Boating USA — February 2018

48 | BOATINGMAG.COM | FEBRUARY 2018

BOAT DOCTOR///BOAT DOC SPECIAL

B

SCAN ME

Outboard-powered center

console boats continue to

grow in size, but a colossus

now under construction is

scheduled to best them all.

THE

WORLD’S

LARGEST

CENTER

CONSOLE

An inside look at building HCB Center

Console Yachts’ 6500 Estrella

Boating gained an

exclusive inside look

at the mind-boggling,

multifaceted eff ort

underway to design, re-

fi ne and build the HCB

Center Console Yachts

(formerly HydraSports

Custom Boats) 6500

Estrella — which

represents the world’s

largest CC. With a test

center in Islamorada,

Florida, and manu-

facturing facilities in

Venore, Tennessee,

HCB is known for

building big center

console boats. Its 5300

Sueños set the record

for the largest CC a

couple of years ago.

The Estrella will beat

that in spades with a

hull featuring the same

exclusive Mil-Tough-

rated Megaform com-

posite grid construction

technique used to

build the Sueños. This

dramatically reduces

the weight versus

conventional construc-

tion, says Alex Leva,

president of HCB.

The Estella, like

many other boats, be-

gan life in a computer-

aided design program.

The engineering team

at Marine Concepts

in Sarasota, Florida,

focused for more than a

year on the myriad in-

tricacies of the design.

This ranged from the

immense running sur-

face to a transom that

will accommodate fi ve

627 hp Seven Marine

outboards.

Just as challenging

was designing an inte-

rior that will include a

massive cabin within

the console, mezzanine

seating overlooking the

aft cockpit, second-row

helm seating (aka

sleigh seating) with a

fi rst row that swivels

aft and a table that ele-

vates from the deck for

of Styrofoam with a

fi ve-axis router. Taking

six months to build,

the mock-up resides

inside the boatbuild-

ing facility at Marine

Concepts.

Spending time aboard

the mock-up provides a

chance to evaluate the

fl ow and ergonomics of

the interior, something

that’s diffi cult to achieve

on a computer screen,

says Leva.

The HCB team spent

a month evaluating the

HOW BIG IS IT?

At 65 feet LOA, HCB’s

6500 Estrella, depict-

ed in this rendering,

represents the largest

outboard-powered

center console boat.

dining or to convert the

area to a large berth.

A Seakeeper gyro-

stablizer will nestle

under the mezzanine

seating module.

Yet computers can

only take you so far,

says Leva. To ensure

that the details and

integration of the

interior and rigging are

just right, HCB built a

full-scale mock-up of

the Estrella, using the

CAD program to ma-

chine massive blocks

The Estrella fi rst took shape in

massive blocks of Styrofoam

machined by a fi ve-axis router.

Scan this tag or visit boatingmag

.com/worlds-largest-center-

console to see a video of our tour

of this boat under construction.

PHOTOS: (FROM TOP) COURTESY HCB , JIM HENDRICKS