Cranchi 58

Chi é Quella Donna?

(“Who is that Woman?”)

Her name is  pronounced “Krahn-Kee”

By Doug Thompson / Billy Black Photos

In golf, you drive for show and putt for dough. In boating, you drive for show and DOCK for dough. While piloting a boat isn’t always easy, it’s around the dock where reputations are won or lost, where knees turn to jelly and cuss words fly. Every available hand is used as a human bumper, fending off of pilings and other boats’ bows, as those on the dock watch and judge every decision. It can take months or even years to attain docking confidence, depending on your skill and the boat’s equipment.

In the case of the Cranchi Fifty 8 Fly that I sea-trialed, it can take just a couple of hours to feel like a seasoned old salt ready to take on the high seas and the most difficult docking situation. The key to my confidence on the Fifty 8 Fly is the splendid pairing with Volvo Penta’s 900 IPS engines and Joystick low-speed control. Cranchi introduced the brand-new fiberglass-hull Fifty 8 Fly last year and builds her for exclusive IPS use. The boat I ran out of the Harbour Towne Marina in Dania Beach had twin IPS/2 900 engines (700 horsepower each), the maximum horsepower. You can also order IPS/2 800, 600-hp engines.

However, I believe in adhering to the old maxim of “Never under-power your boat.” With the IPS 900 engines, the Fifty 8 Fly cruises beautifully at 21 knots at 1800 rpm, burning 40 gallons per hour. With a 528-gallon fuel tank, you can run more than 280 nautical miles with a 10 percent reserve. A similar boat with straight-shaft power would be burning 65 gallons per hour instead of 40, so that’s a significant difference.

But the benefit of pairing the Cranchi and the IPS goes beyond the excellent fuel economy. First, there’s the Humphree Interceptor Trim System that Volvo Penta uses to help the Fifty 8 Fly maintain trim in confused seas. When employed in automatic ride-control mode, a gyro activates the transom-mounted Humphree Interceptor blades and causes them to drop, digging into the water and causing the transom to lift. The constant raising and lowering of the interceptor blades keeps the boat level, even in lock-to-lock turns. Initially it feels strange to go hard over to port and not have the boat lean and dig into the turn, but you get used to it fast.

“The pitch and roll from the gyro and the inputs from the steering wheel are tied together by fly-by-wire technology,” explained Russell Forkert, President of Yacht Works, the U.S. dealer for Cranchi, who accompanied me on the sea trial. “The boat gets on plane incredibly quickly because as soon as the boat starts to rise, the blades come down. The blades don’t go down more than three inches but they create a tremendous amount of lift, which is what IPS boats need.”

IPS also makes low-speed maneuvering around the docks simple so you can dock like a pro, and the Joystick control is easy to learn. Cranchi was involved with the IPS development from the start more than eight years ago on its Cranchi 43.

“The 43 was a very successful boat for Cranchi and had a lot to do with the success of IPS,” Forkert explained. “I had a customer whose first boat was a 50-footer without IPS and it was a nightmare. He couldn’t dock or drive it. Then I sold him a Cranchi 43 with IPS and he loved it, and traded that in for a soft-top Cranchi 56 with IPS.”

Specifications
Length: 60′ 8″
Beam: 15′ 10″
Draft: 4′ 4″
Weight: 59,300 lbs.
Fuel capacity: 528 gallons
Freshwater capacity: 142 gallons
Standard power: 2x Volvo Penta
IPS/2-800 EVC/EC diesel
engines, 600-hp each
Maximum power (as sea-trialed):
2x Volvo Penta IPS/2-900 EVC/EC
diesel engines, 700-hp each
Top speed with maximum power:
34 knots
Cruising / Top speed: 24 knots
@1900 rpm / 24 knots
Range @ cruise: 280nm
Price: $1.7 million

Contact
Cranchi/Yacht Works
850 NE 3rd Street
Dania Beach, FL 33004
877-391-2941
yachtworks.com

The Cranchi Fifty 8 Fly also delivers the contemporary Italian styling and amenities one would expect from a $1.7 million boat built in Italy. The main saloon features a galley unit to starboard, which also houses a flat-screen TV that rises upward for optimal viewing, a port couch, and huge windows that allow in lots of natural light.

Below deck, in addition to the full-beam aft master stateroom with queen bed and ensuite bathroom and walk-in closet, there’s a VIP stateroom with a queen bed and ensuite access to a dayhead with a shower. Additionally, there’s a guest stateroom amidships with two twin beds, as well as a refrigerator and freezer and washer/dryer combo unit in the hallway. The boat sleeps six, plus a crew cabin with a twin bunk and head.

The aft deck is wide, featuring a large table and couch along the transom. Aft of the transom is a huge swim platform that can be lowered below the waterline to make re-boarding easy. But there are other equally ideal places to relax. On the bow is a three-person sunpad that can be shaded by a retractable awning. The flybridge offers both sun and shade: A fixed hardtop covers the center of the flybridge while another retractable awning system provides more shade if needed. On the flybridge deck there’s a huge U-shaped couch aft accommodating seating for 10, and the tables can be fully deployed or folded back for more space. There’s also a large sunpad forward on the flybridge.

The port-side helm station on the flybridge is nearly identical to the starboard side one on the main deckthe difference is where the throttle and Joystick controls are located. Up top, throttles are located all the way to port on the steering station so you have good visibility when docking. Identical Raymarine 120E Multi-Function Displays above and below provide operating information.

In good weather like I had, running the Fifty 8 Fly up top is the way to go. However, the expansive front windshield on the main deck and giant side windows provide an incredible amount of visibility for the pilot at the main-deck helm station. With the automatic trim employed and uncrowded waters, the Fifty 8 Fly is about the easiest 58-footer I have ever had the pleasure to run, thanks to Cranchi’s design and the incredible performance of the Volvo Penta IPS drives. And in close quarters around the docks, well… you’ll easily earn your dough.