Riviera 430

When consumers demand a product, manufacturers usually deliver. That is how this capitalist world goes round. But too often what is delivered is an object purporting to be something it is not - a phoney riding on the back of pent-up demand, like a fake Rolex that doesn't keep time.

This fact is borne out in the fashion swings and roundabouts in boating markets. The term 'sportscruiser', in particular, encompasses as broad a range of products as the world of fruit or vegetables.

A sportscruiser can be just about anything without a flybridge these days. It doesn't have to be too sporty, nor too cruiser-orientated. As long as there is some semblance of styling, it gets that marketable name of sportscruiser.

I mention this because I have just been blown away by the genuine article. The Mariner 430 is true to its sportscruiser label. There is nothing bogus about this boat. It provides adrenalin-charged sportiness and true cruising comforts to boot. What's more, it is Australian made.

WHO'S BUYING IT
Designed by the Riviera Marine Group and rebadged as a Wellcraft Excalibur 470 in the USA, the Mariner 430 has surprised local boat dealers since it was launched at the Sanctuary Cove Boat Show last May. More local boaties have jumped aboard than thought possible.

This is surprising because traditionally Aussie boaters haven't been the world's biggest consumers of 40-odd foot sportscruisers. We have remained shy of those fitted with petrol motors and sterndrive legs. Up till now.

One Sydney dealer alone has sold five Mariner 430s since the Sanctuary Cove show. He says he could sell a lot more given some stock. Despite world events, Americans are also buying the Mariner 430 (Wellcraft Excalibur 470) quicker than it is being made.

Sydney buyers are 40-50 year-olds, split between former boaties and new chums to the industry. One owner upgraded from an Excalibur 38, another came down from a flybridge cruiser, while yet another came through a share scheme at a boating club where he got hooked on the lifestyle.

Thus, what buyers here and abroad are demanding is a genuine sportscruiser with everything built in. With some fuel and water in the tanks, you can turn the key and take off on a serious coastal adventure.

The other big attraction is the price. Whereas imported sportscruisers of a similar length can command seven figures, the Mariner 430 is priced to go at $384,539. The price allows you to factor in the few options, such as a bowthruster, spotlight and an upgraded entertainment system. A six-stacker CD with amp, sub-woofer and remote at the helm comes as standard.

SPORTY SPICE
Looks alone suggest the Mariner 430 has some sporty spice. It has a raked, swordlike hull with a fine but deep forefoot and less beam up front than your archetypal Mariner cruiser. Having said that, the sportscruiser is roomy.

Styled more like a Euro than a Yankee, Mariner 430s are more often than not being ordered with navy-blue hulls with a yellow bootline, like Sunseekers, Fairlines and Princesses. While there are no shaft options, there is the choice of diesel or petrol motors.

Electronics, a generator, air-conditioning, antifouling and an entertainment system come with the boat. Together with twin cabins, a galley and a saloon, plus a full-sized head, the layout forms the cruiser side of the package.

Given the performance and the amenities, there's not a lot you can't do with your Mariner 430. Outdoor areas are sufficient to cater for family days at anchor or champagne cruises with clients. Accommodation will sleep a family of four in comfort.

Seaworthiness is such that you can cruise the coast to another port when an adventurous mood strikes.

While some would-be buyers might have reservations about the maintenance and fuel consumption of the big-block petrol sterndrive motors, the boat is fitted with the latest generation donks.

The MerCruiser 496 MAG HOs with Bravo 3 legs are based on 6.2lt V-eight blocks that create more power than the 7.4lt V-eights they replace.

The motors have a new exhaust system with stainless steel risers and elbows, plus the long-life, low-maintenance technology incorporated in Horizon engines.

They are also equipped for SmartCraft, a sophisticated data management system that can display 64 engine functions, including fuel flow, consumption and travel range.

The motors are also said to be a lot more economical than traditional big-block petrol V-eights.

While there was some induction noise in the test boat, the MerCruisers were certainly clean-running. They also exhibited a good deal of get up and go, with the hull shooting to planing speeds without waving its bow in the air.

SOLID AND STIFF
Like all Rivieras and Mariners, the hull is laid-up by hand with solid fibreglass below the waterline and cored decks. There is a collision bulkhead for'ard and pumps for the separate compartments, including the engine room, which has a high-water alarm and emergency fuel shut-offs via a cockpit hatch.

The entire cockpit sole lifts on hydraulic struts at the push of a button and presents you with a vast amount of serving room around not only the motors, but the genset, aircon units, water heater, holding tank, and so on.

The engineering and electrical systems are to export standards (though not strictly to US codes): with all the wires colour-coded and numbered, twin hose clamps on the through-hull fittings, and things like fire extinguishers included in the package. The engineroom is sensibly laid out and finished off with gelcoat.

On the water, the Mariner 430 feels stiff when confronting vicious seas. There is no reverberation, not a thump or bump, even when you turn through the seas and expose the chines. This is just as well, as the Mariner 430 is a genuine sportscruiser with 50mph-plus top end speed.

