A tribute to my
Sugar Sand Solé
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Sugar Sand Solé
Jet Boat
a modernistic jet boat
and also a classic mover
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Editor's note: I believe my Sugar Sand Solé is no longer available in this form, although the Calais model on which it is based continues to be marketed. Understand that Sugar Sand Boats P/L of Fargo, North Dakota, USA succumbed to the so called Global Financial Crisis of 2008. The name continues although a check of the website in early 2011 shows a lacklustre attempt to maintain the product name by the new company owners. Who knows what the future holds for this unique boat, especially if you're offshore USA! Come on guys, keep the tradition alive!!!
I bought my Solé new in June 2004 from a dealer in Goolwa SA while I was on one of my long distance holidays out of Sydney with the wife and four kids. I spotted a Tango in the yard and it went from there. We placed our order and returned to Sydney without a boat (we traded the Camero), having to wait for 12 weeks while the Solé was made in North Dakota USA and shipped out to SA. Some of the features of the boat that appealed to me were:
Performance & Power - The hull design reminds me of a 'leaping leopard' and in fact, with the weight saving gained by having the Optimax 250hp (@182kg - 400lbs) over a typical Mercruiser I/O 350hp (@500kg - 1150lbs), it fairly leaps out of the hole and onto the plane. Out of the hole thrust is claimed to be 1560nm (1150 ft.lbs) translating to acceleration of 0-30kph in under 4 seconds! Top speed is claimed to be 82kph (51mph) and I did achieve this when the boat was new but a more realistic number for me now is 65-70kph (40mph). This is because the tips of the impeller blades feather and require constant attention. The more the blades feather the less thrust is developed in the jet unit. Servicing the unit is quite difficult here in Sydney, as a well trained MercJet mechanic is scarce as hens teeth. Problem not yet resolved!
The Solé is a beamy boat at 2.46m and can seat 4 adults across it's
bench seat comfortably. The helm and passenger seats are rotating buckets and
can fold up to reveal large eskys underneath. (that's OK until someone wants a beer
while you're sitting in the seat!)
The
bow can take two adults or three kids but when using it, I keep a wary eye out
for obstacles or larger waves as the nose of the boat dips down with it's
styling and can take a lot of water if you're not careful. It hasn't happened to
me yet but if the boat does take on a huge amount of water, it's 'positive
buoyancy' is supposed to keep you afloat. (See image). Heaps of storage under
the bow section which is accessed through a single piece hinged fibreglass hatch. An anchor well & hatch
finish the bow.
There is a comprehensive instrument cluster standard and I had a depth sounder / fish finder added just for a bit more information for my brain to process when on the plane. I find the depth sounder pretty useless when in rivers and you're better off keeping one eye on the bottom. If it's murky brown water then the sounder can be useful. As for fish finding, I think I create a 500m exclusion zone for fish whenever I go boating; not much luck there.
Although there was supposed to be a 'convertible rear lounge' at the rear, it somehow was overlooked by the dealer in the ordering process. We did however get our hand shower and 'change room' which can be used from the swimout. The fuel tank is a 240ltr tank and this gives me a very good cruising range of a couple of hundred kilometres. That helps when I set out from Tin Can Bay heading for Harvey Bay up the Great Sandy Straights west of Fraser Island. (The old Camero only sported an 80ltr tank and I would have to watch the fuel gauge to make sure I could get home OK).
One
little addition I had made was an upholstered insert at the companionway between
the windscreens. Worth its weight in gold when your in wet cossies. Anyone with
a bowrider knows the chilling effect of the 'wind tunnel' when you are underway.
I also had an anchor well professionally inserted into the bow; the Americans
apparently don't use boat anchors??? Some of the other accessories I chose were:
The 'Hydrosurge' gadget proved to be nothing more than a spring loaded inlet grill which, when bogged up with seaweed, utilises the suction created by the jet unit to open the grill just enough to let the weed lump through into the turbine where it gets chopped to pieces. I actually had to utilise the concept while trying to boat in a very shallow and weedy Borang Lake off the Tuross River in NSW. It got me out of trouble then, however I can categorically state that it doesn't work with plastic bags! Hence, I still carry a good old weed rake.
We have been fortunate to own this boat for 6 years now and have already clocked up about 10,000kms towing the boat through NSW and Queensland. Favourite destinations are still Tin Can Bay QLD, Wallis Lake at Tuncurry NSW, Farquars Inlet near Old Bar NSW and the Pambula River on the far south coast of NSW. Coffin Bay SA still tops the list even though it takes quite a bit of logistical planning to get there from Sydney for a holiday - it's well worth the effort.
