410 Carver Sport Sedan

Source: Tim Clark, Power & Motoryacht Magazine

Great Lake Escape

Cool comfort during an August heat wave aboard Carver’s new Sport Sedan.

The fish-packing plants and shipping operations of most small harbors along the Wisconsin coast of Lake Michigan are all but idle now, and with many wharves converted to marinas, the hard edge of rough-and-tumble enterprise has been softened to quaintness. Brick street fronts and clapboard houses, weathered jetties, and old lighthouses—all the rustic relics of an industrious past—seem now to endure only for our pleasure; the serenity of these places is somehow deepened by the knowledge that once they rang with activity.

Someone from Milwaukee or Chicago visiting such a place for a long weekend on the big lake might conclude that all small towns in northern Wisconsin are so sleepy.  So a visit to Pulaski, the thriving home of Carver Yachts just a short drive from the coast, would come as quite a surprise.

The plant covers more than 100 acres at the center of town, and its workforce outnumbers the town’s population of around 1,000 souls. “Carver is Pulaski,” I heard more than once during my visit. The builder offers more than 15 models each year and creates nearly all systems that go into its motoryachts in-house, so in addition to hangars for hull and superstructure lay-up, its forest-green facilities include shops for metal work, cabinetry, upholstery, electrical harness assembly, and more.

As I toured the plant I saw several motoryachts in different stages of production, not only a 410 Sport Sedan whose sister I would board the following day, but also other models, from the popular 350 Mariner to the grand-scale 570 Voyager. The experience was pertinent to my evaluation of the 410 because, I realized, at Carver innovations in building techniques and craftsmanship are applied to all models, whether they originate on a 59-footer or a 35-footer. The sturdy saloon sole I saw being built for a 530 Voyager, with its aluminum box-beam braces and stainless steel supports, differed from the 410’s sole only in its dimensions. Likewise, the same bar-stock aluminum trusses that I saw on a 466 Motoryacht are laminated into the 410 to support the superstructure and unify it with the hull.

The 410 also shares principled standards of hull construction with other Carvers. To virtually eliminate any possibility of water-seepage-related decay down low, no wood is used in the hull below the waterline. Its bottom is solid FRP, and its sides are cored with closed-cell foam. Nor is there any wood in the 410’s beefy stringer system, which is full-composite with a wide footprint to firmly support engines that are through-bolted over heavily reinforced steel brackets.

Above, the same woodworking techniques experienced hands use to fashion the cabinets in a Carver 564 Cockpit Motoryacht are applied in the 410. All joinery is, according to Carver, marine grade. Dowel joints are used for doorframes, and cabinets are joined with glue and stainless steel screws in predrilled holes. As a result of such practices, the 410’s cabinetry should more ably endure the inherent stresses of a floating environment.

Having seen in stages so much of what goes into the 410, I felt well acquainted with the completed boat I boarded the next day in Sturgeon Bay. I was along for the ride with broker Jerry Ipjian for the 200-mile, due-south delivery of the yacht to his Great Lakes Yacht Sales in Kenosha, Wisconsin. The daylong run wasn’t just a perfect opportunity to examine the 410 in action, it was also welcome relief from an August heat wave plaguing the States from the Mississippi eastward. By midday it was 96 degrees on land with about 80 percent humidity and winds at less than 10 mph. Aboard the 410 a dozen miles off the coast, temperatures were 10 degrees cooler, and with the twin 375-hp Volvo Penta gasoline inboards taking us to more than 23 mph at a 3500-rpm cruise, we had plenty of breeze. For good measure we fired up the optional Kohler 10-kW genset and switched on the Marine Air air conditioning so that our occasional forays from the flying bridge to the galley were especially refreshing.

Carver hopes the 410 will appeal to boaters who have a taste for express cruisers but are in the market for more living space inside and out, and, as one Carver rep put it to me, “more presence without giving up the sport feel.” Indeed, as we entered the big lake, I felt we enjoyed the best of both worlds.

Cruelly, I forced the air conditioning to battle engine room heat as well when I lifted the hatch in the saloon sole just before our sea trial. While plugging a Volvo Penta diagnostic tool into the port engine to get fuel-flow readings, I noted plenty of width in the service alley, good lighting, and a neat white gelcoat finish.

When I hopped back into the saloon and dropped the 5’x2′ insulated hatch back into place, the decrease in noise was as dramatic as the fall in temperature. While Ipjian maintained our 3500-rpm pace, I prolonged my stay in the cool air by wandering the interior. In the saloon I lolled on the curving Ultraleather settee facing the port-side L-shape galley. Heading forward and up a step to the aft-facing semicircular dinette, I could easily imagine this separate area as an extension of the saloon during social occasions. Eventually, of course, I found myself sprawled out on the double island berth in the forward master stateroom, which thanks to a split en suite head and shower seemed quite spacious. Its comfort and quiet—I measured 73 dB-A with my decibel meter down here (65 dB-A is the level of normal conversation)—made it difficult to leave.

The same 3500 rpm during sea trials on the flying bridge yielded a sound level of 81 dB-A, not surprising with the addition of wind and water noise. At 23.1 mph for a range of 221 miles, this cruise was brisk, efficient, and pleasant. As deliverymen, what more could we ask? We would reach our destination before nightfall, without refueling, and enjoy ourselves, to boot.

The 410 handles adroitly for a boat of her size, responding well to the Teleflex hydraulic steering and leaning firmly into tight turns. She does lift her nose a bit during the transition onto plane and seems to demand liberal use of the trim tabs. This behavior is not all that significant when piloting from the flying bridge, but I imagine it could be annoying from the more limited perspective of the optional lower helm, which was not on our test boat.

With the added time required for trials, it was evening when we reached Kenosha’s peaceful waterfront. In the cooling dusk under the bimini with the boat securely tied to the quay after our more than 10-hour trip, we were far removed from the bustle at Carver I’d witnessed the day before. I could appreciate all the industry that had gone into building this boat up in Pulaski, but it was hard to believe such a place existed in Wisconsin.

Boat Specification: 410 Carver Sport Sedan

LOA: 46’4″
Beam: 13’11”
Draft: 3’6″
Weight: 31,625 lbs.
Fuel capacity: 400 gal.
Water capacity: 95 gal.
Test engines: 2/375-hp Volvo Penta 8.1 Gi gasoline inboards
Transmissions: Hurth 800A
Ratio: 2.8:1
Props: Hawboldt 24×24, 4-blade, bronze
Steering: Teleflex Sea Star hydraulic
Controls: Morse MT, single-lever, mechanical
Optional equipment on test boat: 46,000-BTU Marine Air A/C; 10-kW Kohler genset; Maxwell Freedom 800 windlass