Tobago From Richardsons

[Broads01]

This is to post my thoughts on Tobago from Richardsons having hired Tobago 3 last week. My apologies for taking no internal photos - I meant to do so as we were leaving. Rest assured though the internals on Richardsons website are still accurate http://www.richardsonsboatingholidays.co.uk/boats/tobago/

Tobago is a 44 foot 7-9 berth centre cockpit cruiser, built some 30 years ago originally as Fair Entrepreneur 44 in the Faircraft Loynes fleet. In common with all Richardsons fleet it's been maintained and updated over the years to a very good standard. Equipment now includes 240 volt electrics, microwave, dvd player and carbon monoxide detectors. It's priced at the budget end of the range hence there is no bow thruster or shore power. 

At the rear of the boat there are patio-style sliding doors to a very spacious rear well, more akin to a sedan cruiser than a centre cockpit. Inside there is a rear galley area spread across both sides of the boat with a large folding table when needed. Overall the galley is a good size, if lacking in worktop space on the starboard side which contains the sink unit and cooker. Leading off the galley there is a good size twin cabin with crossover bunks. There's no ladder to the top bunk and so it's a scramble up by stepping on the bottom one. Also leading from the galley is a long narrow passage way to the centre, with entrances to the rear washroom and single cabin starboard and rear double cabin port. The rear washroom is a little cramped but not unusually so. The single cabin is tight on floor space and the bunk is narrow but would have been long enough for me to sleep on (I'm 6 foot 0). The rear double cabin is a little short of floor space but has a good size bed. The central saloon area is large with L shape sofa to port and two further fixed smaller sofas to starboard. The L shape sofa is comfy and converts to a good size double bed. The other sofas are very upright and aren't at all comfortable, having the feel of sitting on a bus seat! There is a small table by the L shape sofa which works well although a large crew would need to drag through the heavy folding table from the rear in order to eat together. The fore cabin is by far the most luxurious cabin on the boat, having large double bed (possibly 4 foot 6 wide), window seat and good size ensuite. It also benefits from the large cabin windows all round. 

The large saloon and sliding canopy are a great benefit, the only down side being the canopy is enormous and very heavy to slide up and down. It requires at least two people on the outside decks to put their full weight behind it and keep it moving all the way to the end of the runners. 

Although it's a centre cockpit cruiser, the helm position is a long way forward and thus handling has the feel of a forward drive in that there is a long length of boat behind the helm position. Handling was manageable. I was aware of the boat's size and weight and manoeuvring required some firm throttle bursts to achieve the required turn. 

Overall, Tobago is an excellent choice and a spacious comfortable boat. For reasons I've never understood, it's priced considerably lower than its sisters of similar design (San Elena and San Diego) and costs no more to hire than many Richardsons 6 berth boats (even though it's a 7-9 berth) and this makes it excellent value.