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Boatbuilders face an
ongoing conundrum: how to give the buyer the spaciousness he wants without
compromising the styling he expects. The issue is even more important
when the boat is an express cruiser. Styling isn’t merely important
here, it’s everything. Speed? Performance? They’re expected.
It’s creating acreage below without slab-siding those sleek lines
that really tests a builder’s ingenuity.
So how did Regal provide
its flagship express, the Commodore 4160, with 6'6" headroom throughout
the main saloon and not just at the foot of the companionway, where most
builders place the tape? And how did it manage to lose only an inch or
two of headroom in the forward master stateroom without making the boat
look like a shiny, white Pennsylvania barn door?
Approach the boat from
astern and you’ll begin to get it. For instance, secured above the
swim platform is an additional removable step that allows you to reach
the cockpit without straining a hamstring. You enter that cockpit through
either of two flanking positive-bolted doors, a big plus since you won’t
have to think twice about which side of the dock you want to pull up to.
That swim platform–bolted on, not molded in–can hold a PWC,
but since it’s a few inches above the water, you’ll have to
struggle to get a heavy PWC aboard. You might want to consider an aftermarket
adjustable platform such as that offered by TNT.
The additional transom
height adds to interior spaciousness, but what about freeboard? Well,
it doesn’t seem very high, but that sharp upward slope from transom
to the cockpit and the gradual slant down of the foredeck leave an area
of considerable freeboard in the 4160’s midsection. Innovative touches
such as a straight sheer with a dramatic flair aft, gently inward-curving
side deck coamings, and an aluminum radar arch with a pronounced forward
lower leg that then angles sharply back maintain the sleek lines of the
Commodore.
You can’t fool
Mother Nature, though. When you’re maneuvering around the dock in
a stiff wind, like we were when putting the 4160 through her paces, you’ll
have to be quick on the shift and throttle in case you get broadsided
by the breeze. But point the bow or stern into the wind, and the Commodore
is as docile as can be. I attribute that partly to the V-drive installation
and prop pockets that allow a relatively shallow prop angle. Yes, prop
pockets have been known to create cavitation and vibration, but neither
is an issue onboard this boat. She turns well, too. I did my best to put
the 4160 on her side, but all she did was cut tighter circles and keep
her props and every other part of her anatomy just where they belonged.
Quiet? Check the numbers. That 90 dBA at top end and a chat-in-a-normal-voice
78 dBA at her sweet-spot cruise speed of 3000 rpm (20 mph) is right there
in the motoryacht category.
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Regal 4160 continued > Page 1, 2,
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