Reviews

Boat test: Palm Beach 55

Arguably one of the world’s finest motor yachts, the beautiful Palm Beach 55 is as close to faultless as could be expected.

In an industry of increasing competitiveness spawning more than
a handful of bitter rivals, all acknowledge the impressive work
Mark Richards and his Palm Beach Motor Yacht team produce in
Pittwater, just north of Sydney.

The Palm Beach 55 recently added to the company’s already
bursting trophy cabinet, claiming victory as Best in Show at the
prestigious 2011 Newport International Boat Show in Rhode Island,
USA, for the second year in succession. The previous honour went to
its smaller sibling, the Palm Beach 50.

Richards is arguably Australia’s most famous modern sailor. With
World Match Racing successes and America’s Cup experience, the
enigmatic talisman of Palm Beach Motor Yachts now skippers the
legendary Wild Oats XI, helming it to victory in the Sydney to
Hobart six times.

My first look at the Palm Beach 55, as she lay next to the dock
under the mansions of Sydney’s Point Piper, was breathtaking. If
ever there was a scene to inspire and motivate this was it: one of
the world’s most desirable craft moored in front of one of the
city’s most impressive properties. Richards was there, along with a
few invited guests, chamois in hand preening his beauty, ready to
extract all the perfect morning had to offer.

That this is a pretty boat is a given. The perfectly-drawn lines
are from an era when coolness and class were inseparable. If ever a
boat warranted a well-tailored suit, this is it. Yet even tied to
the dock it’s clear the Palm Beach 55 doesn’t trade on good looks
alone – where many boats strain and buck at their mooring lines at
the slightest passing wash, this lady seems so relaxed she doesn’t
need lines at all.

Defining craftsmanship

Stepping aboard it’s immediately apparent Palm Beach has set
about defining a new age of craftsmanship. Ultra-modern materials
and construction techniques, mostly drawn from Richards’ racing
yacht background – E-glass, vinylester, epoxy resins and stitched
multi-axial fabric over Corecell linear foam – are utilised to
build a lightweight yet extremely strong hull, providing the
perfect canvas on which the craftsmen can weave their magic.

The entire boat, save for a few minor fittings, is built on
site. All the solid timber (and it is solid – no glued-on veneers
here) is shaped and fitted by Richards’ team, right down to the
hand-lathed snack holders on the tables.

CNC-design techniques have allowed Palm Beach to customise to
millimetre-perfectaccuracy almost every aspect of each new vessel
to exactly match the client’s needs, without the requirement for
expensive tooling. Richards says each boat is a process of
evolution, learning a little from the previous project and merging
this knowledge with the owner’s thoughts. To be fair, many of his
clients have a history with Palm Beach and know to leave things in
the hands of this expert. Even so, I have heard him in consultation
and his mind is open to any and all suggestions.

Making hard look easy

The Palm Beach 55 is available in a range of configurations.
Today’s boat, Maluka, is presented with a stateroom forward and its
en suite to port, a VIP guest cabin to starboard with twin singles
able to be rolled together, and another single cabin opposite to
port.  A separate bathroom/dayhead services these two cabins.
If the cabins lack anything it would be natural light, the
low-profile hull lines making portholes quite a tricky proposition.
Oversized hatches are in place and this is a small price to pay for
looking hot.

As the photos show, the level of furnishing is exceptional, but
it is the detail and precision on display warranting the most
praise from me. There is neither a thread of fabric nor a hint of
glue out of place, even in those hard-to-reach places well out of
sight. Little tricks like the foldaway shower doors open up space
most people would never have realised was there. These are the
touches only thought of by those who have spent thousands of hours
on boats.

Climbing a single set of stairs brings you to the main saloon
area, where natural lighting floods the scene through panoramic
tinted windows, some of which are electrically lowered. Maluka’s
galley is situated amidships on the port side, but it could easily
have been located aft servicing the cockpit or forward and down a
level.

A beautifully-styled helm station and solid timber dash set the
scene to starboard, blending yesteryear’s style with the age of the
touchscreen and the computer-powered joystick controller. Where
some may have opted for custom bucket seats, for Palm Beach a
custom bench seat provides a comfortable and cosy place for the
skipper and his navigator to enjoy the drive.

The rest of the saloon is all sumptuously-tailored, off-white
leather sofas and solid timber tables. While one of these sofas is
traditionally U-shaped, the other two settees face each other, more
like what you may find in a drawing room. Richards says guests
naturally gravitate to this option, suggesting it has an easier,
more social feel.

Again the workmanship throughout is to the highest standard
imaginable. The people delivering this quality clearly have immense
pride in the product and are encouraged to stretch themselves in
the pursuit of perfection.

