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ProCharter Camargue

At ProCharter our business and our future is based on building a high volume of boats. The more boats we build, the cheaper we can build them, the cheaper we can sell them (Please click on our pricing policy on the home page).

We don't mind what a boat is being used for. We have built high speed jets for Tuna fishing. We build ferries. We built a regatta tender for The Sport Scotland Yacht Club. We built a 30ft P3 for Dave in Surrey to have family days fishing and wake boarding, along with all the general charter boats and kit boats. We currently build around 30 boats per year, soon we will be building 60 boats per year. (Please click on our expansion program on the home page).

To sell more boats we need to cover the market place better, with more models and more choice. The P3 is an amazing boat at any length but it was designed as a charter / work boat and is built for the commercial skipper and 1000= hours per year use. This is an expensive boat to build because so much work goes under the deck to make the boat adaptable to any commercial use. We sell a lot of P3's into the domestic market and we would like them to be cheaper (easier to sell) especially when you consider these customers are not VAT registered. So we wanted a P3 sized work boat that was cheaper to make.

A wider wheelhouse was needed for our P3 to enable us to have seating 4 abreast in our P3 ferries. So we decided to design a wheelhouse wide enough for a ferry and with cavernous accommodation for the domestic user. This began the Camargue concept.

The standard P3 wheelhouse with its wide walkway can be fitted to the Camargue at no extra cost.

All ProCharters are designed to be as low as possible and keep windage to a minimum. Whether you are a professional skipper or just a beginner, no one wants their boat blowing around when mooring or drifting.

We decided to design a new boat aimed at the domestic market that could be £thousands cheaper to buy and a wheelhouse that would fit our P3 hull.

Originally we were going to make a new hull for the Camargue and restrict the length to 28 / 30ft but to make a new hull mould is expensive and a portion of this cost would have to be added to each Camargue, so we decided to use the well proven P3 hull. The Camargue is available at any length between 25ft (7.7m) and 35ft (10.6m) with a beam of 10ft (3m), and the P3 is now available with the option of the larger Camargue wheelhouse. More options mean more sales, more sales means lower prices, lower prices means more sales! It's quite simple and it works.

The Camargue hull and wheelhouse are hand made and comply to LLOYDS SPECIAL SERVICE CRAFT REGULATIONS, SEAFISH (European) REGULATIONS and MCA CLASS 6 (offshore ferry) REGULATIONS, and the new EUROPEAN DIRECTIVES. The gel coat is brushed into the mould to ensure a thick gel coat. We do NOT use rollers or spray equipment. We also use several layers of Rovimat which is a combination mat containing 800g/m2 of woven roving's with a 300g/m2 of chopped strand mat to give maximum strength to weight ratios. We use isophthalic resin as an Osmosis barrier. For those of you who don't fully understand. This is the dog's wotsits.

One day all boats will be built like this and not just ours.

Under the deck the Camargue will have 3 bulkheads and deck beams to support the deck. This is the way most builders build work boats because it is much cheaper because it is cheaper. Personally I think a true work boat capable of 1000 hours use, year in, year out should be built to a higher standard. Because of this the P3 and P4 will continue to be made in the traditional way to be sure of a long working life. To summarise, for domestic / semi professional use, our Camargue hull is built to the Ultimate European specification. The Camargue under deck work is to the same design as most boat builders use to build work boats that comply to MCA Code of Practice 60 miles commercial licence.

When we designed the first of the ProCharter boats we looked at aerodynamics of many vehicles, including how aeroplanes "e;lift". We wanted the bow of our boats to be self lifting as much as possible. In the Camargue we have a hull that only needs pushing forwards, unlike most hulls which also need some lift from the propeller. This means the power from the engine is not being wasted on lift, so, more performance from less horsepower.

The Camargue with just 230hp has a top speed of 28 / 30kts, and cruising at 16kts will burn just over a litre per mile. 68 litres per 100km. It will burn 4.4 gallons or 19.5 litres per hour. This just about stays the same whether the boat is 28ft (8.5m) or 35ft (10.6m)

I would like to draw your attention to the speeds we quote. Most boat builders quote their hull speed as "e;up to ??kts", saying "e;up to" doesn't mean it will go that fast, "e;up to" just means it wont go any faster! We quote actual speeds based on the boats we have built in 2 directions. These are boats that have not been propped up to show good turn of speed, in fact, they have been propped down for work.

We believe this boat will be so special we wanted a name to reflect our inspirational design. The Camargue is an ancient breed of horse found in the Camargue area of Southern France. For centuries, possibly thousands of years, these small horses have lived wild in the harsh environment of the wetlands of the Rhone Delta, developing stamina, hardiness and agility. Despite their small size, they have the strength to carry grown men. They are rugged and intelligent with a short neck, deep chest, compact body and strong limbs.

When building a ProCharter for a customer, a 24 hour live stream Webcam is put on the boat. The customer can not only watch his boat being built, he can record it to DVD. Just like the Discovery Channel but without the sound. Although we would like anyone who visits our Website to be able to watch our build programs to boost our sales, only the customer can watch their Webcam, as it is password protected. We do this because to many people using the stream fills our bandwidth, resulting in a slow or dead connection.

As with all ProCharter boats the option of fitted water ballast tanks is available, weigh her down when she needs it and still enjoy the low fuel cost of a light boat when you don't.

Specifications

Length Overallany length between 8.5m and 11.9m>
Beam @ Transom2990mm
Beam @ Wheelhouse Bulkhead3065mm
BulkheadBeam @ Helm
Waterline Length9.29m on a 30ft boat
Waterline Beam @ Transom
Waterline Beam @ Rear Bulkhead
Waterline Beam @ Helm
Height Above Waterline Wheelhouse Roof
Height Above Waterline Gunwale @ Rear of Deck
Overall Height Shaftdrive3.34m
Overall Height Sterndrive2.7m
Wheelhouse Overhang1.89m
Gunwale0.59m
Displacement Ex Works Shaftdrive
Displacement Ex Works Sterndrive
Imperial Gallons per Tank75 gallons 284 litres
Number of Tanks
Deck Width2.96m
Deck Length7.06m
Total sq Area20.9m2
Max Hull Speed
250hp
290hp

Construction

We can custom build your total boat. We can increase or decrease all dimensions of our Wheelhouse, Hull and Gunwale, height, length, width, etc. We have in the past built boats for many different and diverse operations, such as, ambulance boat, floating office. Boats with glass viewing areas in the hull for survey and scientific purposes. Boats for hauling creel pots and nets, fish farms, service boat for the Sport Scotland Yacht Club and many private customers who want something special from a stable workboat. We have built a number of boats for commercial use in Ireland, Holland, Spain, Gibralter, Portugal and Greece. Due to Greece being the other side of Europe to us and ideally suited to supply boats to the Mediterranean and Southern Europe, we now have agents in Athens http://www.procharter.gr and we will be manufacturing the ProCharter range in Greece. We have built high speed ferries which are working 60 miles (100km) off the west coast of Scotland and the Orkney Islands. We are currently building a 100 passenger Americana ferry for the UK. We are also designing a 60ft (18.3m) Americana for pleasure use. The boat will be kept on a mooring in the Thames and used as a house boat. The interesting part of this build is the boat will be able to launch and recover a Sea Plane from the rear deck. So, even if you think your dream boat is impossible to have, phone us before you give up.

ID: 2528


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