Waterways World Mag - Feb 09

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Flight of the Falcon

An intriguing 69-footer from Alvechurch combines a solid fit-out with unusual hydraulic drive.

GRAHAM BOOTH puts it to the test

Alvechurch Boat Centres produces around 25 boats a year, but the vast majority are destined for their hire fl eet, built to tried and tested designs. A few are built for the private market, and one of these, Kalikamara, was eviewed in Waterways World in January 2002. Recently, they were asked by a customer to build a 69ft sailaway package with some features that made it different from their hire boats and from a typical privately owned craft.

Design
The boat, called Falcon, has what could be described as a modern interpretation of the traditional boatman’s cabin and engine room layout. At the very back of the boat is a bedroom with a fi xed double bed, followed by a separate engine room containing a modern engine in an acoustic casing. Boatman’s cabins usually have low
headroom which gives them their character but also requires you to stoop when passing through them. To avoid
this, Falcon’s engine drives the propeller via flexible hydraulic pipes rather than a fixed shaft. The accommodation forward of this is more conventional, comprising a bathroom, dinette, galley and saloon.

Unfortunately, the customer had to cancel the order part way through the construction stage. ABC’s technical
director, Bob Southerland, could have sold the boat as sailaway but he was keen to see how the ideas would
work in practice, so he decided to complete the boat with few variations of his own.

Shell

Falcon’s shell is a standard Alvechurch design, although it does look somewhat different in its mid green and white
livery. The quality of plating and welding are good and the whole effect is very easy on the eye. It has traditional red
and white bands around the stern although, as in the hire eet, these do not wrap round as far as the rear bulkhead:
the part of the counter that is most likely to be scraped when setting off from a mooring is painted black, and so
can be touched up more easily. The button fender on the bow is mounted on a circular plate welded to the stem post, which stops it being deformed by the bow after it has made contact with a few lock gates. It is normally recommended that front fenders are supported only by chains from above but this one has chains from above and below. However, the lower chains have a weak link that would snap if it caught on a lock gate. This is necessary to avoid the boat being hung up with possibly disastrous results. Side fenders are suspended from fixing points located
just behind the roof handrail rather than let into the cabin side or top bend. They can therefore be positioned at
exactly the required height and, when you move on, they can be stowed safely on the roof – not on the side deck,
where they might be a trip hazard.

Engine installation
The Nanni 4.195 KC is installed parallel to, and slightly to the port side of, the centre line of the boat. In place
of the gearbox, it has an ARP hydraulic pump on the back of the engine, and there is a control valve giving
forward and reverse mounted on the rearward engine room bulkhead. From here, hydraulic pipes pass under the rear cabin floor and connect to the motor mounted on the end of the propeller shaft. Pushing down on the single lever control advances the engine speed which increases the pumping rate and, in turn, makes the motor turn the
propeller more quickly. This system was chosen in preference to one that ABC tried on one of their hire boats some years ago. The boat, called Firecrest, had a transverse mounted engine with a hydraulic pump supplying power to the propeller shaft, a bow thruster and a generator. To enable these to work independently, the engine speed was set at a constant level and the power for the three pieces of equipment was bled off as required. ABC found that having a constant engine speed made people in moored boats imagine that the boat has not slowed down when passing them, even though it had. This resulted in some unpleasant exchanges so the system was modifi ed. The exhaust exits via an outlet in the hull and not through the roof as it would in a traditional installation. It is angled downwards to avoid back pressure when the starboard side is moored against the bank or in a lock.
The engine is fully encased in plywood panels with acoustic foam to deaden the sound. These panels can be
removed for maintenance giving standards of access and weather protection that rival a traditional engine room. The engine room itself has steel bulkheads and doors on either side as a fi re precaution.

Interior

Since most of ABC’s boats are built for the hire fleet, I was curious to see how they might tackle an interior that was aimed at the private market. Would they clone a typical private boat or would it simply be a hire boat with
a few extras?
In fact, it is somewhere between the two. The interiors of ABC’s latest hire boats are not much different from
middle-market private boats so it does not take too many modifications to produce a very presentable interior, which is what I found. The shell is lined in ash with veneered plywood on the hull and cabin sides and solid T&G boarding on the ceiling. The floor is also ash veneer which completes the warm, woody effect, although a request to wear overshoes before I entered did make me wonder how it would fare in normal use.
All the joinery is similarly in ash with neatly made panelled doors and drawers and contemporary stainless steel ironmongery. I was particularly impressed by the nonslip inlays in the steps at either end.

Saloon

The 16ft saloon is furnished with a cream leather recliner and a convertible settee. Along one side of the hull is a
range of shelves and cupboards incorporating a recess for a flat screen TV. This is mounted on a Vivanco hinged
arm,

so that it can be pulled out and directed towards the seating and then parked out of the way when not required. There is no solid fuel stove and the boat is warmed by radiators along the hull sides.

