Being based in Wellington for most of the year, with summers spent in the Marlborough Sounds, this boat has to cope with all-seasons operation and every sort of sea condition. The Cook Strait crossing is relatively short in distance, but notoriously treacherous. Safe crossings take planning, but the prize is worth the effort.
We conducted our tests in Wellington Harbour in moderate conditions but found ourselves yearning for a more extended trip across the strait to the Sounds.
HULL DESIGN
The hull is like that of the Legacy 35 we reviewed last year, with a fully-immersed chine to avoid chine slap. It is an evolution of a hull shape that has been used for sportfishers and military boats in the past and which really comes into its own in rough seas.
The Legacy 45 was built in Whakatane by the Shaw family, which has a well-earned reputation for producing high-quality, award-winning aluminium boats, honed by
