New 3900 Tiara

The new 3900 joins four other Tiara "Opens" -- express
boats that you can make into a cruising boat or a fishing boat. Either way you decide
to go, you'll have a functional, soild boat under your feet built by a family (the
Slikkers) that has a reputation in the boating industry second to none for standing
behind their products. Like all of the opens, the optional equipment you add will
take the boat in the direction you want to go -- cruising or fishing.

The new 3900 joins nine other boats to round out the Tiara family of boats at ten.

The 3900 weighs in dry at 24,500 lbs. (11,113 kg.), has a 15' beam (4.57 m.) and
draws 3'6' (1.06 m.). She has one statroom forward with a pedestal bunk and ensuite
head. So if you are going cruising, chances are you'll be doing it with your significant
other, and this boat makes a fine cruiser for two. If you are going to use her for
fishing, you'll want to invest in the optional "Tournament Series Options" that
Tiara makes available.



The 3900 has as standard equipment most things that you'd expect to find in a boat
at this price point ($589k MSRP with twin Cummins 550-hp QSC 8.3 diesel inboards),
but I'm going to point out a couple of things that caught our eye as we perused
the standard list. Most are minor things, but we know from specing out boats over
the years that the absence of small things can be aggravating. There is nothing
worse then spending a bundle on a boat that is supposed to be top-of-the-line
only to discover that you can't sleep late because sunlight is coming through the
hatch.


No Tweets on a Tiara



Tiara has thought of that and has fitted its Lewmar deck hatches with Ocean Air
screens. Ocean Air is a small Connecticut company that makes the finest system
we know of in the business. Their product fits under the hatch and has both a screen
to keep the flies and mosquitos out but also another one to keep the sun out. They
are not cheap, and it is a sign that Tiara knows what it's doing. Another thing
that amazes us is the frequent absence of exhaust fans in head compartments. Yup, a number
of top-end builders don't install them either as standard or optional. The 3900
has one in the head and another in the galley.



We like the standard teak and holly cabin sole and the dual trumpet Kahlenberg horns.
How would you like to have a half a million dollar yacht that goes "tweet, tweet,
tweet"?


Lastly, we come to a standard that is serious business: the 3900 has two "composite"
fiberglass fuel tanks. Aluminum fuel tanks are potentially problematical. The reason
is that they can rust through. They can be mounted correctly (NEVER on foam as one
of Tiara's competitors does) but all they need is standing water on the top of the
tank from a leaky deck, A/C condenser, or dripping water line and you can have trouble.
Fiberglass or plastic solves the problem.


Pricing the Options



We spent 10 minutes going down the 3900 option list to fet out the boat for a cruising
couple who wanted to travel from Canada to the Bahamas. It is easy to do on Tiara's
great website where you will find almost everything you need to know, including
the price of the boat and the cost of each of the options. We started with hardtop
cruising style arch, a $25,900 option, progressed to the Raymarine G-Series total
electronic package (HD Radar, 3D chartpotter, depthfinder that goes deeper than
most, GPS, video, big screen, AIS, etc.) for $47,280, a bow thruster ($7340), Stidd
power helm seat ($7460), underwater lights ($3500), four portlights ($2140), all
chain windlass ($2340), fridge and freezer under the mezzanine seating because cruising
folk never have enough refer and freezer space ($3760), bilge crash pumps ($2920),
galley ice maker ($840), and a few other things. We took a pass on the bow spotlight
with ACR remote because we have never seen one that worked long. We prefer the old
fashioned manual type that is afixed to the hardtop over the helm.



Our total for factory options added up to be $114,300. That brings us to a little
over $700k, and we're well on our way to a go anywhere coastal boat for a cruising
couple. The new 3900 will be on the fall and winter boat show circuit.



If you enjoyed this exercise, why not go to Tiara's website and price out your
own dream yacht? Tiara models start at 30'.
Click here.