Galley

The double L galley moves the corridor from the starboard to the port side, giving a nicely balanced interior. This type of layout is not often seen as it is the least effi cient for storage. However, in such a larger galley, it works well and has two places for the cook to take refuge when the crew passes through. The forward edge of the black, Corian-like LG HI-MACS worktop is extended into the saloon to form a two person breakfast bar. ABC has followed many of the current trends by opting for stainless steel bowls let into the worktop and sliding wire baskets to make better use of the less accessible cupboards. One exception is the use of a slide-in oven and hob in place of separate units, although it is so well integrated, you have to look hard to spot it. The rear bulkhead of the galley has a glass fronted wall cupboard for glasses and crockery with internal lighting that adds further interest. ➤

Dinette

On the other side of the bulkhead is the dinette that converts to a double bed when guests are on board. For those who appreciate a spot of gracious living, its location allows you to set it up for a meal while the diners are relaxing in the saloon before being called to table. It is also on the opposite side of the bathroom from the main bedroom, for maximum privacy when it is used as a sleeping area. Installed almost unnoticed at the lower part of the adjacent cupboard is an Alde Compact boiler, which supplies hot water to the calorifi er and radiator system. The flue makes its way up to the roof, equally unnoticed, in a duct at the back of the cupboard. This boiler has the advantage of having pilotless ignition so that it can be programmed to switch on and off over a long period. It also uses less gas than the familiar long, thin model and requires only a very small amount of electricity to run the pump. Its only drawback for anyone wanting to install one in an existing boat is that the calorifi er needs to have a stainless steel coil to avoid internal corrosion.

Bathroom
The bathroom has the usual washbasin, electric toilet and shower cubicle built into furniture that shares its materials
and detailing with other areas of the boat. A rectangular rather than quadrant shower cubicle is used which allows
space for useful towel shelves beside it.

Bedroom

The main bedroom is situated at the back of the boat, beyond the engine room, which makes it even more private. Having become used to the larger than normal spaces in the rest of the boat, the bedroom may strike you as slightly less generous. The windows had already been cut when the order was cancelled, so Bob did not have a totally free hand when re-planning it. Nevertheless, it is as big as many and perfectly adequate. The double bed has an expanding base that pulls out into the corridor to make it wider. A range of high level cupboards above the bed head and along the starboard side supplement the wardrobe by the rear doors.

On the move
Moving the engine from under the steerer’s feet and surrounding it with sound-deadening material is generally
reckoned to result in a very quiet installation so I was keen to see whether this is true. The engine noise was certainly not so noticeable – I was more aware of the water movement behind the boat than I usually am – but it was not quite as silent as I was expecting. This could be because noise was escaping through the vents in the side of the hull. Acoustic foam around the openings would reduce this. The transmission is, however, very smooth which gives a more relaxed feel when the speed is increased or decreased. I reckon that these qualities, coupled with the advantage of easier and more comfortable maintenance, make the experiment a worthwhile one.
The tiller is, unusually, a bit high for me but it could be lowered – and improved in appearance – by bending
it down slightly to the horizontal. I soon become totally confident steering the full length Falcon through angled
bridges in spite of it being 10ft longer than my own boat.
This is usually the case and should be an encouragement to anyone thinking of stepping up in size or having their
boat lengthened.

Conclusion
Falcon came about in a slightly unusual way, yet the end result is a boat that looks and feels well, and should give a
great deal of pleasure over the years. It may exceed the goanywhere length but, having done this, it has compensated by going the whole hog and offering the maximum possible internal accommodation.

The boat is currently on the market via ABC’s brokerage for £93,950. This works out at just over £1,360 a foot
which, even allowing for its greater length, is still good value.

Alternatively, having realised the potential of shared ownership following the adoption of a number of ex-Challenger groups, ABC is considering selling twelfth shares at £8,990 each.

ABC Leisure Group is now the largest hire operator of the system with a total of 290 boats operating from 11 bases. The group has four hire companies: Alvechurch Waterway Holidays, Viking Afloat, Red Line Boats and Wessex Narrowboats.
As well as hiring, it manages Canaltime boats at Ellesmere, Alvecote and Market Harborough. It has also taken over the management of several ex-Challenger Syndicateships boats and is keen to develop its own shared ownership fleet.
Although only a relatively small part of the business, ABC still builds some individually designed private boats. This enables it to pick up new ideas that can be incorporated into the hire boats, and to pass on the practical experience gained from operating the hire fl eet to its private customers.
Several years ago, Alvechurch Boat Centres collaborated with British Waterways to produce boats with ‘ecohulls’. These had a bulbous stem post and double curved swim, intended to reduce fuel consumption and produce less wash at a given speed. None of these have been built for a while but ABC says that it would do so if a customer requested it, and may consider re-introducing them into the hire fleet to reduce fuel costs.