Yachtsee: luxury triple play with the latest
Tiara: Test-drive time
The fantasy lasted only a split second.
There we were, out on Little Traverse Bay in a 2009, 39-foot Tiara, and for just a moment I pictured myself pushing our photographer and the Walstrom rep overboard, taking the helm and hearing on the wind, “And they never saw her again …”
It could’ve been “Ocean’s 14,” except I really like Randy Goss, our photographer, and Hi Stover, the knowledgeable Walstrom’s sales rep who got us out on the lake on this sunny day to test-drive the Tiara.
Prior boating experience didn’t matter; the latest Tiara technology requires only that you know how to open a pop bottle. That’s about the size of the top of the joystick control that responds to just a slight touch or twist to maneuver the vessel.
“The rules have changed,” says Stover. “It’s supposed to be easy.”
“Volvo Penta IPS with joystick technology” is the technical way to refer to how the hobby has been opened up to a whole new world of boaters, even those in the family who before didn’t feel comfortable driving or docking a large, luxury watercraft.
“Tiara was the first domestic manufacturer to engineer a boat around this drive system,” said Stover. A bonus: I could actually hear him while cruising at a decent clip around the lake, thanks to the enclosed helm area made possible in part because of the efficiency of the drive train.
Two diesel-powered pods steer the boat and are located directly underneath it, rather than off the rear. The design allows for not only the improved, precise driving but also more cabin space and less exhaust choking you while you’re trying to get a suntan.
Plus, you can do a really sweet 360 in the middle of the lake, for no reason other than just because you can.
“One of the things that sets Tiara apart is how they’re made – it’s a very robust construction,” says Stover, as he kicks up to 25 knots.
Approaching the dock again, Randy takes a turn at the joystick control, using the opportunity to slide the yacht side-to-side and spin her in a circle. He’s smiling and remarking about the beauty of the watercraft when it occurs to me, is he thinking what I was thinking when I was driving …?
Topping off the Tiara: Any luxuries a boat owner wants can be added to a customized Tiara, such as cooktops, refrigerators, Corian countertops, entertainment systems, satellite TV, Sirius weather, flat panel TVs, fish finders, autopilot, AC/heat, power seats and more.
