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17 REASONS TO OWN A 34z
1. Convertible, All-Weather Layout - Why own a boat perfectly designed with hard enclosures for the worst case scenario of boating, for the 10% of the time you’ll be using the boat…when it’s raining, it’s too hot or it’s too cold. Roll-up curtains may only be 90% as effective as solid or sliding fiberglass, wood and safety glass for those times you’d rather be inside. But, the 34z’s roll-up StrataGlass is 200% better for the 90% rest of the time. The purpose of boating is to get outside in fresh air, not to be cooped up in a cabin all day long. Since it’s unlikely that a family will make a recreational investment of this magnitude without liking the boat, it’s useful to listen how women have reacted to the boat at recent boatshows: ----- "The only boat in the show that makes me feel completely at peace."---- “I've been on lots of powerboats, but this is the first one that really sets me free with it's clean, uncluttered, open feeling."----"The seating in the pilothouse is wonderful, I love the openness, it reminds me of a large center cockpit sailing yacht."----“The transitions from cockpit to pilothouse down gradual stairs with a wide companionway to the saloon make the boat seem much larger”----“I get claustrophobia on boats and even down below the 34z is comfortable and open.”----“Honey, this is the boat. I like it. Buy it!” Bob J commented that such a response is not too surprising on a design inspired by and built for the love of his life. Mary had a lot to do with the concept.
2. Comfortable Seating - 34z has a functional layout that effectively integrates all 3 areas of the boat. Try and find comfortable seating where more than 4 can gather in any other boat. The cockpit and the pilothouse (Sunporch as one person commented) become one large area for partying with space for 10-12 people. Simply remove the back curtains and rotate Stidd Chairs so they are aiming aft at 45 degrees. One impressed visitor commented, "This boat has more useable space than my East Bay 43". The transitions between belowdecks, the pilothouse and cockpit are not abrupt and the space on the boat is not chopped up by blocks of built-in cabinetry and small L-shaped settees. An airy, open feeling is helped by the hull opening ports below and the design of the interior. The opportunity exists for both outdoor and indoor dining. People don’t always like to be in a goldfish bowl at night.
3. The Boat is Amazingly Dry - At 25 knots with the side curtains rolled up (and only center aft section rolled up) one can sit in the pilothouse settees and stern seat, stay completely dry and not get blasted by wind and spray as is the case with most other boats. Look at the brochure pictures. The bow wave is laid down almost like a hovercraft instead arising amidships like typical Down East type hulls. The reason is the shape of the hull. A combination of bow flare, lifting strakes and chine flats suppress and deflect the air flow and bow wave. No other hull shape could pull off this concept. Any other boat would have water and air pouring into the side openings. On my Dyer 29 the back of the helm seat would get soaked. Take out any other Down East style lobster yacht or picnic boat in some waves & wind at speed and don’t be surprised if green water hits the windshield and side windows, soaking everything. Not so with the 34z. Ask Tom Piper or Jeff Trask.
4. Great Visibility and Level Riding - From the helm, look all around and check the sight-lines forward. Bow angle underway varys between 3 and 4 ½ degrees. You don’t need really need the trim tabs. “It’s like being in a flybridge without having to climb ladders or leave your friends below” (not to mention creating more windage and a higher center of gravity). "This boat has incredible visibility in all directions." How important is such a feature in today's crowded waterways, particularly if you are going more than 20 knots? There’s a trend away from flying bridges and sportfishing towers unless they’re going after Tuna. Boatmen realize that the towers create more windage and a higher center of gravity, inducing more roll in waves. So, with the 34z’s great visibility, the occasional (non-tournament) sportfishing enthusiasts are buying the 34z without the tower.
5. Patented Good Looks. - Looks like it's going 30 knots just sitting at the dock. "Great Looking boat". "You should see it underway, incredible!" When 3 Italian distributors at the Ft. Lauderdale Boat Show approach MJM with interest in representing the boat in Italy, the home of Ferrari, DeTomaso, Masaratti, Alfa Romeo and Lambrogini: you know it’s not ugly. Said one, “This is a fantastic boat, there’s no other boat like it at the Genoa Show.”
6. Only High-Tech Powerboat - There’s no way you can get 34z single-engine performance without high-tech construction. There’s no other powerboat like it. MJM couldn't find a powerboat builder with the technology or the experience to build a boat with the strength and light weight to pull off the concept. We finally found a builder who had been using advanced composites for the past 25 years…not in powerboats, but in sailboats that had been winning Olympic Gold Medals and America’s Cup races. Mark Lindsay’s Boston BoatWorks got the nod. To underline the difference: A Cabo 35 at over 22,000 lbs. weighs more than twice as much as the 34z.
7. Incredible handling. - "This boat handles way better than I would have imagined, it's like a sportscar...very intuitive. I couldn't get it to bow steer in large waves at all. The rudder is large enough for excellent manueverability at slow speeds." This boat is really fun to drive. And, use of the bow-thruster makes the single 34z more agile than a twin-screw boat. The trim tabs are needed only in two situations: (a) to slice through a low, moderate chop by lowering the bow and (b) for even better visibility when cruising through waters with lots of debris or pots to avoid.
