Duchy 27 Review by Aquaholic

A True Gentleman’s Cruiser

AUDIO TRANSCRIPT

This is a Duchy 27, these are built by Cockwells down in Cornwall and this is a really lovely picnic boat, day boat, weekender, however we want to use it. You can imagine this, slipping down the River Thames on a beautiful day and you could easily see it punching out of Yarmouth and heading across the Solent. It’s that kind of boat, It’s designed to be really easy to use, look very elegant and just be a great day out on the water. In fact, you could weekend on this as well. I’ll show you the cabin of course. But a lovely, lovely looking piece of kit with very elegant lines to it. Let’s go on board, have a look and I’ll give you the full tour.

Credits: Nick Burnham

EXTERIOR

Now we’re going to access this one via the transom of the bathing platform. This is quite nifty, you see it’s got this section here, you can unclip this and then it rolls right over and becomes a little step into the boat. I’ll slip my shoes off. And then here what you’ve got is a lovely seating area where you can relax around the back of the boat as my bag’s doing at the minute. And another seat just up there as well so that makes that quite a social area. This table of course will unfold so if you want to dine out here, then you certainly can do.

And as we head on forward, this is the engine box, we’ll come back to the mechanics in a moment. But that’s why that is like that. It also makes quite a good seating area because this links you back to here and this one allows people to join the guys and girls up at the helm.

There’s a cockpit fridge like so, well stocked. Then over here are things like all the battery switches and breakers and that kind of thing are in there. The helm is up here. And this is a particularly nice touch, look at this, this is a custom tool kit for the boat. Lift that one out and you can see more underneath. It’s a rather nice touch. And if you look at this, you can see how these joints are all done on here, it’s all proper woodworking, very nice indeed.

Windscreen wipers as well, there’s a bow thruster on this one, it’s got the Simrad Navigation screen and then up here is the engine instrumentation and all the switch gears. So these are all circuit breakers so you can flick these on and off very easily and they just fire back off if there’s a problem.

VHF radio is up here and I mentioned the wipers, those are the wipers actually on the screen. And there’s a navigation seat alongside, very nice and you’ve got this opening roof sections as well so you get plenty of ventilation through here and these windows also slide. So you can really open this out and get plenty of fresh air out through this area.

INTERIOR

Let’s head on inside. It’s pretty straightforward, this boat. You’ve got a small galley area over here on the port side. That’s a hanging locker, you can drop some bits and pieces in there. Again, look at the way the woodwork is done on here. It’s all proper stuff. Look at this, Cockwells are really known for their woodworking, they build custom boats as well and superyacht tenders and that kind of thing so I know a bit about traditional boat building. In here, that’s designed for all your crockery and then there’s a bit more storage down underneath.

And up ahead of this is a very nice little seating area so you can tuck yourself away from the weather, you get a bit of a shower or you want to come down here in the evening for a drink, then you can do. And in fact, you’ll see that there’s lips on both sides, that’s so that you can put an infill on there, put a cushion in and you can make that into a double bed if you want to. So if you want to sleep on the boat, it’s not a problem, it is a weekender as well.

Big hatch overhead, plenty of light and ventilation through here and again more storage. And those are infill cushions I think for the cockpit, looking at the colour of them, I’m gonna guess. That fella there is a central heating outlet, this one’s actually got heating on it. This is a customer’s boat.

Now if you come back here, this is the heads, compact but does the job. The sea toilet is in here, it’s got an electric flush on it. There’s a shower that can pull out of here and this drains. It’s a bit of a sit-down shower because it’s fairly low but nonetheless, it’s there for a bit of a spruce up in the morning, you can do. As I say, it’s a day boat really but with overnighting potential. I mean you can use it how you want, of course. You could spend a week on here if you were so minded but as I say, that’s generally the concept of these. It’s stylish, isn’t it?

It’s a 200 horsepower Nanni and that’s giving this boat about 22 knots, cruising at 18. So great for coastal passages but as I say, if you just want to slip up a river quietly, it’ll do that too. It’s certainly extremely accessible and you can see there’s a straight shaft drive. So all very simple, a gearbox in the back of the engine, shaft and propeller on the other end of that outside of the hull. Excellent! Let’s drop that back down.

Now the last thing to talk about is the decks. We haven’t had to wander around the outside, there’s a step up here and you’ve got handrails here and here so it’s really easy to move around. But also, these decks are nice and low. So if you come into a marina, it’s a really easy step off onto the pontoon. You’re not having to rush around the back or leap on or off. It’s just a gentle step up and you’re on the boat. And up here on the front is teak decks, as you can see. That’s that hatch above the cabin and right up here, you’ve got your anchor winch which is electric with the buttons just there.

SUMMARY

That is a smart boat though, isn’t it? I think I’m going to sit up here and say, there you go, that’s the Duchy 27 by Cockwells. I think it’s a lovely little motorboat. Hope you’ve enjoyed that one. Let me know what you think about it in the comments and if you’ve not subscribed, do me a favour, hit the little button, come and join the fun. Plenty more of these coming, we’ll catch you on the next one. Take care, bye-bye!

The Duchy 27 is just one of the many impressive models in the Duchy Motor Launches range. For more information, here’s another review of the Duchy 27 by Dans Boat Life and to see the full list, here’s a complete overview of the Duchy range. If you believe this is the type of boat you’re seeking, please don’t hesitate to give us a call. If you want to know more, check out Aquaholic’s review on the Duchy 35, Duchy Sport, and Hardy 42 Hybrid and Hardy 50 – two of the magnificent models in the Hardy Motor Yachts range.

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