Take a good look. Have you seen this boat before?
Well, yes, at least a lot of it. Think of a Blackfin Combi, circa 1991, one of the best-riding sea boats ever. Back then Blackfin and its major competitor Bertram were building rock- solid boats with deep-V hulls that earned reputations for taming oceans.
But that was then and this is now. Now, this great-looking inboard cruiser, introduced in February at the New England Boat Show in Boston, is a brand-new Manchester 29, built by Crocker’s Boat Yard in Manchester-by-the-Sea, Massachusetts. And everything about the boat is new – except for the hull. And that’s the ’91 Blackfin.
A new company, Manchester Yachts is remanufacturing old Blackfin hulls into new boats with a Downeast twist and new-and-improved parts, equipment and interiors. Manchester took the old hand-laid fiberglass Blackfin hull and stripped it bare, replaced the wiring, plumbing, seacocks and fuel system, installed two new 375-hp Crusader engines and – voila – produced the new Manchester 29.
Manchester didn’t do all this on its own. It enlisted Doug Zurn, the Marblehead, Mass., designer, to redesign the teak windshield and seating, and Onboard Interiors, also from Marblehead, to work on the interior. The new Manchester 29 has a V-berth that converts to a dinette with a teak table, a small galley with fridge, and an enclosed head.
The hull still has a 23-degree deadrise at the transom; Manchester says the boat should cruise at 17 knots. It comes with a five-year hull warranty and a two-year engine warranty. After the 29, Manchester also will work on Blackfin 32s.
Specs.: LOA: 33’0”; Beam: 10’6”; Draft: 3’6”; Disp.: 12,000 lbs.; Fuel: 205 gals.; Water: 30 gals.; Power: 2×375-hp Crusader gas engines.
