With IPS Drives and a Roomy Interior, the First in the Luhrs Canyon Series Excels

When the "crossover" was developed several years back in the automotive world, combining the comfort and luxury of a sedan with the body and suspension of a truck, it became popular. The idea was that modern families who wanted both advantages didn't have to buy two vehicles.

The same philosophy is being applied in the recreational boat marketplace, where companies are combining hardcore fishing boats with luxury interiors to produce a vessel that is kind to both the fisherman and his family. The new Luhrs 37 IPS, the first launch in the company's Canyon Series, is a perfect example.

With a length of just over 38 feet and a draft of just 30 inches, it combines the historical fishboat qualities that Luhrs is known for with more upscale living quarters and even some "luxury performance" qualities, courtesy of its Volvo Penta IPS propulsion. Though the boat is available with triple outboards, there is much to recommend the pod drives in terms of performance, design and even cost. For example, benefiting from the frugal real estate requirements of the pod drives, the boat can offer two cabins and two heads – almost unheard of in sportfishermen measuring less than 40 feet.

Indeed, the difference in cost between the boat fitted with the IPS system and one fitted with outboards is less than $10,000. In fact, while the Luhrs 37 is not the cheapest boat on the water, it has gotten cheaper since its debut late last year because manufacturing changes have reduced the number of hours required to build the boat. The IPS 500 version will now have a base retail price of $447,600, a savings of $42,000 over the initial price. The outboard-powered 37, with triple Yamaha 350 monsters hanging on the stern bracket, will cost $440,400, a savings of $39,600.

Overall, for those who fish with family, the 37 worth a close look.

COMFORT CHARACTERISTICS

As a crossover boat, the 37 does lean toward one of its legacy characteristics – the fishing heritage behind the Luhrs line. But to appeal to the current marketplace, it has to do a good job with the comfort side of the equation, too. And it does. The biggest benefits for cruising families come in the form of extra space below decks, conferred by the IPS installation. Mom and Dad can sleep in comfort in the forward stateroom, while the kids have their own true stateroom aft, with a curtain for privacy and separate bunks.

While the forward berth isn't the most private of accommodations, the designers made some lemonade from the large size of the mattress. The foot of the queen folds up, turning into the seat back of a nice bench from which to watch the flat-screen TV and enjoy the Bose 3-2-1 sound system. Simple meals can be prepared at the two-burner electric stove in the galley, which also features a microwave, under-counter refrigerator/freezer and Corian countertops.

There's about six feet, four inches of headroom in the main cabin, and the way the cabinets and lockers are set back into the curve of the hull gives the area an especially roomy feeling. The cabinetry has a light cherry finish, adding to the spacious impression. Overall the interior fit and finish is a notch above normal fishboat standards and reflects the levels of the other Luhrs brands targeted to cruising families, namely Mainship, Silverton and Hunter.

FISHING FEATURES

As for the fishing characteristics, the 37 IPS is an open, or express-style, boat. The cockpit and slightly raised helm deck are large and utilitarian, and walking from one to the other is comfortable, thanks to wide, recessed side decks, made safer by substantial stainless steel rails. A transom door facilitates movement of both fish and people on and off the boat, as it is easy to board the 37 via the optional sturdy, bolted-on swim platform. Even though this platform has enough room for dedicated cannonball artists, I didn't think it was so big that it would hinder a fisherman bringing his catch to the boat. The cockpit coaming is just the right height for proper bracing when doing so, and large scuppers will drain water quickly. The boat also comes with an insulated fish cooler strapped down at the center of the transom, but it is removable if you won't be fishing.

The oval-shaped livewell and bait-prep station are both up a few steps, on the helm deck. There's a freezer here, too, plus settees for anglers or weekend guests to enjoy watching the action. The main bench on the port side flips over to offer views both forward and aft. Our test boat was also fitted with the optional outdoor galley behind the double helm seat, featuring a Corian countertop, electric grill, stainless steel sink and refrigerator drawer. Unfortunately, boat-show crowds had bent the hinge on the stove, but I was assured it would be beefed up on subsequent models.

One of the 37's best fishing features lies below the helm deck: the tackle-stowage compartment. A hatch under the port guest seat and a couple of steps down yields access. On a family cruise, it could easily serve as extended dry storage for food, supplies and even a couple of folding bikes or a rollup dinghy or two.

