The Hampton 700 Skylounge was designed with simple criteria: to be the largest volume luxury yacht in its class with blue water capabilities. While Kiwi readers will probably struggle to understand what I’m complaining about, by Gold Coast standards at least we lucked out on the weather while reviewing Hampton’s 700 Skylounge. Air temperatures hovered somewhere in the mid teens, the bridge windows were smeared with drizzling rain and a stiff breeze chipped away at a heaving swell offshore from Main Beach’s famous skyline. After similar weather the last time I reviewed a Hampton for Pacific Powerboat, the Sunshine State’s favourite slogan about the weather being beautiful one day and perfect the next is sounding pretty hollow. Still, if not a “beautiful” day it was I suppose perfect to experience the effectiveness of the Hampton 700 Skylounge’s digitally controlled Wesmar hydraulic stabiliser system. Indeed their effectiveness became all too apparent when immediately we turned them off – just to see what would happen... Up to that point we’d enjoyed a twenty-something degree environment controlled by the air conditioning system, with the boat moving gently underfoot in complete defiance of the blurry monsters mounding up level with the helm station’s panoramic windows. A fine state of affairs easily restored by the simple expediency of reactivating the stabilisers, and once our boating course was back on an even keel, we resumed a stately loop back towards the Seaway. I note with interest that other reviewers have questioned the need for stabilisers on a boat from a builder with a reputation for producing vessels finished and fitted out to standards more often seen in boats destined as entertainers rather than serious passage makers, but are more than capable of lengthy bluewater voyages nevertheless. It seems our little exercise off the Gold Coast shows exactly why Hampton fit stabilisers. While this boat might not need them, they certainly make it measurably more comfortable in rough weather, a style with which we’d all like to become accustomed! Luxurious 21-metre cruising motor yachts should, of course, be able to handle a bit of a sea. Although, in my experience, few of them would have handled what in fact is more than a “bit of a sea” with similar grace. It was an impressive display from a boat that went on to cement itself amongst its peers as unbendingly, well, impressive. Quietly Unpretentious This particular boat is a revised model released to the world at last year’s Sanctuary Cove International Boat Show. 2013 was a particularly glamorous year at SCIBS, and this probably explains how the new Hampton 700 Skylounge flew somewhat under the radar and escaped the attention it probably deserved. In hindsight though, the way it managed to be quietly unpretentious in pretty ostentatious company, quite defines its style. Light cherry wood panelling softened with a careful choice of fabrics and textile panelling in our review boat replaces the previous predominance of timber in the interior. This apparently is the work of Bev Schutt at Identity Interiors, a neighbour of Australia and New Zealand distributors Leigh-Smith Cruiser Sales in the Gold Coast City Marina. Outside, the hull and superstructure moulding is impeccable and the stainless steel fittings massively solid. For example, check the hinges and fastenings on exterior access doors each side of the galley deck. wPrevious Hampton models had two helm stations. There was one on the galley deck and of course an upper station on the bridge, but in the revision, the lower station donated floor space to the galley and dining room. There’s now a single helm station upstairs on what would be the flybridge if it did not incorporate a roomy upstairs lounge and bar. Yes, this is the “Skylounge” giving this particular Hampton model pindaramagazine.com.au Pindara Magazine 93
Pindara Private Hospital Magazine - Issue Two
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