Any Broom 42CLowners?

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If there happen to be any Broom 42CL owners on the forums I have a couple of quick questions if I may;

1. Does anyone have any approximate RPM/Speed/Consumption/Range data (even if only rough).
2. What is the lowest sustainable planing / SD speed or are they always in gradual SD with little noticeable 'hump'?

In short, I want a boat to do quick hops between cruising grounds where I will then slow down to river / inland waterway displacement speeds and I just want to get some idea of the possibilities - surprisingly the Brooms seem to tick all of the boxes for longer term cruising of this type but have rather small fuel capacities as standard.

Any further comments appreciated.
Ta.

Steve
 
We don't have a 42CL but I am familiar with the marque and we have a 41. Cruise is cited at circa 20 knots and top end circa 29 knots. Fuel capacity is 2 x 138 gal tanks and economy at cruise will be around 1mpg (we get around 1.1 to 1.2 mpg from our 41 (planing hull).

I think that you can run at any speed and there won't be a noticeable 'hump' . Our 41 doesn't have a 'hump' and despite being a planing hull will run at any speed albiet slower than the 42.

I may be biased but you won't find much better than a Broom for what you are looking for. Other options would be Atlantic or Haines. Wavey of this parish has a 42CL and will be able to give more informed comment.

Lovely boats btw! :)
 
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We had one for 10 years with 2x 350 yanmars, great boat, flat out was 27kts with a clean bottom. Cruised at 20kts but got about 0.8 mpg, overall average was 1mpg. Neil
 
Hi Steve, I used to run a Broom Monarch......an older model but similar SD hull and weight to the CL42.
Originally she was fitted with Volvo 60c's.....255hp new, although she was already an 'elderly lady' when we got her!
At river speeds she only seemed to 'sip' diesel (I'm sure I have the log books somewhere) but she was very economical.
At sea she always did around 1nm per gallon, from 10kts up to her 'elderly lady' max of around 18kts. However she did take us one year from Henley on Thames to the Scillies.........and back!
We then put in some Volvo D6 370's.........almost the same fuel consumption ( around 1nm per gallon) but now we had up to 27kts.
No real 'planing' transition although she definitely felt more lively (in the best possible way)being able to ride larger waves, above 18kts.....like most boats the fuel consumption increases sharply when you leave displacement mode.
The semi-flybridge layout is great for cruising in North European waters, but it's also a nice place to be when the sun isn't shining:)
 
Thanks for the quick replies folks! Presumably because of the way Broom marketed these boats as being fine for both Coastal / Inland waterways of Europe there are no issues with running the Turbo's for long periods in idle?
 
Certainly with the 60c's we had no issue despite lots of river slow speed cruising. A bit of smoke the first time we opened her up every trip, and definitely no change in oil consumption.
With the D6's I can't tell you, as we didn't go back to the river.
 
A great boat whether doing 6 knots on the river or 25 on the open sea, I know these boats inside out having done many miles on them, they are so comfortable and with the enclosed helm are great for all weathers, the accommodation is great for long term use too.
If the budget allows I would go for a 425, a friend has taken his from factory to the med through the canals and is now as far as Italy.
I sold Wavey his boat, just see what he has to say as he's experienced both river thames and south coast.
If you have any questions about a particular boat, let me know as I know the history of most built.
 
Lots said about larger engines and bore glazing when used predominantly on the rivers but in all my years of boating I have never encountered anyone in person who has actually had a problem (cue a flood of people who have on here :) )

Received wisdom is to make sure that you run them at higher revs every now and then. Being Broads based we do sea and river cruising so we don't have any issues. Not heard of any issues with turbos. Worth saying that our gearboxes don't require the engine to be running to get lubrication so we often run in one engine in the river. This means that it runs at higher revs and works a bit harder. Tend to do half an hour each side.

Broom designed and built the aft cabin boat with dual sea and inland (particulary Europe) cruising in mind and they do the job admirably :)

Should also say that build quality is excellent. Ours is an older model and built like the proverbial outhouse with a truly superb teak interior built by craftsmen.

If you want to know a bit more about other models look on the Broom Owners Club website. They have a gallery of current all discontinued models which is accessible to non-members. Cheers :)
 
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aquapower said:
A great boat whether doing 6 knots on the river or 25 on the open sea, I know these boats inside out having done many miles on them, they are so comfortable and with the enclosed helm are great for all weathers, the accommodation is great for long term use too.
If the budget allows I would go for a 425, a friend has taken his from factory to the med through the canals and is now as far as Italy.
I sold Wavey his boat, just see what he has to say as he's experienced both river thames and south coast.
If you have any questions about a particular boat, let me know as I know the history of most built.
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Any particular reasons for saying the 425 over the 42CL Aquapower? - The budget is flexible in the sense that either boat would be less than our current boat and the only difference is how much capital we tie up for five or so years or whatever it might be to the end of our boating days - This will almost certainly be our last boat.

