Victoria Z: Modern Retro Marvel
Sterling and Van Dam collaborate on one-of-a-kind creation.
August 13, 2015
As boat-building materials go, fiberglass and resin boast significant advantages over wood. First, for good or ill—and from economic and environmental standpoints you could make a strong case for either—they last forever. Second, they’re significantly less expensive per square foot than, say, the mahogany and teak you find in the classic creations of the Gar Wood and Chris-Craft kind. Third, a fiberglass-and-resin boat demands a lot less exterior maintenance than a wooden boat.
Like all Van Dam creations, the Victoria Z will be a work of art when completed.
But when it comes to aesthetics, at least of the retro kind, wood flat-out trumps fiberglass and resin—it’s not even close. Couple old-school, wooden boatbuilding materials and techniques with state-of-the-art marine engine technology, and you have the makings of something truly special. And that’s exactly what’s happening in a collaboration between Sterling Performance Engines in Milford, Mich., and Van Dam Custom Boats in Boyne City, Mich.
At first glance, the twin Ford 427 engines under construction at Sterling look “vintage” with their injector stacks. But a closer look at the all-aluminum, 550-hp powerplants that are “bored and stroked” to 523 cubic inches tells a different story. Hidden below what Sterling principal Mike D’Anniballe called “Webber clone” intake manifolds are modern fuel injectors: Both engines boast electronic fuel-injection systems and are completely computer-controlled.
“The owner of the boat wanted the look of old-style Ford engines with carburetors, but with all the modern amenities,” D’Anniballe said.
Once complete, the engines will be shipped to Van Dam, a world-renowned builder of wooden boats. Called the Victoria Z, the boat is the “stretched” sister-ship of the famed 31-foot-long Alpha Z designed by Michael Peters, the well-known founder of Michael Peters Yacht Design in Sarasota, Fla., and built by Van Dam in 1998. Currently headed into rigging, the Victoria Z is 33 feet long.
Designed and built by Sterling Performance, this computer-controlled 550-hp Ford 427 engine only looks vintage.
According to Van Dam Custom Boats designer Michel Berryer, the builder worked closely with Peters on the design for the new 33-footer. But although some of the construction process is decidedly old-school, the design process is state-of-the-art. Van Dam sent CAD designs of the stretched Alpha Z to Peters, who in turn sent his own CAD designs—including a new stepped hull—back to Van Dam for the Victoria Z.
“Michael and his guys went through it and put his brand-new tunnel stepped bottom on the design,” Berryer said. “It has a tunnel right down the middle, past the second step.”
Already two years in the making, the Victoria Z was commissioned by a current Van Dam client who owns one of the company’s cruisers. Based in Alabama, the client had always loved the Alpha Z, according to Berryer, but wanted something that was larger and would accommodate twin engines. The Victoria Z has the same beam as the Alpha Z, which will make for a tight installation of the twin Ford mills.
“It’s going to be a bit of a gymnastic event, but we can do it,” Berryer said.
The team at Van Dam Custom Boats had hoped to put the Victoria Z through its first sea trial this summer, but that probably won’t happen. Attending to every detail and getting everything done right—the folks at Van Dam are notorious perfectionists—are the top priorities for everyone involved.
“I don’t think we’re going to get her on the water this year,” Berryer said. “We were hoping we might, but it doesn’t look like that’s going to happen. The total process of building this boat probably will be three years.”
As for the cost, cliché as it may be, if you have to ask …
