Broom Boats 395 (2010-)

Brief Summary

While we were at the London Boat Show, which is held each January, a boat caught our eye which we would like to see a lot more of. It was the Broom 395, with what the builder calls a “2 plus 2” layout. It has two cabins and two heads, a galley down, a salon up, and a helm/bridge deck cockpit that is high, but not a flying bridge. This concept harks back to boats built in the 1940s and ‘50s. In this day of nearly omnipresent express cruisers, it is a breath of fresh air to see a modern version of a great old idea. And the more we looked at the Broom 395, the more we liked it.

Obviously this boat is built for northern climes. But whether you live in the chilly north or the sub-topics, this boat has a lot to recommend it. Its helm is high with great visibility, yet is not difficult to reach as is a flying bridge. And the wrap-around seating of the cockpit abaft the three-seat helm is large. Directly below is the master stateroom which takes advantage of the full beam of the boat and is probably the largest you will find on any 39-footer, and certainly larger than what you will find on any 39’ express cruiser. The salon is not down in a dark dungeon, but is high, bright with large windows port, starboard, and forward, and it is large because the galley is down. Historically, Americans have called this layout a tri-cabin or aft-cabin design, and both sides of the Atlantic many of these boats have often looked boxy and – frankly – ugly. But to our eye, the Broom 395 is neither, and we found its rounded trunk cabin relatively sleek, well-designed, with pleasing lines to our nautical eye. With this concept you get a lot of boat for the money, and with the single diesel version operating costs will be kept low.