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| •Motor Boat and Yachting •Short report Invader 772 •A well-built fast angling boat cum cruiser, put through her paces in the Menai Strait •Although based on the old Gulf streamer 25 hull, Invader Boats Invader 772 is a very different sort of boat, with a wheelhouse in place of the Gulf streamer's unusual, sit-up-and-beg flying bridge. When Invader Boats bought the hull moulds they decided to fit a superstructure, based on existing drawings by the boat's designer, John Bennett, which would allow a fully-enclosed helm position, four berths and a large cockpit. The description of the boat as a 'sport fisherman' will mislead anyone who associates the term with those American craft sporting outriggers, flying bridges on top of flying bridges and all manner of fish-finding electronics. We don't mean to imply any criticism in saying that the Invader 772 is an altogether more basic boat, aimed at the person looking for a reasonably-priced craft with a good turn of speed, suitable for fishing and comfortable enough for day or weekend boating, or even the occasional longer cruise. Hull shape is medium vee with four spray rails along the bottom and chine lips which all serve the purpose of reducing wetted surface and deflecting spray. Hull and superstructure are of glassfibre construction with a standard of moulding that greatly impressed us, matching in quality what you would expect in boats of far greater pretensions - and prices. The hull is hand laid up out of a one-piece mould, 120z/ft2 (3.5kg/m2) beefed up to 320z/ft2 9.5kg/m2) along the chines and around the internal keel, which is a 4in by 3in (100 x 75mm) top-hat timber section. Top-hat timbers, 2in by lin (50 x 25mm), on the insides of the spray rails, provide further strengthening and the transom is stiffened sufficiently to take an inboard/outboard engine by two integral sheets of ply to give a total thickness of 2in (50mm). Three watertight bulkheads (to deck level) are fitted, including one which forms the forward end of the engine compartment. Balsa sandwich construction in deck and superstructure makes them suitably stiff. The wheelhouse's after bulkhead and doors are mahogany, well fitted and finished and successfully breaking up what would be vast expanses of glassfibre in the cockpit. Interior joinery, in mahogany and mahogany ply, looks sound though with no frills. We would criticise the lack of access to the bilges from inside the wheelhouse or cabin. Standard engine is the 125hp Volvo AQ125A petrol engine driving through a Volvo 270 out drive. It features forward flexible mounts (the less satisfactory transom-only mounting is still quite common with this size engine ), heat-exchanger cooling and a 50amp alternator . On speed runs in the Menai Strait we reached just over 21 knots with this installation, though when punching into a steep but not very substantial chop top speed fell to just over 15 knots. We had full fuel and water tanks for our speed runs and had four people aboard, though with no cruising gear. The Volvo man who came with us reckoned that by fitting a squarer prop than the 14in by 17in (0.36 x 0.43m) one on our boat, say 15in by 15in (0.38 x 0.38m), top speed would be increased to nearer 25 knots. The installation of the engine in our test boat looked good, with neatly clipped and substantial wiring and piping. Lift away the box over the compartment and access to all parts of the engine is easy. The engine compartment is lined with mineral wool, without a lead infill. With a petrol engine noise levels were acceptable, but lead sandwiched insulation would probably be worth the extra expense with diesel options. An automatic fire extinguisher is fitted in the engine compartment, as is a good-sized - 1400gal/hr (6530It/hr) submersible bilge pump. We felt that the optional Whale hand bilge pump, which, with wandering lead, could be used to pump out the other compartments, should be a standard item. Stainless steel fuel and water tanks are fitted amidships along the centre line (so trim should not be affected as they empty), of 50 gallons (225It) and 25 gallons (115It) respectively. Maximum fuel consumption with the 125hp petrol engine is about 51/2gal/hr (251t/hr) but at about three-quarters throttle (giving about 15 knots depending on load and conditions-and assuming optimum props) consumption should drop to two or three gallons per hour. The Invader is four berths are split between the forecabin, which has two vee berths (convertible to a double with a fill-in piece) and the wheelhouse, which has a pull-out settee/berth. Forecabin is perhaps a misleading term because in the Invader it is open to the rest of the accommodation, although it would be easy enough to fit a curtain or concertina-type bulkhead. The berths here are 7ft (2.1m) long - just about the right length for vee berths, which are always effectively shortened when both are in use. Bedhead lights are fitted on the bulkheads and storage is provided in floored lockers under the bunks, as well as in a hanging locker. A small but adequate toilet compartment stands to port, with just a WC as standard. Up in the wheelhouse, the settee/bunk to starboard is only 2ft 10in (0.9m) wide, which barely qualifies it for double berth status. Opposite are helm position and galley. The helm seat gives good all-round visibility, and the well-placed footrest can be lifted up to allow the helmsman to stand. Standard instrumentation is limited to rev counter and engine hour and tank gauges. A compass would be an essential extra and an echo sounder and VHF might be high priorities. The galley consists of a cooker with two burners and grill and a sink-drainer unit which is only usable with the helm seat folded forward, a quite reasonable space-saving idea and a good excuse for putting off the washing up. There are storage lockers below and a small amount of jar/cup storage behind. Curtains are not provided as standard but could be fitted for owners contemplating much overnight use. With both wheelhouse doors open there' s a wide run-through from wheelhouse to cockpit, an attractive feature which prevents isolation of the helmsman and anyone else inside from anglers or loungers in the cockpit. A new table arrangement is being devised which will enable you to sit and eat either in the wheelhouse or in the cockpit. The cockpit is spacious and uncluttered. An overhang of the wheelhouse top affords some shelter at the forward end. The only fixed seating is on the engine box, on which, with a cushioned squab and backrest, up to three peoplel can sit in comfort. A low pulpit rail is fitted round the after end of the cockpit and our boat had the optional bathing ladder and platform. Ample bollards are fitted on either quarter. A cockpit canopy is provided as standard. Inset steps in the forward corners of the cockpit make for easy access to the sidedecks. These are amply wide, with well-placed grabrails on wheelhouse and cabin top to give reasonably safe passage along them, although guardrails are not fitted as standard. Foredeck fittings consist of an extended stemhead roller, hawse pipe leading down to chain locker, two good-size fairleads, central bollard and a pulpit, with all fittings well secured through the balsa sandwich deck to ply backing pads underneath. Anchor and chain or warp are not included as standard. A hatch leads down to the forecabin and provides access as a safety escape. Our test boat required some adjustment of the trim tab on the out drive to eliminate a slight pull to port and very stiff steering when turning to starboard. Otherwise, handling presented no problems. Tight turns could be made at any speed, proving the boat's stability. When heading into the waves kicked up by force 4 winds in the wide, northern reaches of the Menai Strait we had to slow to around 13 knots to prevent some uncomfortable slamming. Our overall impression of the Invader 772 was that it represents good value for money. Bearing in mind that the boat is built down to a price, the standard of construction is excellent and the standard of fitting out quite acceptable. There are a number of extras that we think should be standard items and these will add at least £500 to the price of the boat. For extensive cruising you might need to spend another few hundred pounds in equipment and fittings. Take the claim of four berths with a pinch of salt; the wheelhouse double berth is really only suitable for two children or small and intimate adults. |
