PMY TESTED: CHEOY LEE 68 SPORT MOTORYACHT

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was d e lighted . Th l' gl" '''Io 'd bee n

dri vin g the C I1('O\ 1 ( ' ( ' ( i~- Ioo t Spo rt

Motoryacht ll'h ill' I I ('Corded radar-gun

a nd o th er clat,1 dU I ing th e sea tri a l

pulled I he T\\ i II Disc electronic engine

contro ls in to neutral. celllered the wheel, and

hopped dO\\1l frolll the Tracy helm chair. As he

slid back th e hatc h over th e sta irway leadin g

from the fl ying bridge down to th e lower helm

station and the rest of the inte lio r, he offered a

bri ef ex pl a na ti o n fo r hi s de parture. H e was

going below to make some coffee, he said. "\'e 'd

departed Fa n Lauderdale a l slich an ungainly

hour, he'd missed his morning raLi on.

"She's all yours," he glinned, gestllring toward

th e ra l1lbun cli o us wate rs o f th e Gulf Strea m

ahead as well as the hel m chair he 'djust vacated.

"You wanna cup when it's fini hed?"

"Sure, " 1 repli ed , with an e lllhusiasm partly

born e of nove lty. I seldom have th e opportuni ty

to put a tes t boat thro ugh her paces withou t a

manufac ture r 's rep , d ea le r , o r profess io nal

captain breathing down my neck. I ot thal Lh ere 's an)llhing wrong

WiUl hmring a litue company during a wring-out, of course. BUl hey,

being left alone on ule btidge ofa $2.37-mjll ion mOLOIY<IC ht WiUl ule

whole Vli.ld-blue Auantic in ule offing lends LO boost a guy's spirits as

much as inlensify his power of concenLration.

So here's whal l did. First, I selued comfortably into th e he lm

chair. Then , I gave the Furuno NavNet plollerglowing on the dash­

board a quick glance, clicked our two ] ,400-hp Caterpillar 3412Es

illio lo rward idle, and aimed Ule Cheoy Lee's big bow straight into

lilt, four- to six-foole rs Ulat were rolling down from ule norul, Then

11I1 . lih-, afle r scanning ahead for

(I II" IIIg- v('sse ls and tossing

K\.II11 (" ()\( ' I bOlh shoulders to

111.11 ( \I II (' IIIl'l'c we re no over­

I"~IIIK lilli " I lil('wa ll ed the

111111111. '. 111\\ 11 hilI sure ly,

\I IIlrld 1111 1.1\111 lilt.. illlprcs­

" " I" \ d ,rill ... 11 \""llI'd 11 \111('

b"<lI \ llII IIIIIII,III1' \ t.lllrill l'llI

ulltii'lldl I .. d , ,, .irt.lI\ .1111111\ '

132 Power & Motoryacltl r bru ry

Leather upholstery and cherry joinery beautify the saloon (above),

The galley (below) offers Avonite countertops and Amtico flooring.

The first six-fooler encouI1lered al fu ll speed answered lhe ques­

lion MUl a vengeance. Our lest boal sundered Ul e darn uling Wilh

ule hungry efficiency of a bu ll shark hilting a macke rel. Creat glops

of spray, cupped by Ule bow's dramatic flare, shot aft like low-nying

rocket exhaust, lea\ring Lhe entire superstrucLUre bone-<:l ry, The ride

was limousine-smooth , too, thanks to an entry thal's boul fine and

deep, forward sections Ulat are sharp, and a 10ngiLUdinai center of

gravity situated wel l aft, in large

part due to a remoLe-coupled \'­

drive configuration tha t consigns

engine weight to Lhe back o fLh e

bus.

I piled a couple of turns on to

the hydraulica ll y actuated,

power-assisted steering wheel and

swung the bow lhrough a tighl ,

rousing U-shape turn , evenLuall)

steadyi ng up on a southweste rly course, with wind and waves abaft

th e beam . Head seas we ren't th e 68's real ro rte, I was discovering.

T ight rums and folloll~ ng seas were what truly showcased her talents.

Le t's talk about th e turns first. Alth ough the 68 possesses a sub­

stantial, lo bsterboat-like keel, she banks smoothly and comfortably

into llJrllS, even tight ones, showing no tendency to lean precariously

o u tboa rd . T his la tte r co nditi o n is a disco nce rting o ne fo r most

The master stateroom (above) is super-sized. Abaft it, our test boat

had an optional his and her head, with an athwartship shower stall

between. The lower helm (below) is part of a dedicated wheelhouse.

people, including me, and results fro m the unhappy com bination

of top-heal~ ness I'I~th a keel that has so much broadside surface a rea

that inboard pressure dUl-ing turns tips the vessel outboard . The fiR

avoids th ese pitfalls I~a two simple measures, according to th e f() lb

a t Tom Fexas Yac h t Design , th e finll th at designed th e 68. Fi r;, l,

Co re-Cell coring was employed throughout th e enljre supe rsli llc­

ture to cut weight a lo ft and obviate LOp-heal~ n ess. And seco ll ci, Ihe

SUI-face area of the keel was reduced 'Just enough" by cutting il a\\"a)

a rt , a tec hnic]ll f' so me tim es see n in co mm e rcia l

fi shing boats.

