As a day cruiser capable of entertaining several people in style, the Integrity 330 Sedan punches way above its weight.
One of the stars of the 2010 Sanctuary Cove Boat Show was the Integrity 320 Sedan. Of all the wonders on display, you could hardly miss the Integrity because even before you’d made it to the show there it was, floating serenely in the lake passed as you enter the precinct.
As an attention getter that took some beating, but it didn’t really explain why a (relatively simple by Sanctuary Cove’s exotic standards) Chinese-built 9.75m displacement hulled coastal cruiser attracted so much attention. That was probably more to do with the 320 Sedan being an easy to handle and competitively priced means for a couple to enjoy the maze of sheltered waterways which ensure south eastern Queensland maintains one of the highest per capita boat ownerships in the whole Pacific basin. Eighteen months down the track brings us the Integrity 330 Sedan with no prizes for figuring the ‘320’ has been revised to become ‘330.’ And surprise, surprise, the “competitive price” has crept upwards – a bit.
A fair bit in fact, although in fairness it must be said that the Integrity 330 Sedan at $A349,000 does involve a package that takes the fairly simple fit-out of its predecessor some way upmarket. Perhaps you can still buy an Integrity 330 sedan without the additions. The question though is whether you’d want to.
3 hp bow and stern thrusters, 4.7kW reverse cycle air conditioning, an Onan 4 kW genset, a Fusion sound system, a flat screen LCD TV which rises from the cabinetwork on demand, teak and holly flooring inside, teak for the cockpit swim platform, fresh and salt water deck wash, an upholstered cockpit lounge, Corian bench tops in the galley, and VHF radio are all included now. Only electronics, a choice too varied and yes, personal, to include, need be added.
Wait there’s More
It’s astute packaging but as the saying goes; there’s more… While the basic configuration of a downstairs double berth cabin in the bows and a deck level saloon with galley and dinette lounge along the portside remains the same, the most dramatic change is double hopper windows across the cabin’s aft bulkhead. With these open, the entire boat from the forward cabin bulkhead to a wide swim deck across the stern becomes one big open plan living area. Nearly all of which is roofed over by a stylish hardtop that extends right out to each side and aft to the transom.
The new saloon door is a little unusual in that those twin hopper windows divide the upper part of the opening and then the lower part of the door slides away to port leaving a slightly off-centre entry/exit between the saloon bench tops. For social occasions the arrangement is highly effective in connecting people in the outside lounge/dinette area with those inside the saloon, while making the saloon seem much, much larger than it actually is.
Not that the saloon is cramped. Funnily enough a thought that occurred several times while aboard was to remind myself that this is only a 10m boat. Big windows around the saloon let in plenty of light and (sliding) side windows can be opened along with a big hatch in the roof and a large sliding door beside the helm station to ventilate the interior when you prefer to leave the aircon off.
Downstairs in the bows the cabin has a double island bed with a shower cubicle to port and a toilet on the starboard side of the cabin bulkhead. These are both ventilated by high set sliding windows. Another pair of (larger) windows in the stateroom plus a big hatch over the bed allows plenty of airflow if you don’t wish to leave the genset and aircon running all night.
The bow cabin is one of the few places aboard this boat where its only being 10m long becomes evident. Not that it’s cramped either, but the bed does extend almost to the sides of the hull underneath what you realise are the decks above when you think about it. Visually, neat upholstery on the cabin sides above the bed ensures a sense of roominess is maintained in the cabin regardless.
Timber panelling and the holly and teak floor combined in our test boat with off white bench tops and upholstery and a ceiling in shades of cream to further enhance a sense of space and light in the saloon. Personally I think I’d be looking at some non slip fitted mats on some areas at least of the saloon floor.
It looks lovely but would I imagine be hard to keep clean and may become slippery if someone ventured inside dripping water after a swim.
Our 330 Sedan’s galley was equipped with an all electric twin ring stove and a microwave oven (thanks to the genset) so having no gas aboard added considerably to the boat’s inherent safety.
Our test boat’s owner (at this point we should say thanks very much to Barry Heaps for letting us aboard his brand new baby) optioned an extra under bench refrigerator beside the standard one on the starboard side of the central companionway. A double sink with flick mixer tap accessible from either the cockpit or saloon occupied the bench top dividing them.
The helm station is situated to starboard at the forward end of the saloon opposite the dinette. It’s pretty much what you’d expect in a displacement cruiser with a large vertically set stainless steel steering wheel and ample dash space for instrumentation and navigation displays. A feature of the Integrity 330 Sedan that has (thankfully) been carried over from its predecessor is a sliding door right beside the helm. It means you can come alongside and be tying up only a couple of steps from the wheel – something any experienced skipper will appreciate.
Access forward to the bows along wide side decks is secured by a stout rail running all around the boat at hip height. Both port and starboard rails have gates for use when docking. It proved easier though to step through the transom door onto the swim platform and thence onto the marina dock to enter and exit the boat.
Traditional Cruiser
The Integrity’s hull is traditional displacement cruiser in shape with a deep keel and round chines flowing aft from fine bows to a virtually flat bottom with a 3.6 metre beam. This boat displaces 7 tonnes so don’t expect too much movement underfoot.
Both times I’ve been aboard an Integrity were on calm water in the sheltered reaches of southern Moreton Bay near Sanctuary Cove, north of the Gold Coast (did I really just hear myself say it was unfortunate to be boating on calm water???) As a result I can’t comment on how the hull handles the rougher stuff. I don’t know if Integrity upgraded sound proofing around the engine room in the review boat but I can tell you that noise from the engine room was only noticeable by its absence.
Motive power is supplied by a 150 hp 4-cylinder John Deere Power-Tech 4045FTM turbo charged diesel engine. Cruising sedately along between 7 and 9 knots is how this boat’s apparently meant to travel. Our test boat was the first 330 Sedan into Australia, so the distributors were yet to learn about fuel consumption.
However, they told me the previous model (powered by a 150hp 6-cylinder Iveco diesel) commonly used 10 to 15 litres per hour at these speeds and they expect the John Deere’s fuel consumption to be comparable. There was more speed available at wider throttle openings up to the claimed maximum of 12 knots, but any more than 10 knots seemed to me to be pushing the point past what displacement cruisers are all about!
At 8 knots the hull was leaving a very small wake and hardly raising a bow wave at all. It was quiet, relaxed, totally stress free, and I could easily have tolerated much, much more of it!!!
The Integrity 330 Sedan’s engine is fresh water cooled through a heat exchanger. Power is delivered through a ZF63A gearbox to a 4-blade bronze propeller along an all-stainless-steel drive shaft.
Given where we were cruising sedately along, a very popular cruising ground nonetheless notable for extensive and unpredictable shallows, that this is a heavily keeled displacement hull mounting its propeller and rudder astern and safely above the line of the keel bottom is a not-to-be-discounted attribute. Bumping terra firma now and then is to be expected in southern Moreton Bay where the old salts have it that there are only two kinds of skippers – those who have just been aground; and those who are just about to go aground…
Integrity specifies the 330 Sedan’s draft as a little over a metre. Her 950-litre fuel capacity and 450-litre freshwater tank will affect draft of course so it’s reassuring to say that at least that this boat’s running gear shelters behind the solidity of a keel.
As a day cruiser capable of entertaining several people in style, the Integrity 330 Sedan punches way above its weight. Three or more couples plus or minus a youngster or two would be entirely comfortable. To me though, it shines brightest as a comfortable easy to handle cruiser for a couple who enjoy nothing more than a few relaxing days on their boat.
