Nick Burnham picks 4 of the best 30ft riverboats you can buy right now. These boats are all ideal for lazy afternoons on the river
There’s plenty of joy to be had blasting up and down the coast on a rapid sportsboat or flybridge cruiser. But when the weather’s good, there’s something equally appealing about the slow, simple pleasures of river life.
The placid waters, the shade of the willow trees, the lure of the waterside pub, the gentle shouts of bonhomie and encouragement from other motorboat skippers. The variety of traffic, featuring everything from tiny tenders and rowing skiffs to converted liveaboards, pretty steel narrowboats and traditional Dutch barges, is also good fun.
And that’s to say nothing of the entertainment laid on by the locks and the seasonal hire boats. In short, life can be very good inland, but to enjoy it at its best, you need a boat that’s tailor-made for the job – something perhaps like one of these…
Sheerline 950
Built: 2002
Price: £81,500
Built in Wroxham, with the Norfolk Broads on the doorstep and other inland areas very much in mind, the 950 was one of Sheerline’s most successful models. In fact, it’s still in production today in the mildly updated form of the Sheerline 955. This features lots of useful detail differences and upgrades but it’s pretty much the same shape and layout as this original.
The aft-cockpit arrangement is supplemented with a very decent lower deck lounge
Interior
Although it would make a great day boat, Sheerline clearly specced this boat with longer periods on board in mind. The most obvious example of that is the full-sized domestic oven, grill and four-burner hob. The fridge isn’t massive but there’s a second one in the cockpit and there’s plenty of storage and counter top to play with too. There’s a dinette opposite that with the heads just ahead of it. The forward cabin closes off for privacy (not always the case at this size point), and comes with an offset double berth. There’s another small cabin aft with a single bed running lengthways and the high spec of this boat includes a generator, plus some very welcome diesel heating.
Exterior
Those Norfolk Broads roots shine through in the aft-cockpit layout, which features a sociable U-shaped hoop of seating around a folding table at the back end. And it also shines through in the air draft. Sheerline designed the arch to fold flat, but you can go further and fold the windscreen too. That means the top of the helm console is the tallest part of the boat, which is very helpful for limboing beneath low bridges.
Performance
The single Nanni shaftdrive diesel engine produces 64hp. When we tested a similarly equipped boat, we saw an entirely sufficient 6.7 knots with 5 knots at 1,500rpm producing extremely low fuel burn figures.
The 64hp Nanni diesel will deliver an extremely frugal 5-knot cruise
Seakeeping
The long keel of its displacement hull protects the propeller and rudder but also means that the boat tracks faithfully at low speed. When it’s time to dock, the bow and stern thruster fitted to this particular boat are likely to prove hugely beneficial.
Sheerline 950 specifications
Length: 31ft 2in (9.5m)
Beam: 10ft 7in (3.2m)
Draft: 2ft 6in (0.8m)
Displacement: 5 tonnes
Fuel capacity: 170 litres
Engine: Nanni 5.28OHE 64hp diesel engine
For sale: Val Wyatt Marine
Trusty T28
Built: 2013
Price: £120,000
As the flagship of Midlands-based Trusty Motor Boats, the T28 was the biggest boat the brand ever built. In addition to feeling rock solid, it has a tough motorboat aesthetic, thanks to its compact portholes, upright wheelhouse and businesslike navy blue hull.
The T28 delivers a really impressive owner’s cabin for a boat of its modest length
Interior
Given that this is a sub-30ft boat, perhaps the biggest news is that the owner’s cabin features a central island bed, rather than the usual vee berth or offset double. It also avoids the open plan living space you’d usually expect to find in the bow.
There’s a compact mid cabin on the lower deck too, with rather less headroom over the bed as it squeezes beneath the cockpit sole. The heads compartment is also down here, but everything else is on the main deck, including a compact galley that can be extended by folding the double helm seat. There’s also a dinette that will convert into another occasional double berth.
Exterior
Although this is very much a deck saloon layout, you can really open up the internal spaces to the elements via double folding aft doors. You also get sliding side windows and a large sliding glass panel in the roof. The external aft cockpit is usefully deep and that feeling of security is further augmented by the raised rails that wrap around it, and by the broad side decks that orbit the superstructure.
Performance
We tested the very first Trusty T28 – a boat that came equipped with the largest engine ever fitted. The 260hp Yanmar pushed the John Moxham semi-displacement hull up to 18 knots, which was arguably a bit faster than this boat really wanted to go, so Trusty decided to limit power to 220hp after that. But there were also river-friendly options available at 75hp and 110hp, the latter being the engine fitted to this boat. It offers good low-speed inland cruising but it still has enough shove for a bit of coastal work if required.
Integration between the deepset aft cockpit and the internal saloon is remarkably good
Seakeeping
The Trusty T28 was fitted with an unusual twin rudder installation, which translates helm inputs into decisive action, helped at low speed by the bow thruster.