Now about ro llowin g seas : ' ,\'ith he r tra nso m

squarely to \\"eathe r, t.he 68 tracked down-sea II~Ul

\\"ho lt'hearted con\'i("l ion-hcr nose seemed gilled

10 I h(" tall ,Iarb ,II 1'011 F\"l'l"gl"d(". j\ 10n'0I'er, she

c\' il HTd olill lilt" ,lighl(" 1 1( '11(1('11(1 101"" , " 1.11"('

OCC IIITC IH (' III 1.11 g(' , 1I10d('1 II, " "1-1 "1 11 '01 lied I ('\­

scis, whilhllpi(,tlh ,It 1( ' Iwh.,1I1d lort h ill fnllt)1I

in gscas lo, hl'cilil(' 11111111("11 111 11 1 0 1 (1I1 -n"i1illg

waves. I ,ml)('("\('ci a <I('( '!" 1"llgI III ' k("e1 lI"as ,Il lh e

bOllOlll o f lli e plil'11IHlIl'lIlHI , ,I' IH' II a, Lee (Io n­

gilllciill al ("(' nl l' l 01 g l <II ill ) I l.tI ;1I1( ed lI"i lh malh e­

matical prcci,ioll . '1I1(111i(" Inlh.,.11 Fn:a, II"ho are

respo nsible ["or such Ihillg' cOllf i n ll l'dlhcsc im­

pressions when II ClcphOlled aner I he le51..

134 Power & Motoryacht February 2004

T he skipper and I drank hot, black coffee all the way back to Laud­

e rdale . To repay him fo r his hospitality, I suggested I do deckhand

d ut)' as we eased through our marina preparing LO tie alongside a

pi er, sta rboard-side-to. Cheoy Lee bi lls the 68 as a la rge, comfortable

Ill olQryac ht tha t can be handled by two people and , based on the

slion bill sweet docking expelience that ensued , I'd say the compa­

IIY's absolutely right. ""iUl ule skipper at th e lower helm and Ule PaJl­

tograph-ty p e d oo r on th e sta rboard side thrown

open to offer fas t access to ule wide side decks, the

two of us be rthed the boat in sho rt orde r. All I had

to do was d eba rk thro ug h th e d oorway in th e

cockpit bulwarks, and he passed the lin es ove r to

me on the dock.

We bega n LO urin g th e inte ri o r imm ed ia te ly.

Whil e th e 68's la rge, roomy layo ut is co nve n­

ti onal-with a big, op en saloon, sizabl e U-shape

galley, and dedi cated (a lbe it din e tte-equi p ped )

wh eelhouse on the main deck, and ulree spacious

sta te rooms as we ll as a n e ngin e room be low- a

couple of feall.l res stood out. There was ule cherry

woodwo rk, ro r exa m pl e-m uch o f i t co nsists o f

ve nee rs molded ol'e r lightweight Nomex honey­

comb coring. Besides helping LO cut weight, it looks

great. So lid wood or veneer? [found it harcl LO te ll fo r

I il l' mos t parI.. The n th ere were th e stru ctural de ta ils th e skippe r

poinled out. Engin eered to save weight as well as add strength and

I (", ilicncy, they included full y cored fibe rglass bulkheads, stringers,

Ira nsI'c rsals, and soles th ro ughout. "And no t only is th e hu ll resin­

infused," he proclaimed as we peered tl1rough a hatch in to the gel­

coated bi lge, "ul e supersu'ucture is, LOO."

I was impressed \\~Ul the 6R's engi ne room. It was huge, wilh head­

room well ove r six feet, easy all-ro und access LO th e guardra il-pro­

tected mains, aluminum diamond plate unde l-foot, and pe rforated­

aluminum panelin g ["rom one end to the o the r. Lighting overhead

was gC llcrO ll S , an d f was ha ppy LO find a wa te rti g ht d oo r in th e

ICll"Il'a rd bll lh. hca<l I ha t opened into the shower sta ll at the rear of ule

That's the access/escape hatch positioned between the engines.

master stateroom-it serves as both an escape hatch and seagoing

access during bad weau1er when open ing the Illa in entrance on me

swim platform would be unsafe. One detai l I didn 't like was Cheo),

Lee's use of just one engine-driven emergen c), bi lge pump-wh il e

one pump 's good, two are better, especia l I)' wh e n th e pUlllp­

equipped engine decides to quil.

