Regal 3360 Express

In boat building, as with life in general, you have your leaders and followers. Regal goes out on a limb to be the former, producing a range of thoroughly modern craft with new-age styling hips, innovative lines, windows where you don’t expect to find them and originality where others settle for tradition.

This willingness to be different has never been more profound than with Regal’s contemporary bowriders introduced about five-years ago. The Fastrac boats were entirely reminiscent of rakish cars, with automotive details right down to the side and rearvision mirrors and driving stations.

Slowly, but surely, the creative thinking has enveloped the bigger boats in the boatbuilder’s stable. The 3360 Express is a case in point. Far from your everyday express cruiser, this 30-something sportscruiser leads with a front window line that’s quite unlike anything we’ve seen before.

Though the front visor almost reminded me of an appendage on an HQ Holden, it serves the purpose of shading the front glass and, along with eagle-eye side windows – which together Regal calls Window Express – new levels of natural light flood below decks. Yes, you can have innovation and creativity without sacrificing practicality.

Elsewhere I found forward thinking by way of an aft engine hatch accessible from the transom, so you don’t have to vacate the cockpit as the floor lifts like other boats; an especially accommodating cockpit seating arrangement designed for socialising; and an open-plan interior that can cater for cabin-based buffets, dinners and/or a family of four when you convert the mid rumpus room to a double bed. There was also a lot to embrace in the detail and finish, which are other Regal strengths. Sweet mouldings all round.

SMOOTH OPERATOR
Driver friendliness was a by-product of the aforesaid automotive styling, with the 3360 having an ergonomically designed helm where all the controls fall to hand. Unlike a lot of 30-something sportscruisers, there’s excellent vision over the foredeck and the ability, using the trim tabs and the Bravo III sterndrive legs with duo props, to override the naturally flat running attitude and dial up a range of running angles.

As with a lot of Regals, the ride was very much the highlight. The Oceantrac hull has a deep 19 degrees of vee, yet the twin 300hp V8 350 MAG MerCruiser engines ensure snappy acceleration. Further, the soft-top boat has a great power-to-weight ratio, weighing in at 5310kg dry, which is 1200kg less than the Riviera M360 with hardtop.

While construction is standard-issue GRP, the bonded hull, glass-encapsulated stringers and moulded liner create a one-piece or monocoque structure. Regal says it’s stiff and strong. I noted similar virtues and surprising quietness during the test drive across an occasionally bumpy harbour. The hull is also backed by a lifetime warranty, with two 10-year warranties covering most of the fittings, fixtures and engineering items.

Other marks of a well-designed sportscruiser are unfettered bow-to-stern access, abundant lounging space and living areas, and a big-hearted cockpit. You can add a decent spread of amenities to the 3360’s cockpit.

The test boat had a custom blue two-tone hull, so-called stars-and-stripes nautical interior package, sunpad and cover on the bow, upgraded stereo with transom remote, TV and DVD, windlass, central vac, cockpit icemaker (no outdoor fridge) and optional petrol generator. The latter gives away-from-the-dock 240V power for the standard issue air-con. The optional Cruise package included mooring and safety gear.

Although very much the attention-seeking sportsboat the 3360 has the legs and self-sufficiency to go places. The 681lt fuel capacity is down 120lt on the Riviera M360 and water is just 197lt, light on compared to the M360’s 400lt. But for weekends and a night aboard, quick showers and a few flushes of the loo, you have everything you need. And the 107lt holding tank will let you stay upriver for the weekend before you will need to pump out or head to sea.

The 3360 comes with an extended integrated boarding platform that increases your waterfront real estate, a central swim ladder, nearby hot/cold handheld shower, big corner cleats, and a garage for storing fishing and dive gear, fenders and lines, plus a separate wet locker. There are twin 15-amp shorepower leads so you can run the air-con and all the galley appliances without tripping up. Add Weaver Snap davits and you can carry a tender on the tail.

 Rather than having one of those awkward engine rooms where you have to remove cockpit furniture, head to the helm and raise the sole, Regal uses a simple electric lift-up aft boot. From here you can attend to engine checks and the primary servicing items, the Kohler generator, 40-amp battery charger and hot water system. I noted sound insulation – this was a quiet boat even at speed – additional built-in storage space, an auto fire system, double hose clips on all lines, and coded wiring looms.

The two-stage cockpit contains a flat rear section leading out the transom door to the water and a raised bridgedeck area. In the aft cockpit there’s a flush-fit fold down lounge, big enough for three people and can be stowed when you want more floor space. You will also find a recessed 23lt/36-can Igloo cooler for carrying the picnic and/or prawns and refreshments aboard or to shore.

