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Brokers and dealers like to call used boats "pre
owned," but we like the term "pre tested' much better.
One of the really great advantages of buying a used boat is that
it is, indeed, pre tested. By the time it is three years old, most
boats have been used hard enough, and long enough, that any major
problems will have manifested themselves by now. That's why you'll
find these reviews to be so much more than just a review of any
particular boat, for they will give you an insight into a wide range
of boats.
This review is based on several 3600's we've looked
at recently in the ten year old range, and all were heavily used
in sport fishing and cruising, which gives us good insight into
the products of S2 Yachts and how they hold up over the years. In
a word, very well, for the Tiara 3600 is a high quality boat that
stands the test of time. Good looking without a lot of eye candy,
it has nice clean lines and the kind of styling that is nearly timeless,
something a smart buyer looks for unless he doesn't mind getting
caught up in style obsolescence, and the big loss in resale value
that that entails.
Right from its first introduction, we've always
been impressed with this boat, but we can also understand why it
didn't sell as many copies as the builder surely had hoped. That
great styling, like so many boats of yesteryear, means a smaller
interior. For a 36 footer, the salon can only be described as cramped,
making her a somewhat less than ideal cruising boat. The house is
short and raked, with a large expanse of uncluttered fore deck.
Many folks from other parts of the country do not consider that
a convertible, or sport fisherman, could be used as a cruiser, but
here in the Southland, we have a considerably different idea about
that. Mainly because so many people like to go fishing AND cruising,
so they look for both qualities.
Part of the problem is that the layout doesn't
make the best use of space. The catwalks are really narrow, so you'd
expect that the salon should be large, but the short house precludes
that. Add to this the problem is that it is broken up with too much
counter space. That's great for finding a place to set stuff down,
but its not so good for moving around. Some folks just don't like
constantly bumping into things, which is what you end up doing on
this one.
That complaint aside, there's not much else to
criticize. One boat had been used hard, and in recent years not
well maintained. It hadn't been compounded and waxed in years, but
when this was done shortly after the purchase, the gel coat came
back beautifully and really took a shine. We also like the lack
of feature stripe tape, decals and black painted trim and accents,
which means that you don't get all the sun and heat expansion damage
that is so prevalent on late model boats. No leaky windows, no damaged
interior paneling, no cracked and faded plastics, no crummy die
cast zinc alloy fittings falling apart, no wood, no teak or other
cheap junk that can't be restored or replaced. Oh, yes, and no corroded
aluminum trim either.
No stress cracks on the bottom, or around the rub
rails or the corners of the cockpit or house sides. The decks are
balsa cored, just like we think they should be. And yes, the core
is doing just fine, adding to a more hushed ambiance inside. The
rub rails are stainless on top of molded plastic which works very
well.
How well is the hull built? In our view, about
as well as all boats should be built. Its not heavy by any means.
At 18,600 lbs. stripped, the weight is middlin, but the design parameters
put the beef where its needed, and not where its not. There really
isn't any place on this boat where you get the sense of flimsy glass.
Unfortunately, the access to the internal hull is poor, so we really
didn't get to see much of the detail work, but S2 has a good history
of doin' it right.
The cockpit is adequate for anyone but a fishin'
fool who's going to want to drop a full size tournament chair in
there, at which point things cramp up a bit. The deck is good and
solid with nicely designed gutters around the hatches that do a
good job of keeping the water out, unless you blast it with a hose.
It wisely had no bait and tackle center which would take up precious
cockpit space. The bridge ladder is well out of the way, so there's
no room behind it to squeeze in anything except an Igloo. And, surprisingly,
there is even quite a bit of storage space in the lazarette, although
you need to install your own decking back there, to keep stuff out
of the bilge water, which Tiara did not do.
You'll find the bridge layout a nearly perfect
meld of fishing function and a bit of party-time, for two pedestals
fit well and the 3-man forward set is just fine on such a small
bridge. The helm console has enough real-estate that you can sprinkle
around a few tin soldiers up there (your electronic gizmos).
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| The bridge is well laid out with a
good view of the cockpit. A full tower fits very well. |
The engine room? Well, here you pay the price for
squeezing a pair of Cat 3208's in there along with the generator.
But owners can count their blessings that the genny isn't under
the cockpit deck. Getting at stuff down there is a tough proposition,
even for routine maintenance, so you need to clear out the salon
and pull the hatches.
With the 320 HP Cats she's a bit on the slow side
but does fine with the 375's, okay with Crusader 350's and rather
slow with the Merc 330's. But with the 320's, you'll get a heck
of a lot of engine life from them. Handling? It has a reasonably
deep entry, but the overall vee is quite shallow. As a true fishing
machine, this is where it falls flat, for its not going to keep
up even with a Hatteras when the going gets rough. The trade-off
here is speed versus rough water performance. Its going to be bumpy
in a short chop.
If what we see of the exterior is first rate, the
interior falls a little short of that. Some of the materials just
don't match the quality of the rest of the boat. The good news is
that interior renovations are not expensive.
The price? These boats hold their value so the
prices are up there. But, in our view, worth every penny. This boat
is built to last, and last it does. No future tense here.
Verdict? In terms of overall engineering and quality,
this is as good as your going to get in its class without going
to a specialty boat. We shaved a half-star off for the interior
and bottom, but that's about it. Comparing it with others in its
class, such as the Hatteras 36C and the Bertram 37C, about all we
can say is that all three are very different boats, each having
different strong suits. The Tiara is a bit lower in price, the quality
generally just a tad less, but in 1987 was not serious contender
with the other two as a fishing platform.
Related article: Tiara Today
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are "reviews", not surveys, and bear no resemblance
to our survey reports.
We do not publish the results of the surveys that we perform.
Please note that the purpose of these reviews is educational,
to help you discern the differences in quality among boats generally.
They are not offered as a means to help you evaluate any particular
boat builder. We have no other reviews than those posted. |
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