Next boat
- who knows? It would take a lot to top this beauty.
See you on the water
The Hulz
Sydney AUS
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background to us buying our Sugar Sand Solé
Dad built a J.H.Young designed half cabin in 1967 and powered it up with a Hamilton 'Colorado' jet unit coupled with a marinised Holden 186 engine. We had some great family outings over many years. The boat was equipped with camping covers, dinette which converted to a bunk, galley, Finch fridge and of course a 'Porta Potty'. So on weekends, our family of five spent many joyful days on sandy beaches, seemingly pristine waterways, sleeping over on board, and finding the pleasures of family boating which have never left us.
The Hamilton Gemini was a purpose built jet boat meant for the rivers and rocky shoals
of NZ.
It was 14' long, had a 'shallow V' hull, was built with solid fibreglass and had a relatively low freeboard
of 300mm or so.
When I sold the Gemini, it was a desire for a NEW purpose
built jet boat that occupied my thoughts. I also felt I
Frustrated at what seemed to me a reasonable request, I stumbled on
a display boat at the 1996 Sydney Boat
Show. A local dealer here in Sydney selling Camero boats manufactured near Adelaide was willing to replace the inboard with a jet .... even
the colour was right! The Camero Strada 2000 was a 6m bow rider built by Camero Boats in South Australia. It was an 8 seater with a split screen walk through bow rider section, an island engine hatch, comprehensive instrumentation including depth sounder, a deep V planing hull with deep 50mm+ chines on each side (not good for 180 turns) and a 350 cubic inch Mercruiser (twigged to 280HP with Roller Rockers). It had a 50mm wide stainless steel keel protection strip and sat on a tandem trailer (absolutely necessary for long hauls) The boat sat low in the water causing it to be sluggish out of the hole. Once on the plane however it was quite exhilarating; great in enclosed waters but a little damp in open waters. It was a lot of fun and sounded great on the fly!
For 8 years this boat gave our family many hours of enjoyment and apart from sunny days on our local waterways in Port Hacking and Botany Bay, I notched up over 30,000 kms with that boat on it's trailer, touring Queensland, NSW, Victoria and South Australia. I found it was a pleasure to tow behind my Turbo Diesel Landcruiser as it tucked in nicely behind the cruiser's wind break.
Keep on jet boating!
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© 2011 G.V.Hull
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It
had a bench seat and a floor dominated by an engine cover encompassing a Ford
Capri V6 coupled to a Hamilton Jet. There was only room for eskys and
bags there; definitely not a boat for socialising. It had a super flared bow
meant to repel pressure waves in raging torrents and was reported to boast 25mm
of glass underneath for bouncing off large boulders etc. It was fun but lacked
creature comforts. I bought the boat as a resto around 1993 and used it for a
couple of years. It was a great boat for our family holidays to Tuncurry and the
shallow V hull meant it was slippery in the tail and always begging for a quick
180 degreee (or 360) turn on the fly. I sheepishly admit to upsetting more than
a few boaties who were using the public waterway with me. I think I've grown out
of this silly behaviour now, or at least I am more aware of other boats
around me before executing my turns. The family kept growing in numbers and I
ended up selling the boat to Simon Taylor, a fellow member of the Jet Boat
Association of NSW. He also had many memorable days in the
Gemini with his
family and ended up re-powering the boat with a Leyland P76
V8 motor. That was quite an overhaul and Simon kept the boat for many years.
needed to support the
Australian boating industry and so I set off on a quest to find a manufacturer
here in Oz who would not just supply an 'off the shelf' boat with a jet drive, but a manufacturer that would put their heart and soul into making a unique jet
boat - I wanted a normal, family fun day boat with high gunwales, comfortable and jet power to spare.
It was 1996 and I now realise I was a bit naive when it came to the boating
industry perception of jets in boats. All of the major brand manufacturers of
the time, Cruiscraaft, Savaage, Lewiis, Yamaaha and Haiines to name a few, refused to
accommodate my request and would not alter their production line
output in any way. It wasn't a matter of money; they just weren't interested. It
seemed a simple request given the 'hands on' nature of boatbuilding in Australia
at the time.
Shortly after, I placed an order and took delivery. Unfortunately, a number of
warranty items required attention and I returned the boat to their yard. On
urgent advice from the site manager, I managed to collect the boat before the gates were locked
by the company Administrators. Damm :-(