The helm seating is comfortable and well positioned. The visibility is superb: no blind spots, nor any glare on the dash from the windshield. While I was driving, I never lost sight of the horizon over the bow through the full speed range, a critical safety element that too many boats cannot meet. Jim Krueger, the company's vice president, was driving for part of our test and remarked that he planned to request a modest modification of the instrument panel, tilting it back toward the bow a few degrees to pull the chartplotter more into the driver's line of sight – a good tweak.

The standard tower on the boat has a fully equipped helm and fiberglass hardtop. It's a solid perch from which to pinpoint the pelagics or soak in the sunset.

MECHANICAL SYSTEMS

The highlight of the 37 IPS is the IPS system itself. The joystick operation and hyper-maneuverability that pod drives offer are well known, as is the compact installation, freeing up room in the cabin and living quarters.

With the 37, buyers can choose from two Volvo Penta IPS packages: the IPS 500 with 370-horsepower diesels, as on our test boat, or the IPS 600 with 435-horsepower engines. In either case, the engines are well aft and directly connected to the drive pods, unlike some pod drive installations in which the engines are in the conventional midships location, connected by extended jackshaft to the pod drive. The latter configuration provides the performance of the pod drives but not the space savings.

Luhrs also includes some equipment as standard that is often considered an option on other boats, including air-conditioning with reverse-cycle heat, a 9-kilowatt Kohler generator with sound shield and a 12-kilowatt isolation transformer. Luhrs even throws in the bottom paint, in recognition that this will likely be a saltwater boat that spends lots of time in the water. Bottom paint is generally an extra cost.

SEA TRIAL

Here's the deal with pod-drive boats: All the exhaust and lots of the mechanical noise is under water, and you'll never hear it. That means the designers have a head start on making a quiet boat. The next step is to insulate the engine room to control sound from the engines themselves, particularly the high-frequency whine of the diesel turbochargers. Luhrs did a good job with this on the 37 IPS. During our test ride, we never recorded a sound level above 87 dB-A (65 is the level of normal conversation), which is remarkably quiet for any type of boat other than an enclosed-pilothouse trawler or motoryacht.

The windshield is a large, three-pane affair, with thin but sturdy mullions that don't block your vision. At first I thought having wipers on only the two outer panels was a mistake, but since we never took any spray over even those, you may not miss a wiper on the center panel. It is a dry boat, at least so far as we could test in modest sea conditions.

As with all pod-drive boats, maneuverability is exceptional, whether around the docks or at high speed. Acceleration from idle is sheer entertainment. After the slightest lag while the turbo spools up, the g-forces really slam you back into the seat. It appeared to get on plane at about 11 knots, and that's where the highest bow rise and lowest fuel economy was. It took about 3.5 seconds to get there and we passed it quickly.

Running at speed, close to 3000 rpm, we reached approximately 26 mph, burning 28.5 gph. After I turned the wheel hard over at top speed, the boat carved a smooth, gently banked turn and reached 180 degrees within about five boat lengths. There was remarkably little loss of speed in the turn. This is a big boat, but maneuverable for its size, and those IPS propsets down low stay dug in and pulling hard.

Volvo Penta's measured top speed was 37.3 mph at 3620 rpm, and its fuel flow was 40.9 gph. This translates to 0.9 mpg with the throttle wide open. The best fuel economy was between 3000 and 3300 rpm, and 24.9 to 31 mph, where you will see about 1.1 mpg.

The 37 IPS starts out as a fishing boat from a well-known fishboat builder. The wide-open cockpit, livewell, rod storage and standard tower make for a serious gamefishing platform. The fact that the IPS system improves fuel efficiency and performance by 20 to 30 percent brings those offshore canyons on the East Coast within easy reach (hence the series name). But the fisherman's family gets a nice cruising boat, too. They get the comfort of an expertly finished interior and features above deck meant to keep them happy and even well fed.

Tom Tripp is a freelance writer specializing in technology and marine science, whose work has appeared in publications such as Northeast Boating and Chesapeake Bay Magazine. In addition to contributing features on new boats and technology, Tom writes a blog – Ocean Lines – here on Mad Mariner.

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