• This young Danish company is already beginning to build itself a very likable and very authentic heritage.
  • … it is a desirable and resoundingly effective boat with more than a whiff of prestige about it.
  • If you fancy a tangent that makes genuine sense, they don’t come much better than this.

Weird but Wonderful – Rand Picnic

Alex Smith examines a charming new approach to family meals afloat.

 

So what’s weird and wonderful about this thing, I hear you ask? Well, as a new boat from a fledgling company based in the gorgeous maritime city of Copenhagen, it’s one of very few Danish craft on the modern UK market. More interestingly still, this debut boat has been conjured into existence by a pair of brothers who have approached the project not with broad, crowd-pleasing brushstrokes but with the utmost in precision and focus. The Picnic is not about the multipurpose abilities so loved by the modern family boater; it is designed quite simply to be the world’s finest compact picnic platform – and it pursues that ambition with laudable vigour …

 

For instance, the internal layout involves a long table running fore at the centre of the boat, inside a ring of peripheral bench seats – and in a fine demonstration of attention to detail, it employs the same proportions (height of the seat base, depth of the backrest, distance to the table edge) as you would expect from a classic one-piece picnic table in the garden of your favourite pub. In contrast to so many boats, the skipper is also very much included in the party. He sits right in the centre at the aft end, with a low-profile helm and a flat dash-top plateau. And far from being ostracised, he is placed directly at the head of his own 10-man picnic table.

 

In terms of practicalities, the skipper’s full-beam cushion-topped seating box contains 700 litres of storage for all your gear, and there’s another 600 litres beneath the bench seats in the bow. The batteries for the Torqeedo electric outboard, meanwhile, have been split between port and starboard and shunted forwards, beneath the aft ends of the benches. Not only does that help safeguard those 1300 litres of storage space but it also does excellent things for the weight distribution, enabling a very flat and efficient cruise, even when operating single-handedly.

 

Talking of the engine, the standard fit-out includes a Torqeedo Cruise 4.0, which will provide 4-knot cruising for eight hours on a single charge, and that also brings with it plenty of associated benefits – no noise (or at least a great deal less noise), no dirty fuel, no oil, no vibrations, and best of all on a boat designed specifically to excel at long, slow, lazy picnics afloat, there are no fumes to spoil your day or make you nauseous.

 

Now plainly, the Picnic is optimised for communal lunches on the inland waterways, but however specialist it might be, it’s actually much more versatile than it appears. For instance, if you’re so inclined, you can pimp the humble Picnic with any number of garish colours and take advantage of its planing hull by fitting a conventional 60hp outboard for speeds of around 33 knots and a lifetime of service as a coastal dayboat. In either case, with its attractively finished hull mouldings, its high-class trim and its simple elegance, even its looks are peculiarly beguiling.


Summary

This young Danish company is already beginning to build itself a very likable and very authentic heritage. At a shade over £21,000 for the all-in package, the Picnic is not cheap (and like most Scandinavian craft, it’s never likely to be), but it is a desirable and resoundingly effective boat with more than a whiff of prestige about it. If you fancy a tangent that makes genuine sense, they don’t come much better than this.


Specifications

  • LOA: 5.35m
  • Beam: 2.10m
  • Draught: 18cm
  • Standard weight: From 500kg
  • Max. load: 900kg
  • Max. people: 10
  • Electric options: Cruise 4.0 – Cruise 10.0
  • Conventional options: 10 – 60 hp
  • Standard engine: Torqeedo Cruise 4.0
  • Cruising speed: 8 hours @ 4 knots
  • Max. speed: 1 hour @ 15 knots

Package price

From £21,300


Contact

www.randboats.com

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