Thursday, March 28

Hampton Endurance 658: A Serious, Spacious, Long-Range Couple’s Cruiser

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A high-quality, unusually spacious, long-range cruising boat, the Hampton Endurance 658 is designed to be run by a couple, and it’s designed with redundant systems throughout to keep them safe at sea. And if they want to cruise with a large family, or entertain a crowd back in port, there’s plenty of room for that too.

Walking through the Hampton Endurance 658, as my colleague George Day and I did in Newport, RI, this summer, is a treat, because the boat offers a lot of surprises. It is essentially a three-stateroom, two-head cruiser, but it also has a crew cabin, which you reach via stairs from the aft port side of the salon, which would be perfect for children, a nanny, or an unexpected guest, as well as for a delivery captain. It is self-contained, with another head, separate shower and small galley. It’s also just aft of the large stand-up, user-friendly engine room, where there’s space all around the twin 1,000-hp Cat 12.9 diesels. The boat’s in-line backup systems include a spare genset, dual Racor fuel filters, water pumps and twin PTOs for hydraulics.

The salon is bright with windows all around and extra headroom, even for me, and I’m more than 6’1” tall. Two lounge chairs and a TV are on the port side, across from a sofa that’s also a pull-out queen berth. The fit, finish and craftsmanship are excellent here, as well as throughout the boat. The galley is two steps up and is filled with home-style GE appliances; it has a breakfast bar with three chairs. All the way forward on this boat, the Compass Rose, was another welcome surprise, a large U-shaped dining table that offers guests great views forward and on either side. Two ship’s doors lead to the side decks, while on the port side interior stairs lead up to the flybridge for safety underway.

The aft deck has twin wing stations, port and starboard, for docking, with controls for the engines and bow and stern thrusters. Another surprise here is a day head (the fourth on the boat) so guests don’t have to traipse through the salon. And a fridge is under a gleaming teak table. Forward, a Portuguese bridge offers another spot to relax or enjoy the passing scene.

Up top, the fully enclosed and air-conditioned flybridge is massive, with three helm chairs, an L-shaped lounge and teak table. The boat deck holds an AB inflatable with a 40-hp Yamaha and a Steelhead crane. There’s more room for water toys and lounge chairs.

On the accommodation deck, the midships, full-beam master has a king-sized bed and lots of closets and moving-around space. Another surprise is the full-beam head aft, with his-and-hers toilets, separated by a large, frosted-glass shower in the middle. A VIP stateroom with a queen-sized bed is in the bow, and a guest cabin, with either convertible twins or a queen bed, is to port. A large head with shower is across to starboard. All the cabins have opening ports so you don’t have to rely on AC for cooling.

The 658 has a hybrid, semi-displacement hull, designed by Howard Apollonio, to make it efficient across the speed curve. The boat has a range of 1,300 nm at 8.5 knots, and tops out at about 20 knots. It burns only 24 gph at 14 knots. The hull itself is solid fiberglass with Kevlar; the deck, deckhouse and flybridge are hand-laid fiberglass with Divinycell foam core.

Specs.: LOA: 68’0”; Beam: 18’0”; Draft: 5’2”; Disp.: 102,500 lbs.; Fuel: 1,750 lbs.; Water: 400 gals.; Power: 2×1,000-hp CAT 12.9 diesels.

http://hamptonyachts.com

 

 

 

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