The Ocean Alexander 60 Trawler is not designed for a quick trip to Kawau or the 'bottom end', this is a vessel destined for the high seas
I remember the first time I was invited aboard an Ocean Alexander. It was the mid-1980s and the era of the "go fast" launches. Formula 4000s were in such demand impatient would-be owners waved large cheques under the noses of those higher up the waiting list, happily prepared to pay
a premium to jump the queue.
High top speeds (and garish interiors) were the standards by which these shallow draft cruisers were often judged; in the quest for ever greater speeds, triple engines installations, while never the norm, became less rare.
Then, into this world of excess, speed and flash came the Ocean Alexander - an incredible counterpoint to all those Formulas and Vindexs.
Here was a boat whose top speed was barely on the plane, which had no large cockpit for the obligatory fishing and diving and which looked more like a work boat.
It was, indeed, one of the first of the trawler-style of larger boats that have now become so popular.
Twenty-odd years later, Ocean Alexander is still making trawler-style boats, although their offerings are much bigger, ranging from the Megayacht 155 to the 54 Trawler. In between are seven styles of Motoryacht, a couple of Pilothouse and their two Trawler models.
Their new 60 Trawler is the second smallest in their fleet, even though it weighs in at more than 33.5 tonnes, has a LOA of over 18m and a beam of more than 5m.
It is a remarkable achievement for a boatbuilder that got into the business almost by accident. Alexander Chueh was a Taiwanese hardware manufacturer who had no plans to become a boatbuilder until he ended up with a boatyard as payment for a debt in the 1970s. Being something of a serial entrepreneur, he enthusiastically accepted the challenge.
Understanding that Americans (then, even more than today, the largest market for such boats) viewed vessels from the Far East with something close to contempt, he signed US yacht designer Ed Monk jnr.
It was a canny move. Monk, who had a strong reputation for tough and seaworthy yachts in the Pacific Northwest, drew up a sturdy trawler.
Over the succeeding decades, Ocean Alexander has become known for producing good-looking and seaworthy vessels.
This latest offering, the new 60ft (18m) Trawler Extended Cruiser, is "extended" in two meanings of the word: it is designed for extended voyaging and it is also a stretched version of the company's popular 54 Trawler.
Monk has again drawn the lines although the hull shape is a long way from his earlier warped-plane designs. The 60 Trawler sports what the company calls an "S-bow," featuring a melon-seed-shape, rather than a round one. This has been designed to dampen the pitch and lower resistance by up to 5 per cent.
The vessel is still firmly in the trawler camp, and obviously an offshore cruiser. The no-nonsense bow is flared and there is a substantial Portuguese bridge that is also, when conditions allow and when at anchor, an additional entertainment area. The walkaround decks are made secure by high bulwarks capped by stainless steel rails, husky rubbing strakes will handle the occasional scraped piling, and the bridgedeck extends full beam, protecting the saloon and main deck from sun or rain.
The interior is one of understated elegance with the realities of ocean cruising (such as the watertight Diamond Sea-Glaze Dutch door with dogging latches, the overhead hand rails in the saloon and the hard-wearing teak-and-holly sole) never far away. The saloon is on the same level as the small aft deck (small by modern flybridge cruiser standards).
One takes a couple of steps up to reach the galley and a further three up to the bridge. As is common on such vessels, there is a settee and table overlooking the helm and instrument panel.
The guest cabin is forward, with a queen-sized berth and a private head with a large shower stall. The full beam master stateroom, aft, also has a queen-sized berth with the head featuring a space-saving pocket door and a man-sized shower with a seat.
Also just aft is a cabin that can be fitted as a crew compartment (with a pair of bunks and accessed by stairs from the salon) or as a dressing-area-cum-laundry.
The 60 Trawler's top deck is given over to a large flybridge and an even bigger aft deck. The steering station, protected by a reverse screen and a sturdy-looking bimini cover, is well forward with twin helm seats and a settee and table close behind.
The boat deck, two steps below the bridge level, is vast. Fully surrounded by double stainless steel rails that give safe passage forward along the helm area, it is easily big enough to handle a large RIB as well as several water toys, all able to be launched with the accompanying davit. A mini galley, with sink, fridge and grill completes the picture.
The 60 Trawler comes standard with 300-horsepower John Deere diesels but a worthwhile upgrade is to the twin 455-horsepower Caterpillar C7s. These will give a top speed of around 14 knots at wide open throttle and a comfortable and economical cruise at 12 knots. Bow and stern thrusters make it easy to manoeuvre the reasonably wind-affected ship, especially in close quarters or when encountering strong crosswinds.
Although there are not huge numbers of Ocean Alexanders here local distributor Waterline International is keen to increase their popularity.
Ocean Alexander 60 Trawler
LOA: 18.14m
LWL: 15.39m
Beam: 5.10m
Draft: 1.55m - 1.68m
Displacement: 33,566kg (approx)
Max Speed: 14 knots
Cruise Speed: 12 knots
Construction: GRP, balsa and foam cores
Fuel Capacity: 7760 litres
Water Capacity: 1893 litres
Want a full review of the Ocean Alexander 60 Trawler?
It appears in the latest issue of Pacific Motoryacht, on sale now or at www.pacificmotoryacht.com.