In the detail

Much of what I love about the Palm Beach 55 can be seen in its
cockpit. Again it is beautifully finished, with graceful curves and
lashings of timber and teak. Yet it is delightfully simple and
understated. Yes, there is a barbecue, fridge, bar, table, sofa and
room for anything else you could think of, but everything is in its
rightful place leaving the whole look pleasingly uncluttered.

Very nice, I hear you say, but where is the tender? Well, stroll
around onto the aft swim platform and you’ll find the tender
garage. Nothing unusual about here, except this one comes with a
little extra Mark Richards genius. Built from high-tech durable
plastics for longevity, this tender-launching system is designed
around a simple but very effective rope-and-pulley system. It’s
easy, it works and it won’t break down.

As a quick look under the floorboards will prove, great boats
don’t finish with the trimmings. The engine room and other bilge
spaces are as impressive as everything else. No uncomfortable
checkerplate flooring down here, just more teak, of course.
Good bilge spaces help the skipper find issues early and, with this
in mind, the ‘wet’ spaces are painted black to show the salt, while
the engine beds are painted white to show any oil. This engine room
is slightly tighter than ideal, thanks to the location of the
generator, but not enough to cause any servicing issues.

Even though this vessel is IPS-powered, the temptation to move
the engines further aft has been resisted, with jackshafts employed
to deliver the power to the pod units. What this means in practice
is the proper balance of the boat has been maintained with the
weight where it should be, close to both the longitudinal and
lateral centrelines, and as low as is practical. It also allows
this hull to easily accept conventional shaftdrives, which will be
found in the next Palm Beach 55.

On the plane

Last time we tested a Palm Beach, we commented on how yacht-like
it was in the water. The 55 proved very similar on its
super-slippery warped hull. The acceleration is virtually
transition-free, suggesting superior efficiency. The correctly
trimmed IPS configuration allows the vessel to make the most of its
waterline and ultrafine entry, delivering a top speed of almost 32
knots on a miserly 231.5L/h. Pull the levers back to a more refined
20 knots and the boat will be drinking only 100L/h. If these sound
like big numbers to you, be assured they are not: many similar
vessels we test could easily add 50 percent fuel consumption to
those figures.

If the weather was perfect inside the harbour it was certainly
more challenging outside, so we did the right thing and headed out
for a blast. As if to prove a point, we sent the guests outside
while we steamed head-on into the sea at 30 knots. Was it perfectly
dry? Not quite, but no one got wet enough to complain. Even
standing in the front cabin I was more than able to maintain my
footing without holding on, thanks to the way the fine entry takes
the sting out of the waves. My notes read “super soft and
reasonably dry”.

So, in summary, the Palm Beach 55 might look like a champagne
daycruiser, but she’s an ocean lover at heart. Maluka’s owner loves
his fishing, although personally I shudder at the thought of a
sinker coming into contact with the pristine Glasurit-painted
finish. The most recent Palm Beach 55 was driven on its own bottom
all the way to Nelson.

The verdict

With the Palm Beach 55 you will find a vessel as close to
faultless as could ever be expected. The quality presented at every
turn is in full view – hard to define yet very apparent. This
really is a boat that’s as good as it looks. Could it be improved
on? Not easily, yet you know the team behind this superb vessel
will strive to do so.

We have no hesitation suggesting you will find one of the
world’s finest motor yachts in Palm Beach. Anyone considering such
a vessel should give Mark Richards a call.
For more information contact   Mark Richards, Palm Beach
Motor Yachts on 0061 (02) 4389 1244 or   0061 0404 333
378, email mr@pbmy.com.au or
visit phmotoryachts.com.

PERFORMANCE
DATA

Twin
600hp Volvo Penta IPS 800
* Performance data supplied by Volvo Penta. Fuel burn is for both
engines combined

RPM

Knots

Fuel Burn

600

6.84

7.7L/h

800

10.79

27.15L/h

1000

11.79

36.6L/h

1300

14.13

57.5L/h

1500

17.43

79.3L/h

1700

20.53

107.1L/h

1900

24

132.5L/h

2000

25.65

149.1L/h

2100

27.42

169.2L/h

2200

29.11

193.1L/h

2370

31.8

231.5L/h

 

SPECIFICATIONS

Palm Beach
55

Material:

E-glass over wrapped foam

Type:

Warped monohull

Length:

18.29m (overall); 16.7m
(deck)

Beam:

5.24m

Draft:

1.06m

Weight:

18,000kg (dry)

Fuel:

2600L

Water:

1300L

Holding
tank:

250L

Engine:

2 x Volvo Penta IPS 800

Type:

Turbo-diesel

Rated hp:

600 (each) at 2300rpm

Displacement:

10.8L (each)

Price as
tested:

AU$2,600,000

Priced from:

AU$2,500,000

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Photography: Andrea Francolini; Supplied

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