BOAT REPORT S


hafts or sterndrives, which are better? This question has prompted debate since Mercury engineer Charlie Strang mated a car engine to the lower unit of an outboard motor back in 1948. There


are various arguments for and against both propulsion options but one thing the shaftdrive brigade can’t deny is the easy access to a sterndrive if something becomes tangled around the propeller out at sea, something that we (accidentally) put to the test during our sea trial of the Marex 310 Sun Cruiser. During the performance test, we passed close


to what looked like a deflated football floating on the surface of the water. So small was it, and so difficult to pick up amongst the stubby wavelets in Studland Bay, we couldn’t perceive that it could possibly be any sort of fishing buoy. Clearly we were naïve to what the local fishing fleet deems an appropriate method of


marking pots because as we rounded it, the revs dropped and the boat lurched briefly before struggling on, heavily laboured by its new appendage. We throttled back and cut the engine before lifting the single sterndrive up to get a closer look. A tangled mass of rope had become entwined tightly around the Duoprop and made a real nuisance of itself. If this were a shaftdrive boat it would have


been game over. There was no mask on board and even if there had been, we didn’t much fancy plunging in on a brisk October morning. No, our Botnia Targa chase boat would have been playing tug. But with a combination of a couple of bursts in reverse to untangle the worst of it and some manipulation of the counter-rotating props by hand, we managed to free ourselves and continue with the test. Undoubtedly Marex decided to use a


sterndrive for design and dynamic reasons, but a yard with a such a focus on practical, useable


boatbuilding will be thrilled at this handy by-product of the sterndrive leg. Based on a similar blueprint to the larger 375, the 310 is cockpit focussed and positively ripples with intelligent design solutions. A perfect example is the curtain canopy system that encloses the cockpit in a matter of seconds. The canopies stow in upright lockers beneath the hardtop and slide around on runners to meet in the middle. Close the fore and aft-sliding roofs and you have a fully protected main deck without the hassle of zips, poppers or any real effort. There’s more; the storage beneath the


cockpit seating doesn’t require you to remove cushions and locker lids because all the lids pop open on twin gas struts to reveal beautifully lined storage voids with their own drain points. The teak decking is thick and substantial, running forward around the side decks to add that extra touch of class and the dinette table, which drops down to create


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