Trusty T28 specifications
Length: 29ft 9in (9.1m)
Beam: 10ft 10in (3.3m)
Draft: 3ft 0in (0.9m)
Displacement: 5 tonnes
Fuel capacity: 335 litres
Engine: Yanmar 4JH4 HTE 110hp diesel
For sale: Ancasta
Shadow 26
Built: 1999
Price: £44,950
The original Shadow 26 was launched in 1988. Designed by award-winning designer, Bill Dixon, it was a wheelhouse cruiser that was offered with two hull options: a vee hull with outdrives for coastal use; or a displacement hull with a keel that ran with a single diesel.
Built by Victoria Marine, Motor Boats Monthly bought one to offer as a competition prize! How times have changed. When Victoria Marine merged with Westerly, the 26 was dropped but almost a decade later, the Shadow 26 was back. Norfolk- based Swancraft Cruisers had bought the moulds and offered the wheelhouse version plus the versatile Cabriolet model you see here.
In the absence of the optional forward bulkhead, this boat is attractively open-plan
Interior
With an open-plan layout, buyers were able to pick either twin berths forward or the very appealing extra seating that this boat has. That comes with an infill section, enabling it to turn into a double berth. Interestingly, another option was a bulkhead to create a separate forward cabin but this particular model has privacy curtains instead. Further aft, an L–shaped dinette (which can also convert into a bed) sits opposite the galley. Light wood brightens this area and the headroom is particularly good.
Exterior
Being based on the Norfolk Broads, this boat really benefits from the optional folding windscreen and the lowering arch, which reduce the air draft to 7ft, allowing it to pass beneath most Broads bridges. The cockpit is very simple – just helm and navigator seats forward and a bench aft with a removable table. The small bathing platform probably won’t see much use on inland waters but the stepped access to the side decks certainly will.
Performance
While a 35hp Beta engine was standard, this boat comes with the 43hp BV1903. We tested it with the smaller engine. The top speed was 7 knots but it’s unlikely that this boat’s upgraded engine will be significantly faster.
Even with the uprated 43hp engine, this is a relaxed 7-knot cruiser
Seakeeping
Handling was a delight’, we said. ‘The boat easily turns in its own length without recourse to gear changes and, despite the wind, it answers to the helm more often than not, even when going astern’.
Shadow 26 specifications
Length: 26ft 4in (8m)
Beam: 9ft 8in (2.9m)
Draft: 2ft 2in (0.7m)
Displacement: 2.4 tonnes
Fuel capacity: 227 litres
Engine: Beta 43hp diesel engine
For sale: Norfolk Yacht Agency
Haines 32
Built: 2016
Price: £149,950
Launched at the Southampton Boat Show in 2014, Haines tapped into its existing customer base to come up with suggestions on how to make this the best 30ft river cruiser around. And many of the details, like the illuminated side step integrated into the hull to aid boarding, are based on that client feedback.
The bow cabin is the only dedicated sleeping space onboard this model
Interior
Haines offers two interior layouts for the 32. The most popular is the model you see here, with its large forward owner’s cabin, complete with raised island bed. It also comes with a U-shaped galley opposite the port heads, as well as a main deck saloon with helm to port, a sideboard aft of that and settees to starboard. But there is a second, much rarer, option that moves the galley up behind the helm seat and uses the vacated space on the lower deck for a second twin bunk cabin.
Neat details include saloon doors that slide and then hinge flat against the side of the boat and a reversing backrest on one of the settees, creating aft-facing seating in the cockpit. The oak finish is standard but you can also get an optional cherry or walnut finish at extra cost.
Exterior
Side decks, easily accessed from the cockpit and measuring eight inches wide, are a practical touch for river cruising, as is the deliberate lack of side rails aft of the pulpit, for easy stepping on and off amidships in locks. Flush glazing adds a modern touch and the sliding fabric section in the cockpit overhang enables you to open up the aft seating zone when the weather allows.
Performance
There are three engine options – all Nanni shaftdrive diesels. The 40hp is fine for areas like the Norfolk Broads with its limited tidal movement in the upper reaches, but the N4.65 59hp version fitted to this boat gives a top speed of 8-9 knots.
This particular model adopts the most common layout with galley down and lots of seating
Seakeeping
Designed by Andrew Wolstenholme, the Sedan has a strictly displacement hull, which is ideal for inland cruising. The long keel gives excellent direction stability at low speed, as well as good protection for the propeller and rudder.
Haines 32 specifications
Length: 32ft 0in (9.7m)
Beam: 11ft 6in (3.5m)
Draft: 2ft 8in (0.8m)
Displacement: 6 tonnes
Fuel capacity: 180 litres
Engine: Nanni N4.65 59hp diesel engines
For sale: Boat Showrooms
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