The new Belize 66 Daybridge is bound for the United States – and her world premiere – after extensive sea trials have confirmed her performance and handling have exceed her designers and builders expectations.
Having left the Belize factory, our latest model is due to arrive in Savannah Georgia on October 8 before making a 400 nm cruise south to Florida for final preparations ahead of her debut at the Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show (Oct 30-Nov 3), the world’s largest in-water boat show.
Belize motoryacht specialist Doug Nelson was still beaming with enthusiasm when he caught up with us to reveal how the 66 Daybridge performed during her recent full sea trial.
“It was very exciting,” he said. “To see the 66 smoothly launch on to plane the way she did was a real thrill. She just took off so smoothly.
“We did our homework to calculate the appropriate propellers to use but had different sized backup propellers just in case. There was no need as she performed perfectly. She did everything we excepted and we couldn’t have been more pleased with the day.”
The extended sea trial was held in relatively smooth conditions.
“The sea conditions were very friendly, which posed a few challenges when we were trying to test the Seakeeper Gyro,” Doug said of the stabiliser that is optional with the Belize Daybridge 66.
“It was great to see the gyro in action though. We had the Seakeeper people on board to go through the commissioning, with connection to both upper and lower helm stations through the Garmin Glassbridge network, as well as a stand-alone Seakeeper control panel at the lower station. It performed as expected.
“The smooth conditions also allowed us to go offshore and run through our RPM range with our Volvo representative, who was also onboard. We fine-tuned the interceptors to get the best performance and our chief electrician also ran through all the electronics.
“We do a very thorough sea trial and systems check on every boat we build to make sure everything is 100 per cent before leaving the factory.”
As well as 11 passengers, the luxury motor yacht was carrying full fuel and water and a half load of black water during the sea trial.
“We fully loaded her up because we wanted to measure performance under full load conditions,” Doug said.
“Compared to the Belize 66 Sedan that we launched last year, we have added the hardtop and increased the amount of upper deck space, which means more structure, furniture and equipment. Given all of this, we had to maintain strict weight design control while maintaining the well-known Riviera and Belize structural integrity.”
Upon returning the 66 Daybridge to the factory, Doug and his team focused on detailing the exterior and interior fit-out to the highest specifications before loading her on to a ship for the ocean voyage to America.
“As well as wrapping the entire flybridge down to the teak brow, she was loaded under deck for additional protection,” Doug said.
“With the hull painted a striking Rolls Royce Portafino Metallic Blue, you’ll appreciate why we would want to do everything we can to ensure she’s looking her best come Fort Lauderdale.”
For more details please see rivieraaustralia.com/models/belize-66-daybridge.
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