Kachina 34 Drone: Locked And LoadedKachina aims to please discerning buyers with its feature-filled 34 Drone.

Kachina made its reputation on delivering a lot of boat for the money, starting with some of the most elaborate in-house paint work in the West Coast custom milieu. Its latest creation, the 34 Drone introduced in January 2005, is no exception. Yes, the 34-footer we tested cost $220,000 and change, but if you've checked twin-engine performance-boat prices lately you know that's not exorbitant.

The midcabin 34-footer looks like a bargain when you consider the as-tested price included two custom-built, 720-hp engines that accounted for $60,000 of the sticker, a custom in-house paint job, acrylic quarter-canopies and a DVD system with a flip-down flat-screen monitor in the cabin. Plus, the boat boasted 90-plus-mph top-end and refined handling manners.

PERFORMANCE
Kachina kept things simple with the 34 Drone's hull, which had one step, a modified V-pad and a notched transom. To handle the power from the naturally aspirated, carbureted Teague Custom Marine engines, the builder used TCM Platinum drives with 1.5:1 reductions and lab-finished Mercury Maximus 28"-pitch five-blade propellers.

The flat water of Mission Bay in San Diego was a little sticky, but the boat still managed to hit 92.7 mph on radar. The manufacturer estimated the boat would run 95 to 100 mph, and we're relatively sure that with a little chop on the water the 34-footer would pick up a few miles per hour. Still, 92 mph is plenty fast in a boat that's equipped like a vacation home.

With the Eddie Marine trim tabs down, the 34 Drone came on plane in 5.1 seconds. Once the boat leveled off, it came on strong and reached 85 mph in 20 seconds. The propulsion package and hull packed a mean midrange punch, as the boat ran from 30 to 50 mph in 3.5 seconds, 40 to 60 mph in 3.4 seconds and 40 to 70 mph in 5.4 seconds.

Although the water was glassy, we did encounter a few tow-boat wakes. The 34 Drone carved through them easily.

Our lead test driver described the boat's handling manners as "refined." He gave the boat excellent scores in slalom and circle turns at all speeds. Despite that the boat was fairly tall, it did not pitch hard into or out of aggressive turns. Hydraulic steering from IMCO Marine proved responsive.

WORKMANSHIP
Like all Kachina models, the 34 Drone was double-cored and laid up with Hydrex 100 resin and various types and layers of fiberglass, including 24-ounce material.

We had to look hard, but we did find a few ripples in the boat's mold work. However, we could find no errors in the intricate airbrush-applied paint job. That Kachina offers such elaborate graphics standard on every boat it sells is remarkable. The same "no limits on number of colors" policy also applies to Kachina interiors.

To protect the 34 Drone's striking exterior, the builder installed an aluminum rubrail with a rubber insert.

Top and bottom edges for the quarter-canopies were painted purple to match the primary deck color. That made the clear canopies appear more like extensions of the deck mold than the add-on pieces they actually were.

Other hardware included a bimini top, six Accon Pop-Up cleats and stainless-steel handrails.

Hydraulic hinges raised the engine hatch to display some of the best rigging we've seen from Kachina to date. From painting the through-bolted L-angles that secured the engine (on racing mounts) to smooth-sanding the bilge and finishing it with gelcoat, the detail work was excellent. All three batteries were mounted in billet boxes, and wiring was supported by aligned stainless-steel cushion clamps. The builder even managed to find space in the engine compartment for a stainless-steel fender rack.

INTERIOR
A four-person bench and two bolsters with manual dropout bottoms comprised the seating in the 34 Drone's carpeted cockpit. Gunwales were richly padded, and had stowage trays with sliding acrylic doors, as well as cutouts with cupholders.

For access to the deck over the midcabin, the co-pilot's dash on the port side of the boat had four molded steps. Also in the co-pilot's dash was a locking glove box and a locker with a hinged, flip-forward lid. The locker could either be used to hold a wastebasket or for simple stowage.

A similar locker was at the helm station, but in this case it housed an electrical switch panel. Livorsi Marine gauges in color-matched bezels and rims were arranged around the tilt steering wheel. Eddie Marine throttles and shifters were mounted on a molded extension from the starboard gunwale. Also from Eddie Marine were the color-matched, function-etched panels for the accessory switches.

An acrylic door slid on a track for access to the midcabin. The cabin layout included a lounge and a galley with a Norcold refrigerator and a cold-water sink on the port side, and a longer lounge on the starboard side. Above the galley was a Concept flip-down flat-screen monitor for the Concept DVD player. In addition to lockers behind acrylic doors in the cabinetry, there was a large locker under the bottom cushion of the starboard lounge. The cabin table, which mounted to the carpeted sole via a pedestal, was stowed in a dedicated bracket on the helm station bulkhead.

Although the forward-facing lounges up front were quite comfortable, the strongest aspect of the open bow was its exceptional depth. The gunwales, like those in the cockpit, boasted exceptional padding. Both lounge bottom cushions pulled out for access to a stowage locker, and the forward-most cushion flipped up to reveal an anchor locker.

OVERALL
If you have a hard time thinking of anything that costs $223,000 as a bargain, you haven't gone shopping for a custom-built, twin-engine performance boat lately. From what we saw of the 34 Drone from Kachina, it is worth every penny - and probably even a few more.

TEST RESULTS

TEST CONDITIONS

HULL INFORMATION

PRICING INFORMATION

ENGINE & PROPELLER

OPTIONS ON TEST BOAT
Upgrade to twin Teague Custom Marine 720 engines ($60,000), IMCO Marine system ($5,200), dual lab-finished props ($3,000), aluminum trailer ($2,000), Eddie Marine decor package ($2,000) and Livorsi Marine gauge package ($1,500).

ACCELERATION

MIDRANGE ACCELERATION

RPM VS. MPH

TOP SPEED AT RPM

PLANING

FUEL ECONOMY
At 25 mph - NA

FUEL CAPACITY
200 gallons

TEST CONDUCTED AT
San Diego

MANUFACTURER
Kachina Boats, Dept. PB, 2200 E. Washington St., Phoenix, AZ 85034, 888-470-8039, www.kachinaboats.com

Click to enlarge.