When classical meets modern

The Upfold 16m mid-pilothouse launch Bellagio shows a turn of speed. Picture / Boating New Zealand.

User-friendly, sea-kindly and economical are all attributes that combine to give great performance, and that's the formula Auckland designer Bill Upfold has perfected with his mid-pilothouse designs that hark back to the classic bridgedeckers of a much earlier era.

The latest to go into the water is the 16m Bellagio. Upfold says it provides the same accommodation and space as a flybridge boat of the same length, but the profile is half a level lower.

Instead of having the engines under the cockpit, the mid-pilothouse has the cockpit and galley low, and the saloon forward and half a level higher above the engines. The bridge is half a level above that, aft over the galley.

"With Bellagio, the transitions from galley to saloon and saloon to bridge are left open to maintain an easy flow throughout the boat," Upfold says. "With a flybridge configuration there is a definite separation between living areas and bridge.

"It is equally important that the lower profile attracts less windage, which makes for a more efficient boat under way and a more obedient boat at anchor."

Better family boating was the objective when Upfold adapted the bridgedecker concept to his designs 20 years ago.

His mother, then in her 70s, was having difficulty negotiating the steep steps to the flybridge. By looking back a good many years it became obvious that split levels would require fewer steps and a gentler gradient to move through the boat.

The concept reaches its full potential when applied to the wider beam of modern launches. It also allows separation between the living areas, which in Bellagio's case means children up front and adults aft.

Owners Maurice McKenzie and wife Daphne have two sons, both married and with small children.

The configuration of the launch uses the saloon to ensure that the grandparents get a good night's undisturbed sleep. The children sleep in a three-berth cabin forward, with their parents in an adjacent cabin to starboard and a bathroom and shower to port.

The saloon midships has wide comfortable settees either side and a small coffee table, leaving plenty of space for entertaining. The entertainment system includes plasma TV, DVD and MP3.

The galley has benchtop stove, convection/microwave oven, a fridge which doubles as a freezer depending on the temperature selected and frosted glass-fronted storage areas.

Opposite the galley is the owners' double cabin, which is a long way from the children's space up front. The ensuite is also the day head, close to the cockpit.

Each bathroom has a hot water cylinder, avoiding the heat loss when the water has to travel the length of the boat.

The forward double cabin has access to the engineroom. Here the twin 450hp Caterpillar 3126B engines sit in a stark white setting with excellent access all round. They easily achieve the owner's requirement of 20 knots cruising speed.

The McKenzies had admired the 15m Upfold design Simply Red when it was being built at the Clevedon yard of Scott Lane. After Simply Red was launched they commissioned Bellagio. It is Lane's third Upfold design and he is now working on another, a 60-footer.

The boats and the design speak for themselves. There are 44 Upfold boats in the water, 70 per cent of them mid-pilothouse launches, with another six of these being built.

The name resulted from a visit by the McKenzies to the Italian town of Bellagio, which they loved. The name translates as "nice place to be" - very appropriate for a boat.

The price: $1.8 million to $2.3 million depending on the fit-out.

* Boating New Zealand's May issues has an has an extended review of Bellagio at www.elitemarine.co.nz