Over the years, ever since 1928, in fact, Huckins Yacht has been true to itself. A Huckins is a Huckins. It doesn’t look like any other boat; Huckins simply tweaks its iconic retro lines a bit as the years go by so they never get stale. A Huckins doesn’t perform like other boat, either. With its patented Quadraconic hull, it performs like a Huckins. The new Huckins Atlantic 44 represents the best of Huckins’ classic approach to boating from stem to stern.
If the new Huckins’ profile harkens back to an earlier age of yachting, its performance will challenge most boats on the water today. Standard power is twin 355-hp Cummins with traditional shafts and props, but it also can be ordered with Yanmars, Cats and Hamilton water jet or pod drives. But with the Cummins the boat comes on plane at 13 knots (with no perceptible bow rise) and tops out at 30, burning less than a gallon a mile at cruising speed.
The Quadraconic hull dates to Frank Pembroke Huckins, who founded the company, and he meant it to combine the best of displacement and planing hulls. It has a sharp entry followed by four distinct conical sections and flat aft sections. A series of steps helps to boost the boat up on plane quickly. The hull worked so well that the Navy used it for PT boats (many built at the Huckins yard in Jacksonville, Florida) in the Second World War.
Inside, the new Atlantic 44 comes with one or two stateroom arrangements, with one head. The master is in the bow, with a queen berth with drawers under and two hanging lockers; the second stateroom would be to port, with upper and lower berths and one hanging locker. The head is to starboard, with a separate shower.
Up top, the bridge deck has helm and companion seats plus settees on the sides, with Isinglass roll-up curtains for protection against the weather. The lower forward salon has a large C-shaped sofa to starboard and an entertainment center to port. The cherry woodwork and cherry varnished doors and cabinets throughout the boat are simply classic, as is the varnished mahogany toe rail, pulpit and accent molding.
Specs.: LOA: 44’10”; Beam: 13’9”; Draft: 3’0”; Disp.; 23,000; Fuel: 406; Water: 115; Power: 2×355-hp Cummins diesels. Also twin 370-hp Yanmars, or twin 350 Cats.
