Bayliner Ciera 8 review
Alex Smith visits Cannes for the world launch of the new Bayliner Ciera 8.
Despite the fanfare, flags and trumpets, it is clear from the start that the hotly anticipated Bayliner Ciera 8 is a new boat only in the most sage and circumspect of modern ways. In other words, while it’s a fresh looking design, it is based on a set of established products and principles that are already known to work.
See for yourself on boats.com: Bayliner Ciera 8 video: first look
For instance, rather than designing a new boat from the ground up, Bayliner has taken the hull of the existing 255 and elongated it with a substantial extension to the swim platform. While this enables the new boat to inherit much of the proven dynamic predictability of the old craft, it also generates much better access for swimmers, with low-profile grabbing points to help you get out of the water and into the aft part of the cockpit with minimal fuss.
The hull of the new Bayliner Ciera 8 is based on a stretched 255.
The redesigned topsides also display some evidence of a well-established bloodline – not least in the robustly elevated bow rails, which sit astride a foredeck that swells precipitously above the rubbing strake. This suggests that the Ciera 8 prioritises internal accommodation to exactly the same degree as its forbears, and yet while these hardworking dimensions might easily have leant this boat a rather static and cumbersome aesthetic, the use of modern angles rather than dated curves (plus the use of a second long hull window on either side) means that for all its formulaic flavour, the new boat appears much sleeker, trimmer and more dynamic than those upon which it is based.
In the cockpit
The starboard seating doubles as a lounger or camp bed.
Like the external mouldings, the internal layout (both up top and down below) suggests a subtle reapplication of an established formula. A generous beam and the absence of external side decks means plenty of cockpit space, which is used here to generate a staggered walkway, with a three-man transom bench separated by a dining table from a two-man, aft-facing seat on the starboard side. You also get a two-man helm seat with swinging backrest, which operates as part of the same unit as the passenger’s central seating position, plus a compact lounge area opposite the helmsman on the navigator’s side.
With a mini-galley (fridge, sink and stove) installed to port, you can use this navigator seat either as a compact, aft-facing lounger or a small, inward-facing two-man bench. However, if you don’t want the cockpit galley (and with a more generous one down below, you might well consider a second, alfresco station excessive), you can specify some extended port seating instead. Yet even with the cockpit galley in place, you still get convertible seating for up to nine people, so I would be inclined to keep it in place to avoid having to head below every time a shipmate wants a drink.
Galley dilemmas aside, the Ciera’s cockpit is a relaxing and peculiarly well appointed place to be. The angular two-tier dash arrangement is modern, effective and versatile, the seats are deep and supportive and the pleasantly fibrous, sisal-style carpet, which feels great underfoot, is also usefully robust and maintenance-free courtesy of the plastics used in its construction.
The port side is available with alfresco mini-galley or extra seating.
And yet the centerpiece of this cockpit layout is the five-man dining area, which can be converted into a large, triangular sunbathing platform (or overnight camp bed) by simply swinging the hinged backrest of the aft bench over and down into the space where the table once perched. It’s certainly not the most ingenious piece of multi-purpose versatility ever built into a piece of deck furniture and the various gaps and hard bits generated by the seat top grab rails look distinctly uncomfortable to a man of my sinewy frame, but it remains an indisputably useful asset on a small family cruiser.
Down below
The cabin is entered via a solid sliding door with integrated steps to access the foredeck. There are no translucent panels in this section to help generate extra light down below and yet the use of those four long, raked windows (both above and below the rubbing strake) means that when you head below decks, the cabin still feels notably brighter than its predecessors. That sense of uncluttered openness is also helped by the headroom (which is every bit as generous as the foredeck profile suggests) and by the use of pale birch materials and very clean, uncomplicated lines.
The cabin is as large and bright as you would expect.
In terms of layout, the main berth in the V of the bow is separated from the guest cabin (which runs laterally below the helm) by means of a simple curtain. Beside that on the port side you get a standing galley and on the opposite flank, you get a separate heads compartment. While the materials don’t feel especially heavyweight or expensive, they remain moderately attractive and practical – and while the galley feels more like a freestanding, after-market, add-on section than a seamlessly integrated part of the boat, it is no less compact or efficient for that.
Summary
With a hand-me-down hull and a well-proven layout, this hardworking 26-footer does a very effective job of combining generous internal dimensions with refreshing external appeal. For me, the flaccid beige hull colour of the debut craft is more resonant of the gravid sludge of low-water silt than the frolicsome levity of 60s sports car upholstery, so I would oust it in favour of – well in favour of anything really. And yet even in this guise, the fact remains that by taking some of the most useful features of the existing 255 and 285 and presenting them in a more modern and desirable package, the Ciera 8 looks like a measured and moderate improvement on both. As for the price, the UK figure of £70,000 (about £12,000 more than the 255) will no doubt be in the right range to retain the favour of the entry-level cruising brigade.
Bayliner Ciera 8: Specifications
LOA: 8.15 m
Beam: 2.55 m
Weight: 3,100 kg
Fuel: 247 litres
Water: 76 litres
Berths: 4+2
Price: from £70,000
www.bateswharf.co.uk