You step up from the cockpit to the bridgedeck, which is the main seating area and shaded under the bimini when it’s extended from the overhead targa arch, which has downlights. The built-in amenities centre to starboard had a U-line icemaker (I would prefer a fridge), decent amount of upmarket Corian food-prep space, cold water to a small sink, grabrail, drinkholders and storage. You will need to add an aftermarket barbie somewhere, of course.

The box seats exist on the plush U-shaped lounge to port around a moulded dinette that, with infill cushion, can be turned into a daybed for that post-lunch snooze. Cleverly, the two-person helm seat swivels 90 degrees to face the dinette. Add the fold-up aft lounge and eight could sit and do lunch on their laps. A great two-family casual layout.

You can reach the bow via the flat non-skid-topped side decks backed by grabrails or the teak steps in the dash, which lead through the opening windscreen, itself supported by robust stainless steel struts. Kids will covet the optional sunpad with extension cushion. The flat deck, moulded toerails and sturdy bowrail assist with your footin. Along with a windlass, the boat had an anchor washer and fender storage on the bow. All very accessible, accommodating, cool and comfy on deck.

OPEN-PLAN LIVING
Once you reach the 30-something sportscruiser league you start to get a lot more room below decks for comfortable on-water living. Leagues above the on-water caravans, the Regal 3360 had a classy Euro-inspired finish with high-gloss cherrywood joinery, cherry and holly flooring, cream, synthetic, leather-like upholstery, neutral headliners, and a gold bedspread – an elegant Euro combination that won’t date like some all-American interiors.

The two-cabin open-plan layout was bathed in natural light thanks to the abundant windows and portlights and hatches that provide ventilation. Or dial-up the air-con for climate control. Head room near the portside galley is a highpoint at 190cm, with plenty of room to move through the saloon thanks to compact furniture such as the elongated, rather than round, dinette.

 Accommodation ranges from a transverse double bed in the bow beside a dresser seat, behind a curtain on a stainless steel rail if privacy is needed, to a mid-cabin that doubles as a den or loungeroom, with good views to the boat’s entertainment centre. Rearrange the cushions, draw another curtain, and you have a second double bed in the mid cabin.

Should you need further accommodation, the long lounge before the dinette converts to a sleeper, but for my money, the 3360 will work best with a young family or a couple. In the case of the latter, you could spread out below decks and use the den as intended. There’s plenty of storage, too, including twin cedar-lined hanging lockers, various drawers, and in sub-seat areas.

Galleys and heads are also what sell sportscruisers and the 3360 has excellent examples of both. The galley had Corian counters with an extension servery leaf, concealed garbo and appliance/pot lockers, deep round sink, microwave oven, two-burner recessed electric cooktop, Isotherm fridge, and a 240V outlet for the jug and toaster. Nice to see water and waste-tank gauges, too.

By any measure it’s a big head, with an easy-clean moulded liner, recessed to maximise head room, Vacuflush loo, fixed showerhead and curtain on track, Corian-topped vanity, full-length mirror, air-con vent and exhaust fan, plus window. Very serviceable, indeed.

CRUISING BEAUTY
I always enjoy sportscruisers with double helm seats on which you can cruise beside your partner. Vision was excellent to all quarters of the boat and the ergonomics were just right for driving seated or on you feet. The windscreen was fitted with a wiper, while the throttle and wheel, trim tabs and more were easily reached.

I noted a Raymarine C80 on the dash, a big spread of Faria gauges in the mock-walnut facia, stereo controls on the sports wheel for finding a radio station and arcing up the volume, a spotlight and impressive switch panel on the armrest, but no bowthruster for the neophyte skipper. Not that you need it.

 Far from a handful, the 3360 was a snap to berth, drive and command anywhere from idle to high speed. Compared to some much heavier hardtop sportscruisers, the sporty Regal returned a very impressive top speed and, moreover, handy cruise speeds where its twin 320hp V8 MerCruisers weren’t revving too hard and guzzling fuel.

Additionally, this was a quiet boat whose sharp forefoot cut the waves for a smooth ride. It had a flat running attitude for optimum vision and efficiency. Low-speed cruise of 21 to 22kts was clocked at 3200rpm, smooth cruise came in at 3600 to 3700rpm and 27.5 to 28.5kts, but some porpoising was evident above 4000rpm and 31.4kts.

Maximum continuous cruising revs of 4500rpm will see you doing about 36 to 37kts, which puts this boat in the fast lane. And with a top speed of 40 to 41kts at 5000rpm it’s as much as 20 per cent faster than some others in this size range, running bigger-block V8 engines but carrying a lot more boat above decks. Bottom line: a fast getaway machine that challenges convention and doesn’t look back.

HIGHS

LOWS