Steve
 
drumbeat said:
Any particular reasons for saying the 425 over the 42CL Aquapower? - The budget is flexible in the sense that either boat would be less than our current boat and the only difference is how much capital we tie up for five or so years or whatever it might be to the end of our boating days - This will almost certainly be our last boat.

Steve
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Nothing wrong with either model, it will depend what layout you want, do you prefer dinette ? The 425 won't have a side door so has more seating. There's quite a few 425 s for sale at the moment so plenty of choice. As said they are both great boats and well built. Very comfortable to do 10 hour passage without stopping.
 
aquapower said:
Nothing wrong with either model, it will depend what layout you want, do you prefer dinette ? The 425 won't have a side door so has more seating. There's quite a few 425 s for sale at the moment so plenty of choice. As said they are both great boats and well built. Very comfortable to do 10 hour passage without stopping.
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Most of the time there will only be two or three of us onboard - so either has plenty of seating for our needs. The side doors would be very nice to have but that would not be a decider in itself.

I would much prefer Yanmar over Volvo D6 so perhaps that points to the 42CL?

More importantly, I need RANGE for those long trips between cruising grounds and 2 x 138 gal whilst using 1mpg is really cutting it tight for me - I either need 100 gal extra fuel or a lower cruising speed (say 10/12 knots) that would give me better consumption - hence the original question. It's not the actual consumption fuel cost that concerns me but rather the lack of range if that makes sense. Given the choice I'd rather do 20 knots at 1mpg than 8 knots at say 2.5 mpg but ideally I need a 300+ mile range. If I have to drop down to say a displacement speed of say 8 knots to get the range between cruising grounds, and then once within cruising grounds I'm at 5-6 knots for river limits - then I might as well get a displacement speed boat in the first place as I can never actually use the 20k cruising ability!
Steve
 
Broom is a good boat but you should also consider the Atlantic 444 or a 42. These are built for sea use and also inland cruising and are designed so that they can run on one engine inland. The engines are set slightly closer together so that they steer straight with a little opposite helm. I have never had any issues with bore glazing on any of them, Atlantic or Broom.
there are always plenty of creature comforts on board the Atlantics and large fuel tanks for good range. Very easily handled by two and even single handed as all of them tend to have (powerful) bow and stern thrusters fitted from new
I have sold many Atlantics and Brooms over the years as we used to be Atlantic main dealers and took a number of Brooms in part exchange.
I currently have a cracking 444 for sale which is in A1 order should you wish to look at a good alternative.
 
Imperial One said:
Broom is a good boat but you should also consider the Atlantic 444 or a 42. These are built for sea use and also inland cruising and are designed so that they can run on one engine inland. The engines are set slightly closer together so that they steer straight with a little opposite helm. I have never had any issues with bore glazing on any of them, Atlantic or Broom.
there are always plenty of creature comforts on board the Atlantics and large fuel tanks for good range. Very easily handled by two and even single handed as all of them tend to have (powerful) bow and stern thrusters fitted from new
I have sold many Atlantics and Brooms over the years as we used to be Atlantic main dealers and took a number of Brooms in part exchange.
I currently have a cracking 444 for sale which is in A1 order should you wish to look at a good alternative.
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Thanks for that Michael, that looks like a good clean boat and a decent alternative. I'm not quite at the stage of looking at individual boats yet - I'm still concentrating on the shortlist, and this speed/range thing is giving me a headache!
But the 444 is now at least on the list :encouragement:

Steve
 
I would usually allow for safe range of 200nm if cruising at 20ish. Another thing to consider is air draft if using on inland waterways, both 425 and CL have folding arch and quite a few are hydraulic. If you don't want Volvo then your out of luck with 425 as that's only option with them, most 42s will have Yanmars apart from last few.
 
You are very welcome Steve, I know the boat well and the current owner has literally loved her constantly.
A recent nav upgrade and fully maintained regardless of costs. Radar arch lowers, using one hand, for ease of cruising on all Northern European waterways - note to self, check if this one is powered as some were!
Good hunting, I am always available for a no obligation chat if you want to speak 'offline' as it were.:)
Mike.
 
