Hello All,

I just wanted to share the experience with all of you involved with Stealth Yachts as my trip up the coast last week was an unforgettable one. To give you a little background, I have personally owned numerous power boats including a Regal, Bayliner, Avanti, Sea Ray, Formula, Carver, Sunseeker, and have ridden on many more. Also, the same 1200-mile journey I ventured last week on I have done on similar sized boats from Sea Ray, Carver, and Sunseeker.

DAY 1: Miami, FL to St Augustine, FL = 300 miles: We left Miami early in morning and had only a 5-10 knot breeze out of the SE. Our direction of travel was pretty much due north, and for the 1st 75 miles or so, we stayed only about a mile off shore. This was very interesting, the closer I got to shore in shallower water, say 20-40' deep, the faster the Stealth performed. For most of this run we cruised at 2050rpm and about 83% load on the motors running 38-42mph while burning about 32 gallons a side, the higher speeds were achieved in the shallower water. Wave heights were only 2' in well spaced out following rollers just slightly to starboard. . . . We went well offshore to go around the waters of the Cape, and the Stealth was picking up speed every hr, could have been from the fuel (weight) that we were burning. By the time we reached the St. Augustine inlet, we were easily cruising 44mph at about 80% load on the motors at 2050rpm. . . . This was an incredible day, we covered 300 miles in under 7.5hrs! Simply unheard of in a motor yacht, with incredible fuel economy a bonus!

DAY 2: St. Augustine, FL to Hilton Head, SC = 170 miles: The winds had picked up a bit this day. When we left, the winds were 15-20 knots out of the SE and our direction of travel was NNE. The straight route we take here puts you about 40 miles off shore. The waves started off 4-6' for the 1st hour well spaced out, and the Stealth was cruising nicely around 37 mph at 2050rmp and 85% load. Due to our direction of the travel and waves pretty much on our starboard side, we were surfing in the troughs of the waves. What a rush on the Stealth!. In about an hour, the winds increased to 20-25 knots, pushing the wave heights to about 8-10', and our speed dropped a bit to about 35mph at the same throttle settings. She was working a bit harder now, now we were showing 90% load on the motors and fuel consumption increased to 34 gallons a side. Because we were in following seas, and we were tracking to the NE, this made for quite a ride. The Stealth would aggressively track in the troughs of the waves, which made for the crew to have hold on tight. We were taking a bit of spray on the bridge, but driving was comfortable. The thoughts going threw my head were that in any other motoryacht, we would have turned back. Waves were peaking every minute or so to 12'. If we were in my similar sized Sunseeker, we would have been POUNDING threw this mess very uncomfortably at minimal planing speed of about 18mph, and putting the boat in danger. In the Stealth, we were not pounding, simply surfing over, down, and through the troughs. We only pounded (taking water to the base between the hulls) about 7 times through this mess, which was simply amazing. And then came a real test: As I was surfing down a wave, immediately ahead of us a 6' sea turtle began to surface. The only action I had available to me was to attempt to keep the sea turtle between the hulls and pray she doesn't clip a prop. I shouted to the crew, the turtle went between the hulls (at 35mph), and we heard a loud 'bang' when the sea turtle struck the foil. Two of my crew were sitting in the cockpit and looked back to see 2 huge masses shooting through the rooster tail! The foil had literally cut the sea turtle in half! Speed, rpm, and ride were ok!!! In fact, I believe we picked up about 1 knot of speed after the incident, no kidding! The conditions we were in, 12' stacked following seas, were not suitable for me to circle back and inspect the sea turtle, so we kept moving on. After about 3 hrs of these conditions, the port motor began to lose fuel pressure from a clogged fuel filter, so I brought her down to idle speed. This is where we experienced yet another incredible ride. In a monohull motoryacht idling at this speed in 12' following seas, I can tell you from experience that this is one of the worst rides you will ever feel with the violent pitching and rolling that you would encounter. To our amazement, this ride was extremely comfortable, no rolling due to the stability of the cat hull, and we were making 10-14 knots!

