Brinks Tempo 1

[chrisdobson45]

We’ve just returned home after a week on Tempo 1. Initial views:

Lovely boat, handled well, we used the upper helm all week. The display of speed over ground was especially useful. Visibility was great.

the galley was well equipped but the Samsung combi oven was a pain ( instructions may as well have been absent for the sense they made). Fridge is full size but only a very small ice box. We only used the galley for bacon sandwiches whilst underway and for tea, coffee, etc., but the size of the ice box was an issue with four adults onboard once the sun was over the yard arm…

The batteries were excellent, we never dropped below 65% charge overnight and there were lots of lights on, TV’s, etc. The lower helm Display was very useful.

We are waiting Barnes to confirm fuel consumption so not sure what we’ve used, however the gauge showed just over half a tank left when we returned to Wroxham, after 28 hours cruising (Wroxham > Acle > Rockland St Mary > Norwich > Oulton Broad > Potter Heigham > Wroxham) with both trips through Gt Yarmouth within 10 minutes of slack water.

Gripes: electric sunroof in the salon leaked; the rear en-suite layout was designed by a contortionist, the basin is below the deck with only 13” of space above the basin; the sliding windows within windows are truly awful in the rain. They leak if even just cracked open and when closed the condensation soon clouds the windows; There needs to be more / better non slip to the rear deck area either side of the rear door (the only entrance / exit to the boat); the semi circular seating to the upper deck is uncomfortable, no leg space and no back rest.

[chrisdobson45]

Just been confirmed that we consumed £73 of diesel, not bad for 28 hours cruising including crossing Breydon Water twice and a six hour stint from Norwich to Oulton Broad…

[KevinB]

We hired Fair Royale two years ago, very similar layout, we found the sink had the same issue, ok for washing your hands but tricky brushing your teeth! 😂 The shower was excellent though with a proper door and a good size.

[Chickpea]

Sounds like you covered a lot of ground (river!)

15 hours ago, chrisdobson45 said:

the rear en-suite layout was designed by a contortionist, the basin is below the deck with only 13” of space above the basin

2 hours ago, KevinB said:

we found the sink had the same issue, ok for washing your hands but tricky brushing your teeth!

We had the same issue on Sovereign Light a couple of years ago. Think it's quite a common layout. My partner got really annoyed with how many times he banged his head while trying to brush his teeth. Though, there's always somewhere you're going to hit your head on a boat isn't there!

[BroadAmbition]

Though, there's always somewhere you're going to hit your head on a boat isn't there!

Isn't there just! 

Me n MrsG seem to accomplish this feet on an annual basis despite having been onboard more than regular since 2007, we still somehow manage it 

Griff

[chrisdobson45]

I have the remains of an egg on my forehead, when stepping down into the aft cabin from the salon, do not turn left, even a fraction, there's the underside of the moulding for the footwell to the upper helm position, and whilst the corner has been rounded off, it's at the perfect height to connect with if you're 5' 10". I must have connected with it four times in the week, the last one made me sit down rather quickly.

As for mileage, 130.4 miles travelled, 28.25 hours (both based on published distance / time charts).

Average speed 4.61mph (although we dawdled when we had to).

Fuel cost / hour of cruising £2.58

Fuel cost / mile travelled £0.56

We religiously kept to speed limits and our journey times were true to the published time charts (mainly as I was very aware that the boat needed in excess of 9' 6" to clear bridges and therefore hitting Gt Yarmouth at slack water was my goal). Cruising towards Gt Yarmouth on the ebb and away on the flood was a massive benefit to fuel conservation, and the Yanmar diesel was only two season's old...

 

[oldgregg]

I think the Yanmar engines which Brinks have started to use are the 4JH series.

Those are common rail engines with electronic injection, so I suspect they will be drastically more fuel-efficient than the Nanni / Beta / Perkins engines.

I would imagine that in typical Brinks fashion they have two alternators to make sure the batteries are being topped up nicely, and with the extra efficiency they're probably still cheaper to run than a Nanni with a single alternator.

What the long-term reliability is like I don't know, but those engines have been used in industrial applications for some while.

[NotDeadYet]

 

On 02/08/2021 at 08:04, chrisdobson45 said:

the Samsung combi oven was a pain ( instructions may as well have been absent for the sense they made). Fridge is full size but only a very small ice box.

Lol, our Brinks boat had a similar Samsung oven, helpfully accompanied by a Sharp manual, and the fridge had no icebox at all. The fuel gauge showed over half on return, but our refund was just under one third, and the waste tank gauge didn't work at all.  Rather more small disappointments than I expect after paying quite a lot of money.

[Mouldy]

2 hours ago, oldgregg said:

I think the Yanmar engines which Brinks have started to use are the 4JH series.

