Cruisers Yachts 390 Sports Coupe
Cruisers Yachts 390 Sports Coupe
Cruisers Yachts 390 Sports Coupe Specs
Cruisers Yachts 390 Sports Coupe
A 40′ express cruiser provides enough volume to sleep four, providing a degree of intimacy for each couple, and can be pressed into service to sleep six. That’s fine if you want a waterborne Winnebago. But what if you prefer a boat that parties like crazy and provides a couple with cruising amenities that rival a room at the Four Seasons? Cruisers Yachts’ 390 Sports Coupe is that boat. It’s fitted and arranged to please a capacity crowd for a swanky shindig, and then transform into a comfortable cruiser so the hosting couple can wind down.
Undercover Operator
The 390 Sports Coupe joins the growing ranks of express boats featuring an upper cockpit surrounded by solid glass windows and completely covered by a hardtop. What does this mean? Aside from the drop curtain that seals the mostly enclosed helm deck, there’s no need for canvas. But what’s most pertinent to the 390 Sports Coupe’s mission is that there’s a second salon for guests to revel in. This protected helm deck is wind-free, spray-free, and climate-controlled in a way that pipework and canvas just can’t rival.
The 390 Sports Coupe features a companionway hatch set to starboard, which allows for a center console module that has companion seating on its forward face, a snack table on its back, and a hidden surprise. Reach under and pull out the cushions racked within. These affix with heavy-duty magnets to the windshield walkway steps. Now you have facing seating for four beside the helm’s single swiveling captain’s chair, all of which is out of the flow of traffic into and out of the cabin. A pair of pedestals allow you to add a cocktail or dining table or, with the filler cushion, create a double-wide lounge. It’s an elegant use of space, providing great function.
And Cruisers Yachts didn’t stop there. A hatch in the hardtop above the split windshield slides aft, allowing access to the bow without having to duck and scrunch, as I’ve had to do aboard some other coupe boats. This hatch also allows great ventilation for when you want to smell the salt and feel the breeze. The wetbar is split, with a drawer refrigerator behind the helm seat and a sink, vanity, and icemaker arrayed to port.
Belowdecks you’ll find plenty of breathing room as you descend the broad cherry companionway steps. One reason is the lack of an aft cabin and its associated partition. The 390 Sports Coupe’s aft cabin bulkhead (the engine room bulkhead) is located just forward of the helm. This means full headroom the length of the cabin. Plus, the forward berth is a canted slab, which some may scoff at, but it has advantages over an island berth. The slab is a full-size queen; an island berth would have to be smaller, due to the way a boat tapers and flares at the bow. Also, the slab takes up less cabin length, so the head, which is split into shower and toilet areas, gets more maneuverability. There are no sidedecks aboard the 390 Sports Coupe – but don’t worry, you can get to the spring cleats from the helm – so the cabin is wider. And finally, you get eight hull ports to provide a solar flare of light.
In comparison, Tiara’s 3900 Sovran ($469,900 with twin 310-bhp Volvo Penta IPS 400 pods) is only available with IPS, which due to its compact design allows for extra room beneath the helm. The 3900 Sovran has no aft cabin either, instead using this space as a home theater to starboard and a single large head to port. The Tiara is the boat to shop against the 390 Sports Coupe, based on its enclosed helm style and a cruising mission intended to serve the needs of a sleeping couple over those of a crowd.
Now, should you have overnight guests, the 390 Sports Coupe can accommodate them. Where the midcabin isn’t, you’ll find an electrically inclining sofa that can sleep two, and you have a wide swath of cabin sole that can handle a milling crowd, then provide room in the wee hours for an intimate game of Twister.
The Get Go
The switch to open the 390 Sports Coupe’s engine hatch is located at the wetbar, just inside the boarding door. Service access throughout the boat is pretty good; however, my test boat had V-drives, which aren’t as easy to service as inboards or IPS. Servicing the water heater will be a chore, however, as getting to it requires crawling over the rudders and around the genset. But besides that, this engine room is the poster child for things done right. Rigging is robust and everything is labeled.
The twin 380-bhp Yanmar 6LY3-UTP diesels will live here happily ever after. These propelled my test boat quickly onto plane and delivered better than 1 mpg at 30 mph. The 390 Sports Coupe turned crisply, and four-bladed Nibral props, turning within pockets that provide low drag and a flat shaft angle, delivered torque on tap when I levered the throttle. Pride in performance is perhaps the most selfish boating pleasure.