As mentioned earlier in this thread I currently own a 42cl and during that time she's been used on the non-tidal Thames and more recently Solent based. From the moment we first walked on board it ticked every box we had plus quite a few we didn't. Four years down the line and our feelings haven't changed. Lived on it for over two years, extensively cruised the non-tidal Thames over that period and now spends most of her life at 20 knots in the saltly stuff. Originally designed for river and coastal use, the design turned out to be so good as to be reckoned as a very capable sea-going hull. Twin 350 Yanmars happy to poodle along at tick-over for long periods with just the odd blip in neutral to clear them (exactly as per the manual). Will purr along quite nicely @ 3,000 rpm for hours. A Dutch owner I know has an identical boat with 3,500 hours on the engines with no issues. Hydraulic arch was a must on the Thames giving very low air draft for the size of boat. Oddly enough, for a SD hull she does have a hump and flattens out as speed increases. Never taken that much notice as to the speed but would hazard a guess at around 13/14 knots.

For your requirements the only downside is the range which as aquapower mentioned is a safe 200nm with perhaps 220nm at a push. It might be possible to increase that by fitting an additional tank(s), perhaps replacing the holding tank or fitting elsewhere. Aquapower might know or speak to Brooms. If not then the Atlantic is your other option but for river use if you've got restricted headroom, a hydraulic arch is essential. Not sure if Atlantic offered this and can be a very expensive option to retro-fit.

Happy to try and answer any other questions you have.
 
All Atlantic's had a counter balanced sprung radar arch lowering system, so it can be raised or lowered very easily using one hand.
A lot of owners did specify electric/hydraulic lowering instead but it really is not an issue if not fitted as they lower so readily using the standard counterbalancing.
If wanted it can easily be retro fitted and we have done a few, personally, I would not bother if it not already on the boat.
:encouragement:
 
Wavey said:
As mentioned earlier in this thread I currently own a 42cl and during that time she's been used on the non-tidal Thames and more recently Solent based. From the moment we first walked on board it ticked every box we had plus quite a few we didn't. Four years down the line and our feelings haven't changed. Lived on it for over two years, extensively cruised the non-tidal Thames over that period and now spends most of her life at 20 knots in the saltly stuff. Originally designed for river and coastal use, the design turned out to be so good as to be reckoned as a very capable sea-going hull. Twin 350 Yanmars happy to poodle along at tick-over for long periods with just the odd blip in neutral to clear them (exactly as per the manual). Will purr along quite nicely @ 3,000 rpm for hours. A Dutch owner I know has an identical boat with 3,500 hours on the engines with no issues. Hydraulic arch was a must on the Thames giving very low air draft for the size of boat. Oddly enough, for a SD hull she does have a hump and flattens out as speed increases. Never taken that much notice as to the speed but would hazard a guess at around 13/14 knots.

For your requirements the only downside is the range which as aquapower mentioned is a safe 200nm with perhaps 220nm at a push. It might be possible to increase that by fitting an additional tank(s), perhaps replacing the holding tank or fitting elsewhere. Aquapower might know or speak to Brooms. If not then the Atlantic is your other option but for river use if you've got restricted headroom, a hydraulic arch is essential. Not sure if Atlantic offered this and can be a very expensive option to retro-fit.

Happy to try and answer any other questions you have.
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I've owned 3 Brooms (34, 38 and 42CL) though currently run a Beneteau Sports Cruiser based in Spain. My 42CL had twin Yanmar 440 (there were 350, 400 and 420 versions of the same same 6LY engines. The engines are rock solid and I frankly prefer the basic Yanmars to electronically controlled Volvo D6s. At full power 33kts was indicated on gps though we only played there rarely, normally we cruised at 18kts because it was fast enough, relaxing, possible to move comfortably around and economic. Though river based during our 3 week summer cruises down the down south coast we'd expect a mixed economy of about 1.5 mpg, so not bad at all.

Best fuel economy advice I got was from EP Barrus who told me very simply every time you increase the revs by 200 you double fuel consumption. I've found this is true on Volvo's as well. This knowledge helps you identify 2 sweet spots, planing and non-planing. If I remember it was about 18kts and 7 kts respectively on the 42.

Broom build quality and support was always excellent so I thoroughly endorse Wavey's comments.


BTW - I found that Donaldson supply good quality filters for fuel and main oil, saving a fortune on Yanmars badged ones. Never did find a quality by-pass filter.
 
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Thank you guys - your comments and opinions are truly appreciated!

At the moment I simply cannot make the range numbers add up for the sort of long range cruising that we want to do (pretty much permanently 'on the move') and I am coming to an acceptance that I will either have to drastically alter our plans or accept a displacement boat that can push 8 knots 24/7 in open water. The latter is pretty much what we have done for the last forty years and I was hoping to spend less time bouncing around / avoid night watches etc. now that full retirement approaches but as I say I cannot make the numbers add up. An Elling E3 comes close but that is too small for us and in any case, in order to get the range, you need to be down below 10 knots so where is the real gain?

None of the above is in any way a criticism of the Broom or the Atlantic. they are great boats and we may well look again at modifying our plans.....

Thanks again folks - much appreciated!
Steve
 
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