A touch of Grandeur

By ROBIN BAILEY

Tristram Marine is one of the bigger players on the Waikato boatbuilding scene. With managing director Lance Fink at the helm, the company has just extended its showroom/factory complex by 6400 sq m to accommodate a staff of 30 and an ambitious production programme.

The Tristram flagship, released mid-year, is this country's biggest production trailer boat. The Grandeur 8.5m comes with a price tag in the $170,000 to $200,000 bracket, which is a lot of money for a boat that can get around on a trailer.

In this instance, though, the trailering component puts the Grandeur into a class of its own. The number of boat-show awards the craft has won and the healthy order book proves the fact that it has created its own niche market.

Introduced at the New Zealand Boat Show in June, the Grandeur took out the three top gongs - Boat of the Show, Best New Release and Best All Purpose Open. More came at other shows.

Tristram has orders for six of the big "travel-compatible launches" between now and Christmas.

The big boat is the culmination of years of experience in production boat building, certain instinctive understanding of market trends and a good deal of research. The brief was to build a luxury family cruiser with sports boat performance and launch-like specifications. The result is the biggest boat that can be built under the present industry CPC (Compliance Code) restrictions and the present trailer laws.

It is a huge step forward for the designer-builder Fink who, with the support of business partner wife Bronwyn, moved out of the fraught field of one-off sailboats and launches into GRP production in 1987.

"That was just three months before the stockmarket crash," he recalls, "which did make for some tense times. However, we managed to forge ahead by paying careful attention to the market and building strong relationships with our clients, many of whom became repeat customers."

By 1991 the company proved it was on the right track after the award-winning Tristram 5.5 was introduced at the Auckland Boat Show and went on to become one of the brand's most successful models.

Now Tristram is attacking the top end of the trailer boat market, and doing it in style. Even on the dual-axle Voyager trailer the Grandeur looks imposing. In the water it's a different story. The boat is in its element.

Fink used a lot of time and talent to get the boat's chine line right and to achieve the look at the waterline and the performance characteristics he wanted.

The 496 cu in (8.1-litre) 425hp Mercruiser, driving through a Bravo III leg and twin counter-rotating propellers, provides instant power to around 50 mph. The boat is both nimble and shows particularly impressive performance on the turns.

Designed from scratch as a hardtop, Fink has been particularly successful with this aspect of the Grandeur. The hardtop is integrated totally with the rest of the boat. It is both practical and it looks good, confirming the Grandeur's place as a true mini-launch.

It is better equipped and more luxurious than many much larger craft and is priced to compete directly with smaller production launches.

It is lavishly specified for a trailerboat with most features standard. The 8.1-litre Mercruiser is at the top of the recommended power range, but Fink says performance with the 6.2-litre version should be more than adequate.

The Grandeur 851 is featured in the September issue of Boating New Zealand and the company's full range is on Tristram Boats

Model: Tristram 8.5m Grandeur

Designer: Lance Fink

Construction: Solid GRP

LOA: 9.1m (bowsprit to boarding platform)

Beam: 2.5m

Deadrise: 21 degrees at transom

Engine options: 5.7 litre to 8.1 litre Mercruiser, diesel (various)

Maximum speed: 50 mph

Fuel capacity: 350l

Price: $180,000 to $200,000