Cruise Control
Wanted: Cruising couples in the market for a hardy, classically styled, beautifully finished flybridge motoryacht with long range and customizable accommodations. That’s the target audience for the 67 Cruiser from Turkey’s Vicem Yachts.
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Istanbul-based, family-owned Vicem has been building recreational boats since 1991, first with its Down East-inspired Classic series, and then with three other styles ranging from 46 feet to 151 feet length overall. Vicem’s flybridge, pilothouse Cruiser line, formerly covering 82 feet to 107 feet, now includes a 67 for couples who want the option of cruising without crew.
“We conceived this boat based on feedback from our clients, particularly those looking to do the Great Loop,” says Noelle Semmes, Vicem’s director of sales. “They’ve told us they’re interested in a family-style, long-range cruising boat that has some speed to it.”
As with all Vicems, save the Vulcan series superyachts, the 67 employs an unconventional construction method: cold-molded wood. Layers of thin strips of epoxy-saturated wood are laid at 90-degree angles. Vicem finishes the layup with an exterior layer of fiberglass. The method produces a hull that provides a better strength-to-weight ratio than straight fiberglass, resistance to internal condensation, and minimal hull slapping.
Cold-molded construction also offers a significant additional benefit: Since the hulls are not built in a mold, considerable customization is possible, both inside and out.
“We can custom-build narrower, longer, smaller, galley-up, galley-down,” Semmes says. “There’s no layout A or layout B.”
A starting-point 67, such as the first hull delivered to the United States after being built on spec, would have a full-beam master stateroom, a VIP forward, a twin stateroom, and quarters for two crew aft. On a custom order, any of those spaces can be reconfigured or repurposed. The spec configuration has all staterooms ensuite and a washer/dryer room in the guest area, as well as one in the crew quarters. As with all Vicem interiors, handcrafted mahogany rules the day, although, rather than seeming heavy and old-school, Vicem’s joinery treatments feel lively, bright and contemporary.
The main deck is the weatherproof social center of the boat with lounges, a four-person dinette and, if a customer chooses, an open galley. In one configuration, the forward seat back on the dinette hinges to provide a companion helm seat or an additional food prep/serving station. An eight-person table on the aft deck offers another dining option. Sliding mahogany-framed glass doors on the main deck open to combine the salon and aft deck into one sprawling, covered space.
For lovers of the great outdoors, the flybridge is the catbird seat. Spacious settees, a wet bar with stools, and helm seating can accommodate a party, still with enough deck space to store a RIB.
For those who fancy cruising the Great Loop, the boat can be configured with a bimini top instead of the standard hardtop, and a hinged mast that allows passage under the lowest bridges on the route. Covered side decks allow for safe, dry transit to the sunpad and seating on the foredeck.
Most customers do opt for some level of customization, which can include building any model out of fiberglass. “If a customer says, ‘Vicem is the best boat for me, but I just can’t live with cold-molded,’ then just ask,” Semmes says.
For those in a hurry, the 67 tops out at 22 knots with the standard pair of 1,000-hp Volvo Penta D13s. Economical cruise speed is 14 knots, and for marathon running, the boat will cover 2,000 miles at 8 knots, Vicem says. The company takes particular pride in its engine rooms, which have smart layouts, practical mechanical spaces and clearly labeled systems. Humphree fin stabilizers are standard, but customers can spec anything they want, including gyros.
The 67 currently is the smallest in Vicem’s Cruiser line, but a 58 is on the drawing board. Delivery time for a customized, cold-molded 67 is about a year from contract. Base price is $3.5 million.
PHOTO GALLERY
Vicem 67 Cruiser | Specs
LOA 68ft.
Beam 18ft. 1in.
Draft 5ft. 9in.
Construction cold-molded WEST System epoxy
Fuel 2,110 gal.
Water 300 gal.
Engines (standard) 2 x 1,000-hp Volvo Penta D13
Range approx. 2,000 miles @ 8 knots
Info vicemyachts.com
