About midway across Biscayne Bay, between Miami Beach and the City of Miami, the marked navigation channel widens considerably. About a minute before I reached that point in the brand new Luhrs 35C, I picked up the VHF mike and called the photographer.
ALLEN CLARKLuhrs 35C Spins Circles Above its Volvo Penta IPS Drives
We agreed he would station-keep right there in the middle of the otherwise deserted channel. I would then approach him and pass starboard-to-starboard and spin the wheel hardover to starboard. We both hoped the big-shouldered fisher/cruiser would lean into the turn and we'd get a couple of nice photos in the early morning sunlight. Neither of us expected what happened next.
I passed the photographer, Allen Clark of Photoboat.com, and spun the big steel wheel hard to starboard. The tall bow of the 35C instantly carved a tight turn, so tight in fact that I had to back out a little bit to ensure I didn't run down the photographer. The twin IPS pod drives from Volvo-Penta drove the boat hard all the way through the turn. Before I knew it, we had come a full 360 degrees and I had to ease off on the helm.
I had already thoroughly explored the dock-area handling of the IPS-equipped boat so I knew it was capable of some extraordinary things, but to feel the power under the boat driving it up and through the wild turn was to feel capable, powerful and confident. That kind of maneuverability will be key while fishing offshore. The IPS system is already showing evidence of its first product-improvement cycles, with new features and refinements implented and in the near-term pipeline.
One of the new enhancements to the IPS system is that you willl be able to take advantage of soon is a "fishing" mode in the pod drive software that toes-in both drives. With that configuration, the 35C can back vigorously down on a fish, maneuvering handily from one side to the other to keep the fish behind the boat.
Yet another feature on the 35C helm is the use of the trim tabs. These are not installed ON the transom in a conventional way, but on the back of the transom where they stick straight down into the water stream as determined by the software. They were effective on the 35C, lowering the bow very quickly as we accelerated up to planing speed.
The 35C that we tested had the "cruise" option, which meant windows on the forward deckhouse instead of wings, and some other amenities that make this a truly gorgeous boat. The beautiful wood in the salon and galley look fabulous. We're going to write this one up more fully after the press of the Miami show, but suffice it to say that we'll have a lot more to say about this fishing/cruising boat from Luhrs.
