Captain's Report by Capt. Steve



With her sharp profile, and lots of glass, the Cruisers Yachts 430 SC was a joy to drive, says our test captain. Best cruise was 28.4 mph with a range of over 300 miles.



The 430 features a settee to port and galley to starboard, and berths fore and aft.



With lots of glass surrounding the coupe cockpit, and the trademark Cruisers Yachts high overhead, there's little concern about visibility. That's my clinometer stuck in the middle of the window for measuring bow rise.



At first I was concerned about the windshield frames blocking the view but it turned out to not be a factor once I got used to it.

Performance and Handling

With an empty weight of 22,000 lbs, 3/4 fuel and two people onboard, we had a test weight of 23,700 lbs. With twin 370-hp IPS 500 pods powering our 430 Sport Coupe we reached a top speed of 37 mph at 3550 rpm. At that speed we were burning 41 gph while getting .9 mpg for a range of 243 miles. Best cruise came in at 3000 rpm and 28.4 mph. Now we were getting a 25 gph fuel burn and 1.14 mpg for a range of 307 miles. We had a time to plane of 6.3 seconds, reached 20 mph in 8.2 seconds, and 30 mph in 15 seconds.

Now while we didn't get to take the 430 SC offshore, you can tell a lot about a boat by crossing wakes and seeing how it handles them. In that regard, the 430 was excellent. Crossing at an angle showed no deflection of our heading, and we seemed to cut right through the waves rather than launch up and over. If I slowed down, we went over, and the re-entry was smooth and well mannered. When I took the wakes on the beam, we had a roughly 5-degree list, and again, with no alteration of heading. And try as I might, I failed to manage to take any spray on the windshield.

Stern Tour



The cockpit entertainment center offers options that will make your time at anchor, or even at the dock, as enjoyable as when you're cruising.

The aft seating of the 430 SC is much like you'd find in any other boat in class. Wrap-around seating with storage underneath, tables that lower to form a sun pad… To port is an entertainment center, and the usual cast of options is available to make it what you want to use it for. Choose from a Kenyon gas grill (add $1,835), a cockpit fridge (add $2,010) or icemaker (add $1,960).

Now if you really want to class up your 430, you can opt for teak decking in either synthetic (add $6,025 for cockpit, same for swim platform) or real teak (add $13,320 for cockpit, $11,815 for swim platform) but that would be hard to justify. I have to say I rather enjoyed the look of the snap-in carpet, and being able to remove it for easy cleaning was a benefit to my way of thinking.

Helm Deck



An organized helm awaits the skipper of the 430 and Cruisers Yachts offers two electronics packages to fill the empty space in the center. Notice the grab rail for the observer, and the heat/AC vents to either side.



It appears that Cruisers Yachts went to some effort to mount the controls at an angle and I'm not sure why. I'd like to see both the engine controls and the joystick mounted on the horizontal. Here you can't really see the control buttons on the back of the control head, so if you opt to have any of those features (like cruise control, add $2285 diesel only) on your boat, you're going to have an issue.

The helm deck is elevated, and accessed via two 6" (15.2 cm) steps from the aft cockpit. The helm looked unremarkable due to the empty space for the nav electronics, and I measured 29" (73.7 cm) of open real estate for accommodating a pair of 12" (30.5 cm) flat panels. Analog gauges were above, and included my two favorites … the rudder angle indicator and depth gauge. Two levels of electronics are available through Cruisers. The base system consists of the depth finder, GPS, and Ray E120 widescreen (add $7,650). The premium package upgrades the depth to add temp, plus a 4kw radar and autopilot (add $21,185 for V-drive, $23,950 for IPS integrated autopilot). You can also add VHF to either package for $785.

To port is the usual lounger that keeps the observer in the conversational range of the skipper. The stereo, with 12V supply and MP3 port are just ahead, and there are additional vents for heat/AC as well.



One feature I like about the 430 is the sliding sunroof. Pull it back and you can stand up as you walk through the windshield to go forward. It's not on an electric slider, but I found it to be counter-weighted just right so that it slides nearly effortlessly on its tracks.

The walkthrough windshield is huge, and thankfully, Cruisers Yachts inter-connected the latches so that when you turn the top latch, the bottom turns with it. A great feature since you can never reach that lower one.



The sofa is upholstered in ultra-leather. It's surrounded in storage cabinets, and the cabinet housing the ship's electrical is to the rear. Plenty of storage under the master berth and alon the sides of the cabin.



Adjacent to the stairs is a liqour cabinet. Notice the cherry veneer against the synthetic teak deck.



The hull side windows, combined with the overhead hatches, add a lot of natural light to this salon.

Moving Down Below Decks…

As soon as you walk down the stairs, you are met with an open and roomy salon that has impossibly high overheads. In fact, I couldn't even reach the overhead at 7'3" (2.21 m). The queen island berth is forward and privacy is via a curtain that pulls across. Cruisers Yachts is big on storage and there are the usual accommodations below and to the sides, but not everyone puts the storage in the bow flare, and I was happy to see it here.

At the aft end of the salon are two cherry laminate doors. To starboard is the head with a separate shower stall. To port is the aft cabin with twin guest berths, and they easily convert to a single queen. More importantly, this aft stateroom features a separate vanity and water closet, which makes a perfect combination for two people to get ready for a night on the town at the same time.

Power and Pricing

You have several choices for powering your 430 SC. If gas engines are your preference, then there's the 425-hp Merc 8.2's v-drives with digital throttle, and fresh water cooling for $590k. The Volvo Penta 8.2L 400-hp 550G with IPS will set you back $658,390. For diesel you have the 370-hp IPS 500's for $716,940, or the 435-hp IPS 600's for $760,610.

If you opt for the diesel versions, then you can also add cruise control for $2285 and Dynamic Positioning System for $31,565, both of which are activated by buttons already on the control module and joystick, so no additional dash drilling is required.

Cruisers Yachts did a good job with the 430. Her fit and finish are executed very well, and I found her to be a comfortable boat inside and out.

Recommendation

Because the IPS500 diesel option is $170,000 more than the V-drive gas engines, boaters are going to have to carefully consider this option and we really can help in that decision. And there is yet another option, and at is the new 41 Cantius. In the end, our advice is to carefully compare these two Cruisers Yachts models to find the one that meets your needs and budget. Both are fine yachts.

• Top speed for the Cruisers Yachts 430 Sports Coupe (2012-) is 37.0 mph (59.5 kph), burning 41.0 gallons per hour (gph) or 155.18 liters per hour (lph).


• Best cruise for the Cruisers Yachts 430 Sports Coupe (2012-) is 28.4 mph (45.7 kph), and the boat gets 1.14 miles per gallon (mpg) or 0.48 kilometers per liter (kpl), giving the boat a cruising range of 307 miles (494.07 kilometers).


• Tested power is 2 x 370-hp Volvo Penta IPS500.