After the skipper and I finished up , we returned to the fl ying

bl;dge to swap a sea story or two, a fl'inge benefit in Ill)' line of work.

We lounged in me comfY chairs at the stee ring console wiu1 our fect

crossed on the dash. Afaim breeze blew. The shade offered by the

standard hardLOp lengthened. Eventua ll ), ,1 formed an overa ll

oJ>i II ion.

( :II(,(» ' Lee's 6~foot SponMotorytacht is the son of big, relaLively

1:I, t iJoat that can be easi l)' cruised and handled b)' two experienced

1)('oJ>k.

. \ nel i r one oFthem gets just a tad rowd)' at the helm , what the

ileck' The oU1er can sLi li make coffee .•

Cheoy Lee Shipyards ~ (954) 527-0999. Wllf1u.(itf'Oyll'elw'(OIll.

For additional photos, visit our Web site at powerandmoforyachf.com!webfeatllres. ~

pmv leSled: Cheoy Lee 68 Sport Motoryacht

RPM MPH GPH MIG 1M NM DECIBELS TRIM (KNOTS) (NMIG ) RANGE RA NGE (DEGREES)

1000 13.5 (11.7) 18.0 0.75 (0.65) 807 702 70 0.0 1250 15.4 (13.3) 38.0 0.40 (0.35) 436 379 72 1.5 1500 19.4 (16.8 ) 54.0 0.36 (0.31) 387 337 72 3.5 1750 24.8 (21.5) 74.0 0.33 (0.29) 361 314 73 2.5 2000 30.1 (26.1) 104.0 0.29 (0.25) 312 271 76 1.5 21 50 32.7 (28.4) 128.0 0.26 (0.22) 275 240 77 2.0 2290 35.5 (30.8) 142.0 0.25 (0.22) 270 234 78 2.0

Conditions: temperature: 86'; humidity: 80%; wind: 14 18 mph; seos: 4' to 6'; load: 500 gal. luel, 200 gal. water, 3 persons, 1,500 Ibs. gear. Speeds ore two way ove rages measured w/Stolker radar gun. GPH measured with Caterpillar luel·monitoring equipment. Rongo: 90% 01 advertised luel capacity. Decibels measured on A scale. 65 dB is the level of normal conversation. All meosuremonts token with trim tabs fully retracted.

--.

50 45 40

-a 35 .§. 30

lE 25 ~ 20

V"l 15 10

5

o

----- ./ /

V ./

/'

10 20 30 40 50

Time (seconds)

Acceleration based on overage of 4 reciprocal runs using Stalker ATS radar gun and DceonPC laptop.

136 Power & Motoryacht February 2004

Base price: $1,995,000 with 2/80Q-hp Caterpillar 3406E diesel inbaards Optional power: 2/ 875·hp Cotelpillor (l8, 2/ 1,40Q-hp 3412E, or 2/ 1,550-ltp Caterpillar C30 diesel inboards Standard equipment: Maxwell rope/ chain windloss; 32·kW Northem Ughts generator; 13.5.ftp Americon 80w· thruster; 4/ freshwater·flush Headhunter MSDs; GE range, oven, vennlation hood, and refrigerator/ freezer; Avanite countertaps; Kenmore stocked washer/ dJYer; 100ilmp shore-power service w/ Glendinning Cablernaster; 97,OOO·Btu Aqua·Air A/ C; 2/ engine-driven crash pumps; 60'amp SentJY batteJY charger; triplex Rocor fuel·water separators for mains and genset; fuelillanogement system w/ fill·Rite meter; Graco sea strainers; engine­driven emergency bilge pump; PYI dripless seals for prap shafts and rudder stocks; 1,500·lb. Nouncol Structures electro·hydraulic davit

SPECIFICA nONS length overall: 67'11" Beam: 18' 11 " Droit: 5'5" Weight (dry): 100,000 Ibs. Fuel capacity: 1,200 gal. Water capacity: 430 gal. Test engines: 2/ 1,40Q-hp Caterpillar 3412E diesel inboards Transmissions/ratio: If 1950V/2.45:1 Props: 38"x48" 4·blade Nibral Steering: Hynautic hydraulic Controfs: Hynaunc hydraulic Optional equipment on test boat: 2/ furuno NavNets w/ repeaters; 2/ Standard Quest VHfs; furuna RJJ.30 radar w/ repeoter; integral pilothouse/bridge stairwell w/ stowage under; teak overlay on oft deck; Twin Disc electronic engine controls w/ remate controls; Noiad stabilizers; Jennoir BBQ grill on flying bridge; soft goods (dropes, valance boards, Roman shades, headboards); his and her head in master; Bennett trim tabs Price as tested: $2,370,000