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The 2700 Open is probably Tiara's most successful model,
having a production run from 1981 to about 1993. During that time
it's undergone the usual changes and improvements, so that you'll
find the later models generally better than earlier models.
As usual, besides good, solid construction, one
of the real strong points of this boat is practical design. From
a large, uncluttered cockpit, to sensibly designed seating modules,
to good, all-around ergonomics, this is a boat for those whom freedom
and ease of movement is paramount.
This specimen at ten years old (1988) hadn't had
a lot of TLC or much use either, with only 450 hours on the engine
meters. Powered with twin Crusader FWC 270 hp inboards, one engine
had been rebuilt. Since 450 hours translates to 45 hours per year,
that's probably the reason. But I'd also add that the exhausts are
half submerged, and the exhaust riser height quite low, factors
which don't help if you don't run a boat frequently.
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| The helm
is not as large as you'd find on later models, but it's still
a very good layout. Notice the custom teak box added to change
the view angle of the depth charter and GPS. |
Cutting to the chase, overall we found few faults
with this boat, as we already knew after surveying many of them.
Its moderately light weight at 7500 lbs. and a real speedster
with small engines, yet she holds together okay. She tops out at
around 35 knots and will cruise at 25 at under 3000 RPM. The bottom
deadrise is 20 degrees, so she's not a real competitor with serious
deep water boats. Heading down Hawk Channel in the Florida Keys
with a light chop, about 18", the ride was, shall we
say, choppy.
Structurally, everything is holding together fine
except for the inadequately supported foredeck, which has a raised
cabin trunk where there are cracks around the perimeter of the cabin
trunk. In addition to this, the cabin overhead cabinet attached
to the underside of the deck had fractured mica, testifying to the
weakness of the deck. Its not falling apart, but you wouldn't want
to jump on it either.
The cabin sole is darn near on the bottom of the
hull, and typical of most Tiaras of this vintage, you can feel every
ripple in the water under your feet when standing in the cabin.
This tends to be a bit disconcerting. The hull is all glass and
the decks are balsa cored. Typically, we do not find any problems
with the cores. The entire aft deck section is removable so that
the fuel tank and exhaust system can be reached for service.
The cabin area is adequate, but that's about all.
This is a cockpit boat. If you want cabin space, you'll need to
look elsewhere. As you step down into the cabin you can take
two steps before running into a vee shaped table of set between
the vee berths. Its supposed to be a sort of dinette, an idea that
goes down with a mighty wimper. The table has two big legs but I
think I'd ditch it all in a big hurry. That will give you
a four baby-step cabin where you won't have to fall over the table
to try to sit down. Other than that its okay for two as an overnighter.
I've made fish and spaghetti dinners on galleys smaller than this
(like on motor boxes and a Coleman gas stove), so the galley isn't
completely useless if you're the overnighter-camper type. With the
sink and stove, the counter top is 40" long, but storage space
is minimal.
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This
is a two part motor box/seat module. The top part slides
back easily for easy access, while the lower base can also
be removed. |
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The
table is just a wee bit too large for this space. It drops
down to make for a single large berth. But most of the time
it just gets in the way. |
The head and shower area? Well, that's what they
make fresh water washdowns for because you're not going to shower
in there unless you have elfine proportions. The head is one of
those Groco electric types that seems to grind itself to pieces
on an annual basis. There are no fiberglass liners with the interior
of this boat. With all that carpet glued all over everything, it
fairly hushed. Very often you'll find the glue bleeding through
the fabric making ugly stains. Fit and finish is ho hum with quite
a bit of teak
This model has the two part cockpit seating modules.
The upper part with a pedestal seat mounted, will slide aft easily
to reveal the top of the engine. You can pull this part off and
then lift base part completely off. We managed with no help to completely
open up the engine space for quite good access. This is certainly
better than one those huge boxes that's so heavy that no one but
a couple of defensive linemen can move it. The only problem
with the engine space is they piled battery charger, batteries and
waste system right between the engines in precisely the place where
you don't want all this stuff. As you can image, someone had stepped
all over this stuff and mangled it all to hell. Other than that
no-so-minor detail, its pretty good.
One attractive thing about this boat is there's
not much there to go wrong. This boat is the essence of simplicity
and it's a good idea to keep it that way. Hardware and attachments
are all fine. No junky plastic stuff except the hull side ports
which all needed replacing. No faded feature strip tape peeling
off. The aluminum windshield is holding up well.
However, the painted aluminum helm panel, well
all the paint was gone and so was all that fancy lettering for the
switches and stuff. A serious reconditioning job is in order here.
Another one of Tiara's strong points has been their
helm designs. They always seem to be on the practical side with
plenty of space for mounting things. Big 24" destroyer
wheel and quality Morse controls. Definitely like that wheel --
fingertip steering here folks. Good stand up room with a
convertible top plus good visibility. There's also adequate space
on the fore deck and adequate cat walks down the sides.
Altogether this a well designed boat that is about
as easy to maintain as possible. It's also a good one for those
who do all their own maintenance, as virtually everything is fairly
easily reached for servicing.
Originally over priced, ten years later it represents
excellent value. Ten years later, it does not look like an old boat,
and should still look good ten years from now. It's one of those
boats that, with reasonable care, is good for at least 20 years.
Related article: Tiara
Today
| These
are "reviews", not surveys, and bear no resemblance
to our survey reports.
We do not publish the results of the surveys that we perform.
Please note that the purpose of these reviews is educational,
to help you discern the differences in quality among boats generally.
They are not offered as a means to help you evaluate any particular
boat builder. We have no other reviews than those posted. |
Posted July 21, 1998. Revised 4-14-00
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