FUN IN THE SUN
A sportscruiser wouldn't be a sportscruiser without a deck designed for baring your bronzed body and cruising with the wind in your hair. Unlike a flybridge cruiser, the big single-level deck on the Mariner 43 encourages social intercourse when underway.

The single-level cockpit is backed by an integrated boarding platform with a fender locker, courtesy lights, swim ladder, hot and cold handheld shower, neat recessed deck cleats and chic engine vents.

All the deck gear is through-bolted, the foredeck hatches are trick circular types, and you get a sunpad on the bow that can be accessed around the sidedecks or via the walk-through stainless-steel framed glass windscreen.

The bowrail is sensible but sleek. You get chain and ground tackle and a windlass. You also get a raw-water washdown for the anchor, which stows neatly in the small bowsprit.

Life becomes less troubled in the open air cockpit. You can string the bimini out from the overhead targa arch, on which lights and aerials are mounted, or you can leave it retracted and soak up some rays.

The aft lounge can seat three or be used as a daybed, with room for another four people around the L-shaped settee and lunch table to starboard.

Opposite is a wetbar with fridge, sink with hot and cold water and, of course, an icemaker.

ANOTHER WORLD BELOW
A lockable door on slippery rollers provides access down the steps to the below decks living area. The Mariner 430 has air-conditioning split between the main cabin forward and the aft cabin. Headroom is excellent throughout and there are no sharp edges to get in the way.

The finish is clean and uncluttered, with light beech joinery, beige Granicoat countertops, royal blue carpet and real leather on the lounge. A wide choice of colours and fabrics for things like bedspreads, curtains and carpets is offered at factory level.

Immediately to starboard is the fridge in a timber cabinet, with the television sitting above facing back to the U-shaped leather lounge set around the dinette.

The AC/DC control panel is near the companionway steps, and there are plenty of storage cabinets on the saloon walls.

While not the biggest, the galley is functional and positioned pleasantly close to the companionway so you can hand platters outside. Antico mock-timber flooring and high-gloss joinery add to the style. Amenities include a two-burner hob with fiddle rail, a microwave oven plus a useful oval sink, with the fridge behind.

The master cabin is every bit as roomy as you will find on a full-blown cruiser. Owners are treated to a queen-sized island bed, with room for clobber in hanging lockers and drawers and a proper door ensuring privacy.

A door leads from the master cabin to the head, thereby creating an ensuite, while there is a separate door to the living area for daytime use.

The Mariner 430's head isn't a dinky outhouse, but a stylish number with a Vacuflush loo and moulded vanity. There is room to spruce-up outside the separate shower stall.

Unlike some sportscruisers, this 43-footer (actually 47ft overall) has a big aft cabin where two adults can sleep in comfort on a single and double bed. There is a cabin door and opening porthole, as well as AC outlets.

The fact that two brothers own the test boat highlights the Mariner 430's flexibility. One is a bachelor who uses the boat for entertaining, the other a family man whose two young children have the aft cabin to themselves.

Water capacity of 317lt and 1107lt of fuel, a 6kW genset and hot water on tap via a heat exchanger and AC system allow you to head away for weekends or longer. However, given the time constraints faced by most people today, the Mariner 430 will fulfil its popular role as dayboat and overnighter with ease.

DRIVE TIME
You can't help but get excited when sitting behind the dash on the electrically-adjustable bench, sports wheel in hand, throttles primed. The Mariner 430 offers a lot of bang for your buck. With bowthrusters it is also quite manoeuvrable about the marina, with low windage and Bravo 3 legs letting you head in whatever direction you want.

We were virtually the only boat on the harbour during the tail end of a wild storm. Just a day earlier, 6m waves were towering off Sydney Heads. They were still around 2m, with a stiff south-easterly turning the peaks to chop and ferry and jet-cat wash to contend with.

With giant swells making the horizon a squiggly line, we headed out at a conservative cruise of 30mph at around 3500rpm. The boat was completely unfazed by the messy seas, so we upped it some more. The ride became more exhilarating, not less comfortable.

Top speed out of the factory is around 54mph. Fully laden you will reach 50mph at 5000rpm. This is fast enough to do Sydney to Pittwater, the Yarra to the Heads, or Manly to Moreton Island before your first can of soft drink has hit the sides.

More sensible cruising speeds are around 30-33kt, which is fast by any standards. I'm told the motors consume 100lt/hr at these speeds. That being the case, and these being low-maintenance donks, it is hard to justify going to diesel.

In true sportscruiser fashion, with 850hp in the tail the Mariner 430 provides the skipper with a kick. At the same time, the family has something comfortable to cruise on, while guests experience a boat they would love to call their own.

I was genuinely surprised at the Australian-made Mariner 430. It is not to be taken lightly. It can charge headlong into the fray like a Miami Vicer, as we did one rough summer's day off Sydney (a sea trial that would have proven the undoing of many not-so-sporty cruisers, that's for sure), or act as an entertainment platform at an anchorage somewhere.

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