for the 280nm leg to Port Welshpool, which they completed averaging 18kt. From here to Melbourne, the wind was on the nose at 28-32kt.

At one stage, visibility was down to less than 100m due to rain. But, again, no problems. Radar and GPS showed the way and from Phillip Island the sea flattened for a full-rev ride into Melbourne.

Five months of demos later, they woke with itchy feet. Wally organised a boat show in Hobart that coincided with the local Wooden Boat Show and had over 40 people through the P56 in two days. But not before crossing Bass Strait.

MELBOURNE TO TASSIE
While the English Channel can get nasty, so can Bass Strait and it's at least six times as wide. From Port Phillip Bay, Wally pressed the 'Go To' GPS button and trained the bow on Beauty Point near Launceston.

There was 199nm ahead of them, a voyage that took 10.5 hours in moderate 2-3m seas, via a nice calm patch in the lee of King Island. Some 70nm from Beauty Point, an alarm sounded as the Princess 56 fell off a large wave.

Dirty fuel was the problem, so Wally bled the system. With two filters for each engine - standard - engine failure was a long shot in any case. They undertook a fuel stop at Beauty Point, before making tracks for Hobart via the fishing town of St Helens.

The bar was okay coming in, says Wally, but going out it was a beauty. The wind and waves completely shrouded the Princess 56 as it descended into the troughs. They copped a big wave right over the bridge, and another one, and then a real doozey that cracked the perspex flybridge windbreaker. This was the only time in 4500nm that they got wet.

Wally and Sandra had a solid sea to contend with all the way to Hobart. But the 5-6m rollers were on the rear quarter, allowing the Princess 56 to surf south at 20-22kt. They took a three-day break to explore fabulous Freycinet Peninsula, before upping anchor and forging ahead.

THE TASSIE TOUR
One of the highlights was a trip to Maria Island via Dunalley Passage, a narrow channel that is navigable in a cruiser, providing you watch the bottom and do as custom says - tip the bloke who holds out a net as he opens the road bridge. Wally and Sandra tossed in a red back (read $20) and a cold beer as well.

Around the sandflats, Wally flyfished for flathead with a crab pattern and landed more than a dozen fish a session. More spoils of the sea - flathead on the fly, crays from the kelp and oysters off the rocks - came from a subsequent trip south of Hobart down the delightful D'Entrecasteaux Channel as far south as Recherche Bay.

Tassie is an unrealised cruising paradise, says Wally. Pick the weather, radio into ports, plan well and, he will tell you, there are no worries. His first mate, Sandra, also thoroughly enjoyed it, a point he wants to get across to fellow skippers.

When it was time to pull anchor, the couple stopped by Storm Bay, Tasman Island, hit Triabunna for fuel, wandered around Wineglass Bay and arrived in Beauty Point for more fuel, before embarking on the Bass Strait crossing at 6.00am. The trip to The Heads took 8.5 hours, averaging 23kt with just one "crappy patch" to contend with.

THE FINER POINT
Navigating was made easy by the wonders of GPS. Wally can navigate off charts and plotted his course manually each and every day. But after a while, he was comfortable relying 100% on the Raymarine gear.

He is not, however, a fearless skipper. Careful planning was essential, and he talked to people who had done most of the cruising legs before. Before long, he did feel the Princess 56 could handle anything.

"The only mistake I made was mistiming the St Helen's Bar. It was important to get things right so I didn't discourage my partner, so she would stick by me and had confidence in the performance of the boat," explains Wally.

"I avoided night travel because I didn't need to travel at night. Some motoryachts ploughing along at 8-10kt will complete in 24 hours what we can do in eight hours," he boasts.

Fitted with twin 122EDC 610hp Volvo diesel engines, running through ZF gearboxes, the Princess 56 returned impressive consumption figures. At 23kt it used 130lt/hr and at 29-30kt, with full fuel and water, it drank 215lt/hr.

Wally says the Princess 56 is a very dry boat above 18kt. As with all Princess boats, it has a low centre of gravity and flat shaft angles, which help keep it on an even keel.

CRUISING COMFORTS
The night before setting out, Wally would plot his course. He would cast the lines just before sunrise, have breakfast while idling out of port and reel in the best part of the passage in the morning. This way he could spend a pleasant afternoon in port, take a shower and do dinner. The couple got into this routine, which allowed them to circumvent a lot of bad weather.

