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Review: Cheoy Lee 76' Alpha Flybridge

Discussion in 'Cheoy Lee Yacht' started by YachtForums, Feb 4, 2013.

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  1. Complaint Department


    This picture was taken from the aftdeck, looking over the side of the boat, down at the dock. What you see protruding from the side of the bulwarks is a Panographic door that grants direct access to a dock without having to jump over the bulwarks or go down to the swim platform. It's only a matter of time before the skipper forgets this door is deployed and promptly removes it with a piling.
  2. You're looking at the house batteries. No, we're not in the engine room. And we're not looking down an access hatch in the floor either. You're looking at an access hatch in front of the interior helm, just below the front windows. The location was chosen to optimize CG, but in my opinion... not the optimum place to pull a battery. You have to crawl up on the dash!
  3. I had mixed feelings about the flybridge helm. I love the large screens, rising up to meet me while standing, but when I took a seat, they blocked my view. Worse... I couldn't sit down in front of the wheel because there wasn't adequate space between the wheel and the helm seat. For such a well-conceived and executed boat, it's one of those basic ergonomic things that left me scratching my head. I'm told by the powers-that-be at Cheoy Lee that the original bench seat has been replaced with an adjustable pedestal seat. Getting back to the goodies... Sat, Nav & Com are the usual suspects: KVH, Furuno & Raymarine.
  4. Sea Trial


    Unlike many magazines and the vast majority of websites in the yachting industry, we actually sea trial the boats we review, so I like to include a proof pic when underway. On the day of our sea trial, the largest waves were being generated by the Alpha 76', so we used our own wake to measure acceleration forces and take decibel readings. Running at 35 mph, the highest levels we recorded were 90-92 db downstairs in the forward accommodations; a result of wave-slap. Upstairs on the main deck, we averaged 86 db at the same speed. Very comfortable for casual conversation.
  5. 20 years ago, I had a $2000 radar gun to measure speed on the vessels we built. A few years later, I used it for reviews. Today, I have an app. This is called Speed-O-Meter. It's GPS based and extremely accurate. My, my how the world has changed! Something else has changed too... the numbers we're recording on today's 75' boats. Ten year's ago, 41 mph was flying in a 40-50' boat. And 75' boats barely topped 21 knots. Enter the Alpha! It actually bested the 41 mph picture of proof I took. I saw 42 mph at one point. But speed isn't everything. Ride and stability are equally, if not more important and the Alpha 76' did not disappoint. This is a solid, smooth riding boat void of any interior creaks or rattles underway.
  6. On the day of our sea trial, yacht photographer Shaw McCutcheon joined us offshore in a Robinson-44 to capture all the running shots you've seen in this review. Recent quantum leaps in aerial remote photography may threaten the pilot's job. I'm contemplating this system to use with Tom Serio in the future... Autonomous GPS Hex-Rotor Craft
  7. We like to include subsurface shots with YF's reviews. I was unable to get good photography, so this will have to suffice. Static buoyancy for tender launching has been enhanced with a support housing under the swim platform. Cheoy Lee favored shaft drives over pods to for a larger engine selection. A larger set of rudders could be a good option for increased directional stability too.
  8. I thought this shot was a good way to wrap up the Details section...

    If you're thinking about an express or a flybridge, keep a lookout for this logo!

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