DAY 3: Hilton Head, SC to Wrightsville Beach NC = 285 miles: After changing the fuel filter in the morning, we left the dock at 10:30am, eerily knowing we may not make it to our destination due to the late start. We headed out of Port Royal sound on the north end of Hilton Head for the ocean. The tidal difference in Hilton Head runs 10' or so, and the tide was ripping out as we were heading into the ocean in a SW direction, which we were heading straight into a 15-20 knot breeze out of the SW. This made for some huge rollers (8'-10') coming thru the sound which we were taking dead on the nose with the Stealth. In ANY other boat, we would have immediately turned back and gone up the ICW, but I was eager to test the Stealth in these conditions, and she handled these conditions BETTER than any boat I have ever been on, PERIOD! We were literally flying over these rollers at 38mph with absolutely no pounding! Due to the outflowing tide, the rollers where stacked pretty close together, and I kept waiting for the bow of the Stealth to plow into a wave, but it simply did not happen! We continued this course for about 15 miles to get away from the shoals, then turned NE for our direction. The winds picked up to 30-35knots, and again, we were easily surfing up and down these 12' swells at 35mpp. When we got close to Charleston, we decided to head in and run the ICW as conditions were not improving. Now, running in the ICW was simply a treat. Flat water, which the Stealth loves even better than rough water. The reason being is that once the Stealth tracks straight for 30 seconds or so, she picks up even more speed! For instance, I would run her at the same throttle settings of 2050rpm, but we would now be reaching speeds of 40-45mph with the load on the motors reading 77% and only burning 28 gallons a side! Going thru a few hundred miles of ICW and 'no-wake' zones, I was really feeling that we wouldn't be able to make it to Wrightsville Beach. We even topped off the fuel tanks in the afternoon for a 1-hr stop. We finally reached the Cape Fear River around 8:15pm, with a nice 3'-4' stacked up chop. Thoughts of backtracking into the last marina we passed were going thru my head, but we decided to push on. To my amazement, we reached speeds of 45mph in the chop!!! With no pounding! You could have poured up a cup of coffee in this chop. In fact, one of my crewmates decided to take a shower at this time while we were cruising up the Cape Fear. I simply couldn't believe it. We ripped thru the Cape Fear River and no time we were at the dock in Wrightsville Beach by 9pm!!!

DAY 4: Wrightsville Beach NC to Beaufort NC = 75 miles: The winds were blowing 30knots in the morning out of the SW, so we decided to run the ICW up to Beaufort. The Stealth was easily running 40-42mph at the same throttle settings of 2050 and about 78% load. When we reached the Bogue Sound just a few miles from Beaufort, you could tell we made a wise decision. We had 3-4' frothy chop in this shallow sound, with 35-knot winds directly on our starboard side. Again, no pounding, simply a comfortable ride at 38mph! We passed many other motor yachts that were tracking only 18 knots thru this mess and taking spray all over their vessels. Not us. . . This would be a good time to add that the docking qualities of the Stealth are simply fantastic. In Beaufort with 35-knot winds and a tide ripping thru the marina, docking the Stealth was effortless. Not only that, but with a 5 knot current in the opposite direction of the wind, I still docked the Stealth in trolling mode, not even requiring the full thrust of the engines. The same was true in Wrightsville Beach the previous evening. In fact, throughout the whole trip, I never even thought of wishing to have a bow thruster, and I always docked in trolling mode wherever we were.

DAY 5: Beaufort, NC to Norfolk, VA = 200 miles: I was eagerly awaiting this day as the winds were shifting to the W and then the N. I wanted to experience these conditions in the Pamlico Sound which is a very shallow sound of only 10'-20' depths. And sure enough, by the time we starting tracking north, the winds were dead on our nose at about 25mph, creating that nasty 3-4' stacked chop. What a thrill, 42mph and no pounding, again!! You could actually feel the Stealth going faster directly into the wind, which gave me my first inclination that she actually does travel faster in the wind, possibly because of the more lift underneath the hull. More testing would be needed, which I was able to do a few hrs later on the ICW. In relatively calm water in the North River, just before Coinjock, the ICW literally S's so that one moment you would be heading NW, the next E, then NE, and so on. Well, I was able to prove the theory thru these S-turns that the Stealth ABSOLUTELY rides faster INTO THE WIND!!! We would pick up on average about 3mph into the wind, we were achieving cruising speeds of 45mph at 2050rpm, 75% load, and only 28 gallons burn per side! Incredible!!!

DAY 6: Norfolk, VA to Annapolis, MD = 155 miles: We left the dock in Norfolk at 6am and arrived in Annapolis at the Voyage docks at 10am! Yes, that is not a typo, including no-wake zones. The Chesapeake Bay did stir up a few times a 2-3' chop, but nothing too significant. We simply cruised up the Bay in record time averaging about 40mph! When I reached the calm water of the South River, it really seemed like the Stealth knew she was coming home as she picked up speed to about 45mph, into the wind of course!

Summary of Trip:

The Stealth 540 is simply a 'revolutionary'/'industry changing' yacht. The ride that she delivers, and the SPEED at which she delivers that ride, are simply unmatched by any motoryacht that is currently available. From a nasty 3-4' sound chop, she rides incredibly smooth at even more incredible speed. In large following seas, not only does she not pound, but speeds are more than double than any other vessel would achieve. And heading into large seas, when other yachts would turn around, the Stealth simply wanted to go faster and not plow into the next wave, simply unbelievable!

Hats off to everyone involved with Stealth Yachts as you have created an absolutely spectacular ‘revolutionary’ yacht!

-Bob

ps...please forward to all involved with Steatlh!
Robert G. Kyle, Jr.
President & CEO
Voyage Yacht Share
703.497.7469 voice
703.497.8405 fax
703.624.7469 cell
www.voyageyachtshare.com

Captain’s name: Bob Kyle
E-mail: Bob@voyageyachtshare.com
Phone: USA +1 703 497 7469