By Danny Casey.
Anyone familiar with top-tier, quality fibreglass boats in Australia would have more than a passing familiarity with the name Cruise Craft – meticulously and sublimely crafted by the Brisbane-based Nichols family, who have been building boats (starting off in wood first, of course) since 1946.
I have long been a huge devotee of the brand and have always found their styling – a subtle mélange of traditional coupled harmoniously with modern – highly appealing. One thinks of these boats in much the same way one might think of a Bentley Mulsanne or Mercedes S-Class from the late 1980s – when traditional shapes were edging towards modernity but not to the stage where heritage and tradition were cast aside.
No two boats illustrate this theme more than the Cruise Craft Resort 600 (of the mid-late ’90s) and its successor, the Resort 6, from the first decade of this century. These two boats utilise the same hull but with a delicate yet imaginative updating for a new age. One key characteristic of this hull is the exceptionally high beam-to-length ratio. This is a 6.0 metre boat with a beam of 2.45 metres – i.e. the beam is slightly more than 40% of the overall length. This makes for an extremely steady, stable, safe boat, both at rest and at speed.
I was lucky to snap both versions of this classic hull recently in the same marina – the royal blue boat being the older Resort 600 and the white one being the newer Resort 6. Each of these boats is fitted with a 200 hp outboard of approx. 240 kg, but notice how well they carry the weight of those motors at rest – no sag; no low stern, and no water lapping around the top of the transom. Which also means that the motors can tilt clear of the water with no worries about growth, barnacles or electrolytic action.
Unfortunately, it became virtually impossible for the quality Aussie builders to sell bowriders at the prices they needed to charge to make any money at all – the deluge of US imports (all of which, despite the chintz and glitz, were inferior in pretty much every key aspect) put paid to that. For this reason, boats like these Cruise Craft bowriders are now a rare, exclusive and evocative species – redolent of an era when Aussie boatbuilders competed at the highest level with boats to suit every taste.
Of these two boats (due to my penchant for classic motor vehicles), I would opt for the royal blue Resort 600, with the subtle boot top between the flanks and the bottom of the hull), but the later boat is also very fetching in a different way. The 600 has somewhat of a “clubby” interior with faux wood dash inlays etc., while the Resort 6 is a rework reinterpreted for a younger demographic.
Should you happen to come across one of these for sale online (and they’re becoming as rare as gold-plated cigarette cases), jump on it right away – because you’ll be treating yourself to an item of quality that has both cachet and timeless appeal.
Danny Casey is highly experienced, undoubtedly idiosyncratic, and immensely knowledgeable about things mechanical, new or old. His knowledge and passion are as a result of spending his whole life in or around anything power-driven – especially marine engines. His passion for boating is second to none, with his life a montage of fabulous memories from decades spent in or around water and boats, both here and in Europe. Danny has spent myriad years in the recreational marine industry in a varied career in which he has bamboozled colleagues and competitors alike with his well-honed insight.
His mellifluous Irish accent, however, has at times been known to become somewhat less intelligible in occasional attempts at deliberate vagueness or when trying to prevent others from proffering a counter-argument or even getting a word in. Frank and to-the-point, but with a heart of gold, it can be hard to convince Danny to put pen to paper to share his knowledge. Marine Business News is grateful for his contributions. Connect with Danny through LinkedIn.