8. Single vs. Twin. - In the Northeast they like single diesels. Lobstermen venture miles at sea in Winter. Swordfishing boats are out for weeks at a time…with single engines. In Florida, the tradition is twin engines. What’s the story? Well it seems that in the beginning there were heavy boats with gas engines having electronic iginition with a dangerous Gulf Stream to cross and tight slips to maneuver into rather than swinging at moorings as in New England. Twin engines propelled boats over 30 knots when single engines were lucky to hit 20. If the distributor or electronic ignition failed on one engine, a second was available to limp home. And, twin engine controls made it a lot easier getting into or out of a slip in any type of wind or current situation. The 34z changes everything. (a) High tech construction reduced displacement, making it possible for a single 440 hp diesel to achieve better than 30 knots top speed and mid-20’s cruising speed. (b) Boat tests have proven on the same hull that a single with bow thruster out-manuevers a twin every time. (c) A diesel engine must be shot to stop after starting because it is not dependent on electronic ignition to operate. This leaves fuel as the only remaining problem. But ask any yard operator and they will tell you that if fuel is a problem, that bad fuel will stop both twins as easily as a single engine. It’s highly unlikely that someone is going to fill up the port tank at a different marina than the starboard tank just to be sure they have good fuel. Worst case scenario: BoatUS and SeaTow now do a good job of covering the coastal cruising grounds for Gold Member dues that are a lot less expensive than a twin installation, fuel consumption and maintenance..
9. Stability - You can tell when boarding the side deck, standing off to one side on the bow, or when the boat is parked broadside in a sea and doesn't roll so much as just go up and down. That's a function of the chineflats and a very low center-of-gravity thanks to the high tech construction and a superstructure design which minimizes weight aloft (a sailor's term). A heavy wide boat with a tall superstructure will out-roll a 34z every time.
10 Safety - Test the boarding handrails (from dock or swimming ladder), the handrails and bowrail for access moving along the deck from cockpit to bow, and the interior handrails in the pilothouse, on either side of the companionway and over the galley. Then imagine falling overboard, 34z unlike many boats has a 37" telescoping swim ladder and stern platform that makes reboarding easy.
11 Fantastic Engine Access from two side panels in the seat lockers plus an entire pilothouse deck that raises on screw pistons to 45 degrees. Raise the deck, step down into the side lockers and play the engine like a harpsichord. A block and tackle attaches as an added safety and to haul up the deck if the power fails.
12 Performance and Fuel Efficiency. There's no other single engine inboard of this size we know of that is achieving 23-24 knots at 2500 rpm and burning only 9 gallons per hour. In fact, most of them burn about twice that amount of fuel. Power & Motor Yacht Magazine checked the top speed during their boat test in Annapolis at 37.8 mph. Acceleration was from standing stop to 30 knots in less than 20 seconds. The Boating Magazine test confirmed that the 34z is planing at 10 knots. It doesn’t dig a big hole in the water then climb out with the bow up at over 15 knots…it just accelerates flat and fast..
13 Offshore in Waves the boat can sustain 15-17 knots head on into steep seas without slamming. We tried going 28 knots into such waves (eg the waves going at 15 knots one way and boat going the opposite way at 28 knots, producing 45 knot collisions when landing) and learned that after going airborne off one wave, that not surprisingly there is slam on hitting the next). Going at 30+ knots across the waves or downsea, however, is actually great fun and smooth because the boat is so controllable, steering like a sportscar with no yaw or bow steer. The bow flare/reserve buoyancy is perfect. Doug did a great job. Driving into the back of a wave, the bow digs in just enough to flare out the wave without water coming over the stemhead.
14 Dry Storage can't be beat! The pilothouse bike lockers, cockpit lockers with drains, 4 duffel/bedding bins under the settee, under the saloon table, and a large hanging locker create volumes of storage.
15 Easy Maintenance on Deck. The side deck drains into the gray water system then overboard through the trim tab pockets to avoid hull streaking. The only piece of unprotected wood on deck is the elegantly gloss-varnished Adirondack stern seat…and that has a weather cover that quickly snaps into place over cushions and throw pillows. Boating is the name of the game, not varnishing on nice days.
16 Sleeps Five. Swivel the Stidd Chairs to face outward, with the slide pulled all the way back. Place a seat back section outboard of the chair. Pull off the other seat back. Put a couple of pillows aft and one's feet comfortably go outboard of the chair for 6.5' of sleeping length. The transom seat cushions can be placed on the pilothouse floor, so 3 people can sleep in the Pilothouse in a bug-proofed (middle section of aft curtains can be all screen) enclosure...and 2 belowdeck.
17 Transom Door Option with Adirondack Stern Seat. A starboard section of the back and bottom of the seat is removed and stored under the seat on the port side. The purpose of that is to allow people to still use 2/3s of the seat while others are swimming off the transom, etc.
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