Bayliner 245 Ciera

 

Manufacturer: Bayliner

Bad weather, tight deadlines and simple annoying things such as a boat being in the wrong place at the wrong time, often hamper the best efforts of our team to produce these boat reviews. For this test everything was set like clockwork ? the Sydney boat show had just ended, the weather was perfect and people were queuing to get their hands on one of these new release 2004 Bayliner boats. Avante Marine had set a window of several days for us to get out on the 225 and put her through the ropes. But then the dreaded lurgy attacked. It got me bad ? the mid winter bug had me off my feet for days ? to the point where I could hardly make myself a cup of tea.

You can imagine my wife?s face when I groaned out of the bed half green and half blue and announced ?Oh, by the way, I?m off to do a boat test?. NO WAY JOSE! All was confirmed when the Doctor called up to explain that the X-rays revealed a good dose of bronchial pneumonia ? one small reason not to go boating! Nevertheless, in the end it all worked out OK. You see Bayliner had so many enquires about its models during the boat show that the powers that be declared the first weekend after the show at Berowra waters as an open demo day for all the potential customers.

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They were pretty much run off their feet preparing all the craft for the big weekend, so the delay gave us all a bit of breathing space. Eventually, we met up at the Drummoyne/ Port Jackson launching ramp on a crisp Friday morning and we were anxious to finally put this hefty harbour boat through its paces. The day turned out to be perfect for a review on this type of craft, because conditions changed during the test from smooth to sloppy. The mixed conditions demonstrated that this large open bowrider had the bones of a solid harbour boat, and she?s more than capable of handling a sizable chop, but still able to keep her passengers dry.

Some Brunswick craft of this size, such as the Sea Ray 220, offer a small enclosed head and wet bar; however, Bayliner have stuck to their laurels by delivering a performance craft, a bit lighter on features, which enables it to offer her at a budget conscious price under the $60,000 mark. If you were in the market for a craft with more creature comforts, Bayliner have also just released the 249 ?deck boat? that has the same beam as the 225, but with more length that allows a sink and a head/changing area to be installed. Starting aft, the Bayliner 225 has a wide swim platform with built-in ladder and deck wash. Next is the aft sun pad/engine hatch then saloon-style seating with an easily stowed drinks table that can also be used forward with the bow seating.

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