We were invited to attend a VIP tour of Tiara Yachts production and sales facility in Holland, MI so we drove down Thursday and toured the plant on Friday. We were able to test drive a new 2020 C49 yacht! The little town of Holland is located about 4 hours south of Harbor Springs very near Lake Michigan and just west of Grand Rapids. Like it’s European twin, Holland was settled by Dutch people and renowned for its spring tulip festival.

The Tiara production facility comprises nearly 20 acres under roof and produces about 180 boats per year. Virtually everything assembled in a Tiara is manufactured at the plant but for the engines and electrical components (refrigerators, marine electronics, etc). It was interesting to see the various stages of construction and assembly throughout the building. One interesting tidbit is the majority of boats produced today have painted (a color other than white) hulls. White hulls are in the minority today. Afterward we drove to their sales center located on Lake Macatawa, the inlet from Lake Michigan. There were a half dozen boats from which to tour and test, ranging from 34’ - 53’. The one that caught our eye was a 49’ coupe named C49 (catchy, eh?). The boat was beautiful! Styles have changed considerably since our model was phased out in 2016. Today fully enclosed environments are popular. This particular boat had an aft situated galley leading into a raised salon; the helm was to starboard. There is a wide center located companionway leading below to a forward VIP suite which includes two elongated picture windows to port and starboard. The VIP shares access to the full day head to starboard. To port is a third bunk room / storage area / laundry room! To the starboard side of the companionway is an entranceway to the master stateroom - a full beam room with large picture windows on both sides! To port is the en-suite.

Up top at the helm is a fully integrated electronic Garmin / Volvo Penta command center. Steering can be handled by a joy stick or a steering wheel. Powered by D-850 Volvo Penta engine’s we cruised at 2700 RPM going 27 MPH, and burning 50 GPH. By comparison, we generally cruise at 2500 RPM going 20 MPH and burn 23 GPH.

Since the helm, salon and galley are all located together in a climate controlled environment, if you want to bring the outdoors indoors all you need to do is activate and retract the sliding sunroof, open the port and starboard sliding windows, and open the center opening aft entry full glass entry door to experience flow through ventilation.

The decor is contemporary European with hardwood flooring and polished chrome fixtures. I must sound like a salesman going on about this boat! In summation, we had a fun time in a pretty little town that we have never before visited and had a blast looking at a new boat.

Back in Harbor Springs, this weekend we’ll go for cruise and see if the electronic gremlin has been found and fixed then focus on setting our move date.