Those are common rail engines with electronic injection, so I suspect they will be drastically more fuel-efficient than the Nanni / Beta / Perkins engines.

I would imagine that in typical Brinks fashion they have two alternators to make sure the batteries are being topped up nicely, and with the extra efficiency they're probably still cheaper to run than a Nanni with a single alternator.

What the long-term reliability is like I don't know, but those engines have been used in industrial applications for some while.

Common rail and electronic injection spells more cost when it goes wrong to me.  My mechanical knowledge is far from comprehensive, but the main benefit of Nanni / Beta engines is their simplicity surely.  No electronics, no very high pressure common rail fuel delivery, no turbo, low revving and no frills.

[chrisdobson45]

8 minutes ago, NotDeadYet said:

 

Lol, our Brinks boat had a similar Samsung oven, helpfully accompanied by a Sharp manual, and the fridge had no icebox at all. The fuel gauge showed over half on return, but our refund was just under one third, and the waste tank gauge didn't work at all.  Rather more small disappointments than I expect after paying quite a lot of money.

The waste tank gauges were lit up but neither moved during the week, and at least one toilet was “well used” despite a “no nr 2’s onboard” rule being put in place…

The boat was excellent, but it should have been as it is the flagship design of the yard and was only two years old. The welcome hamper (eggs, bacon, sausages, ham, cheese, butter, tomatoes, bread, biscuits, Carva, apple juice, pork pie) was great, but we had earned that as we were a returning customer and our current booking was over a certain defined value. 
Overall, the customer service experience was spoilt when we arrived, it was chaos. The pingdemic had caused some cleaning staff not to turn in, however, there appeared to be no plan to get the boats turned round, in any sort of order. We were told three times that our boat was ready, only to be told it hadn’t been cleaned / pumped out / refuelled. We got on board at about 4.45pm and had our guided tour of the boat at about 5pm (without the need for a trial run).
 

We decided to overnight in the yard and have an early start on Sunday….
 

[oldgregg]

16 minutes ago, Mouldy said:

Common rail and electronic injection spells more cost when it goes wrong to me.  My mechanical knowledge is far from comprehensive, but the main benefit of Nanni / Beta engines is their simplicity surely.  No electronics, no very high pressure common rail fuel delivery, no turbo, low revving and no frills.

Yup, those would be the reasons that Kubota engines are so popular. They're not even overhead cam, and the camshaft is gear-driven.

Not all of the Yanmar engines are turbo, I would assume they're only using the naturally-aspirated ones as at river speeds they'll soot up?

[NeilB]

47 minutes ago, oldgregg said:

Yup, those would be the reasons that Kubota engines are so popular. They're not even overhead cam, and the camshaft is gear-driven.

Not all of the Yanmar engines are turbo, I would assume they're only using the naturally-aspirated ones as at river speeds they'll soot up?

Looks like the biggest Yanmar without a turbo is 57hp, once you get to around this power you need turbos to keep the emissions down.  Biggest Nanni without a turbo seems to be 47hp.

[oldgregg]

57hp would do fine in a broads hire boat...

I think they can manage more power without a turbo because the injection is much more precise (hence the fuel efficiency).

[tim]

Maybe it's me, but I would imagine that boat is 2.5K to hire?

That's a lot of gripes for a boat costing that kind of dosh!

I think I'll stick with an older  boat with 'traditional features' and save myself £1500!

Mind you most of that 'saving' goes on beer and food in the pubs, but I find the more I drink the less I notice the 'gripes' 

[oldgregg]

I tend to adopt that approach these days.

We had a week on Contessa in mid-June (the one where the weather was scorching). With the Ricko's loyalty bonus it cost us about £495 after the fuel refund, and we spent most of our time on the South.

She wasn't a new boat by any means but Ricko's stuff is always really clean and there was tons of space for two (and we've hired her before with six of us, when she also felt plenty big enough). Handling is excellent and she has a recent Nanni engine. 

A newer boat would have cost us four times as much, and we saw all the same sights we would have on a different boat. I don't think we used the cooker apart from one lunchtime, but we'll still have spent way less.

[Maxwellian]

Cheap and cheerful for me as well. Had three weeks on Maycraft Mayfair. Boat had everything we needed. 

[BryanW]

On 02/08/2021 at 08:04, chrisdobson45 said:

the sliding windows within windows are truly awful in the rain. They leak if even just cracked open and when closed the condensation soon clouds the windows

Couldn't agree more, we had one of the early Encores a few years back and left the after cabin window open a crack, then it rained and everything beneath it got soaked.  Absolutely appalling design, bring back the 'scuttle' windows.  It's all about style over substance these days, make it look nice but invariable impractical.