With a 13kVa Onan genset and three reverse-cycle air-conditioning units, the Princess 56 is an all-weather cruiser as comfortable with the cool air blowing at Hamilton Island as it was with the heater going around Hobart. The hull is also snug.

The Princess 56 rides flat with about 6° of lift, which leads to a good view from the upper and lower helms. As you can drive inside so easily, meals could be taken while passagemaking, often with the opera on, says Wally.

TAKING THE TOUR
The only options Wally fitted to his P56 were an electronic passerelle that doubles as a 350kg dinghy lift for the 9ft Aquapro RIB with 8hp Honda outboard and electric stern winches to help deckie Sandra with docking. A 9hp bowthruster comes with the boat to give Wally a hand.

Leather upholstery, Alcantara soft liners, mock-Ostrich vinyl headliners, marquetry and natural cherrywood joinery come standard. Together with blue check curtains, roll cushions and simple buff and camel carpet, the P56 has a timeless, stylish feel.

There are a total of four fridges and an icemaker. Off the galley, which is conveniently located near the helm so the skipper can place his lunch order, is a compact walk-in pantry that also features a washer-dryer and now a clothes line.

The aft crew quarters were, fittingly, converted to storage for the fishing rods, dive gear, lifejackets, fenders, spare anchor and rode, and lots of tubs of assorted hardware. Wally is big on making sure everything is stowed away before travelling. The lazarette held teak table and chairs.

After 380 hours running, the engineroom was nice and clean. The seacocks are easy to access and those dual fuel filters, which came in handy en route to Tassie, are just one sign of smart engineering. Fire and engine shut-offs and a liferaft in a dedicated hatch are also sensible features.

Princess crockery and cutlery spent plenty of time set on the dinette on the starboard side of the saloon. The lounges can seat four to six people. Opposite is the entertainment system and wetbar with icemaker and custom wine rack. Electric windows either side of the helm ensure there is plenty of fresh air.

Access to all wiring, which is coded, is via a simple AC/DC panel near the saloon entrance. Convenient battery isolators and fuel shut-offs make the P56 an easy ship to run. There is internal and external access to the bridge, where Wally added custom covers in place of the one big storm cover. This way, he doesn't have to peel back a big cover to drive and park from up top.

Accommodation comprises a guests' cabin to port and starboard. With infills, their twin single berths can be converted into doubles. Each was topped with a stylish blue and white striped bedspread. A dayhead/guest's ensuite with full shower stall fronts the companionway.

Wally, who stands 1.8m, and Sandra slept well on the island double berth in the bow. The portholes and overhead hatch with flyscreen and privacy screen were used at night. Apparently, there was plenty of storage for the cruising couple's clobber.

WHERE TO NOW?
Like a lot of would-be owners, Wally admired the looks of the Princess boats. But he also had reservations regarding their real offshore performance. In fact, he flew to Thailand to eyeball a P48 before heading for the Southampton Boat Show to see the P56.

After enduring some testing conditions, Wally is pleasantly surprised. He says the Princess 56 is user-friendly, doesn't broach, is good beam-on to the sea, has no leaks, and the only mishap was a galley door that dropped on its hinges because it wasn't secured during the beating dished out at the St Helens bar.

The boat has a "quite soft ride into a headsea", but once you bear away or run with the swell it comes into its own. As for changes, he would like a stronger extractor fan in the galley and to relocate the freezer away from the pantry floor, but that is about it.

Braving the Melbourne fog and rain, I took the P56 for a quasi-cruise on Port Phillip Bay. A stiff wind and chop was transmitted through the hull when running directly bow on. But there's no doubt the P56 can go places.

Here as in their homeland, cruising connoisseurs can jump aboard the Princess knowing it will perform at sea. The P56 isn't just a cruiser, but a fast passagemaker that can be handled by a couple. All Wally's travels have been with his wife. "She is a great deckie," he says.

Where to now? It looks like Tassie again, but this time along the treacherous West Coast via Port Davey and perhaps as far south as Bathurst Harbour for eight weeks next year.

"Tassie is a most underrated cruising area. No one talks about it, it's almost taboo," says Wally. "But now I have three other boats that want to come with us. It really comes down to weather watching. All you need is one good day in the P56 and you are there."