Overview
About this vessel
While the MJM 36z's looks are classic, construction is high tech, with a hull of wet prepreg, vacuum-bagged epoxy/Kevlar/E-glass with Core-Cell foam for strength with the lightest overall weight.
The 36z is not a yacht that will sleep a bunch of people. She was designed to be enjoyed and easily handled by a couple. But she was also intended, in the words of Johnstone, "to be sociable."
If you want to sleep two more guests or a couple of kids, the pilothouse settees convert into full-length berths.
Immense bins are under the pilothouse seats, with enough space to tuck a couple of folding bikes for shore transportation, and mesh bags organise life jackets and other gear. This is true throughout the 36z. Every possible space has been utilised for stowage. Bookshelves are inset into bulkheads, shelves fill the dead airspace in hanging lockers, and polyurethane bins are under the bunks.
Another important design element (possible because the engines are aft) is that the entire cockpit sole, from transom to companionway, is one level. There are no steps to trip the unwary. But wait, there's one more clever feature - boarding doors on each side of the cockpit make dock access as easy as stepping aboard. No more climbing over coamings.
There is a lovely comfortable island bed in the cabin forward plus head compartment which is comfortably large and equipped with a VacuFlush toilet and pull out shower.
The galley is simple, with a microwave and a Princess electric cooktop, a stainless steel sink, and a very clever dual-opening fridge/freezer.
The boat was designed around a pair of Volvo Penta's new D3 Aquamatic engines -electronically controlled, inline, five-cylinder, common-rail turbo diesels. The aluminium blocks take more than 1,300lb out of the stern, and combined with the OceanX sterndrives, which have a titanium-ceramic coating and counter-rotating DuoProps, the result is superb fuel economy and smooth operation.
At the push of a button, the joystick takes control from the conventional shifters, and the drives unlock to turn independently, giving the boat all the nimbleness of a pod drive. No more docking stress.
Access to the engines is equally well planned. The entire aft seat rises electrically to open all sides of the diesels and their systems. In a hatch under the cockpit sole is the 5kW Northern Lights genset, and there is still enough room for an inflatable tender, plus deck gear like lines and fenders.
Built in 2015, Zephyr was imported and built to Australian specs. Her hull was repainted in 2021 when the current owner purchased her. She has spent the last 5 years being used in Pittwater and berthed at the RMYC.
Zephyr has just had her annual maintenance completed including antifouling, engine and sterndrive service at Mac Marine.
