alright, because chrisn asked for constructive criticism, heres what ive got: (i am drawing from all picture posts here)
1. obviously, the rocket launchers, as have been mentioned, blah blah blah.
2. i hope that the 2nd station is an option, or at least something you can have the boat rigged without. i am in the minority here, but i dont WANT a 2nd cockpit station. in my opinion, its wasted space, as i am never going to run a 34 foot boat single handed, and the visibility past the bow from the cockpit is virtually nil, making it unsafe for any navigational operation. i would much prefer either a settee, or a full-blown bait rigging station with cooler/freezer, or even one big-a$$ livewell.
3. Unless the scale in the picture of the dash seen here
http://www.classicparker.com/phpBB2/vie ... 85&start=0 is off, ITS STILL NOT BIG ENOUGH!!! there should be room for at the very least 2 12" screens, plus an autopilot display and warning light panel. doesnt look like there is here.
4. whats up with the fiberglass insert on either side of the v-berth? looks kinda like wasted space to me, guess it could serve as a mounting surface, but why not just mount to the inside of the hull like we all do now? if anything, i would like to see them larger, with divided lockers inside, if theyre going to use the space at all.
5. unless im missing something with the dinette seen here,
http://www.classicparker.com/phpBB2/vie ... php?t=4886 theres no storage underneath!! am i somehow mistaken?? looks like alot of space under the seats that could very easily provide a bunch of storage. if i had it, that thing would be sprouting hatches like the Bowmar factory.
6. while on the topic of the dinette, heres my other complaint. as a 2530 owner, i love my dinette. but the new 34 has the same problem we had, and modified: no companion seat. the way the benches are designed in the 34, there is no way that anyone else could sit facing forward and have a decent view out the windshield. that means no extra pairs of eyes on the water to help out the captain, and no other "captain" style chairs, which i for one preferr to bench seats for facing forward. also, unlike my 2530 dinette seats which were fairly easy to add a second chair to, this design looks like it would require pretty major surgery to add a second seat. by sacrificing the area that one person could sit, two if they squeezed, Parker could add a perfectly functional companion chair to this boat with minimal loss of function.
7. also on the note of seating- while the dinette offers lots of it, its all aligned with the cernterline of the boat, except for the little part forward (the part that should be a companion seat). it is my personal opinion, reinforced by many, um, "experienced" boaters that a seat that faces forward is much more comfortable in a heavy sea than one that faces the side of the boat. here's why: the human spine is designed to bend forward and backward, less so side to side. with the forward, pseudo-slamming motion that could be expected of this boat, indeed any boat when the conditions get too rough, forward facing seats allow the spine to bend naturally, instead of hours and hours of sideways bending. this in turn, means fewer sore backs back at the dock. by reconfiguring the table and benches slightly, a seat could easily be installed along the aft wall of the pilothouse, offering at least some forward facing seating.
8. as with the 2nd station, i hope the galley is an option. i for one have no need nor desire for a galley, and frankly would never use it in 99.9% of the boating that i do. unfortunatly, the position of the door rules out my beloved starboard side bench seat with its cavernous storage beneath, arguably my favorite feature of my 2530. perhaps, if the baot was offered with a canvas rear curtain, the bench would work, as well as creating that really cool "open" feel, like the new Ocean 37 Billfish. the more i think about it, the more i like that idea; it would be pretty easy to implement too. Parker should consider it :wink: .
9. Back outside. the first thing i notice is that abominable bench seat!!!! Grrrrrr. i would HATE to try to fight a fish around that thing. im sure thats an option, but it still makes my blood boil. but to each his own.
10. the 34, like all newer parkers, has transom fishboxes that not only take up all the transom space, but make it considerably thicker. again, Grrrrr. that completly eliminates the ability to properly sink transom rodholders, which personally i could not live without. if you dont add a chair to this boat, it would be virtually impossible to run shotgun rods down the middle. forget running them from the rocket launcher, thats almost impossible from MY launcher, let alone the ones on this rig, which are mounted on top of the Sears tower.
11. as some have mentioned, i dont like the tuna door that parker installed. the thin, inset door has never turned me on in any boat. i was hoping to see the kind of door that is the thickness of the transom itsself, with the same covering board area, and when closed "fills" is own hole in the transom. this allows a rod holder to be mounted in the door itself (i love rodholders) and just LOOKS better. also, it needs to be wider; i was hoping for something that you could winch a big shark or a big BFT through. this does not cut it.
12. this is probably my biggest complaint with this boat, and with the direction that the marine industry seems to be moving as a whole. please direct you attention to the back of the boat, where if you look closely you will see two GIANT-a$$ engines monted on a huge bracket. i have nothing against outboards. i have 2 on one boat. but mine stick off my transom maybe 3, four feet when in the down or running position. there is NO WAY that the engines on this boat stick out any less than 6 feet, i know that a comprable setup on the Regulator 30 express sticks out 8 feet. looking at my own personal tackle arsenal, i notice that all of my offshore trolling rods hover at about the 6-6 1/2' range. now, i leave it to you, fellow CP'ers, to figure out how im going to manuevre a 100+ lb tuna that has decided to dive down and under the boat around an 8' bracket, using a 6' rod. there is simply no way that i can find, other than using a pushpole (give me a break) or jumping up onto the transom and out on the bracket, which seems like a really safe thing to do when youre on the hook at night, or in heavy seas, with wet and slippery decks, or any combination of the above. this is a poor design on the entire industry's part, folks. there is no reason to have outboards on this type of boat in this size rantge when a single large or even double smaller inboards will be much more economical, and much more fishable. i realize that some may be bound to their outboard power, but at some point, principle needs to take a backseat to practicality.
13, and this one is personal prefference (like most of the above, i guess): there is no way in HELL that i am going to pay nearly $300,000 all told for a 34' boat with twin outboards, no tower, no flying bridge, nothing like that. not gonna happen, and it would take someone who REALLY sees a perfect fit for their application in this boat to do so i would imagine. not to say that person isnt out there, but that person is definately not me.
whew. now that ive finished ripping into this boat, let me state the positives that i see:
Most of what ive stated is pretty petty, and could be easily remedied. it would just be a matter of tweaking a few things, and maybe offering some things that actually might be offered right now. i dont have access to that information, so im making assumptions. they may or may not be correct; as they say, when you assume, you make an "a**" out of "u" and "me". :wink: the boat is most certainly a looker, like all boats that roll off the Parker line, and im sure its built like a tank. Overall, i would say that the boat is one of the best built in its class, but needs to be tweaked before it can truly take its place. im not sure it would be the boat for me, but it could easily be the boat for somebody. and boy, is it fun to talk about.
well guys and girls, i guess its past my bedtime and im getting cranky. at the end of the day (or the beginning of a new one at 1:05 am :shock: ) Parker is still one of, if not the, best boatbuilder in its size class, with outstanding quality and customer service, which i recently had an extremely positive experience with. and so long as we continue to enjoy the products they make, have made and will make in the future, were all winners here on CP. Now its REALLY time to hit the hay. goodnight, all.
.
