Selva GT.342 Luxury Tender: the name says enough
Selva GT.342 is the first model in the Luxury Tender range, and matches a personal and elegant look to first quality materials and an exaggerated engine.
When it comes to tenders, megayachts require exclusive day cruisers. Nowadays, more and more owners of more “down to earth” boats want to stand out of the crowd with refined tenders which not only carry passengers to land, but are also a pleasure to cruise in.
Selva GT.342: small is good
Following this trend, here's the proposal from Selva: a range of tenders well cured in terms of construction and materials. The Luxury Tender lineup wants to say something exta, and looking at it we can say the target is achieved.
The driving position is comfy, with the small console tilting on hinges to give access to the wiring but also to the fuel tank. Another two lockers are located beneath the bow and aft settees, while two guests can find their spot on the seat beside the pilot's, for a total of five seats as the number of allowed passengers. In case, guests can seat on the tubular grabbing the holding belts.
The whole craft features a lot of fiberglass, but the quality of materials and their finishing is flawless and couples with a rational and smart layout.
Selva GT.342: the test
GT.342 is available with two choices of 4-stroke, outboard engines: the quiet Selva Kingfish, 25 HP displacing 498 cc with two cylinders, or the exuberant (given the size of Selva GT.342) three-cylinder, 747 cc Aruana EFI with 40 HP.
The test was run with the latter unit, and the results tell of a top speed just shy of 30 knots, to confirm how 40 HP are frankly too much for this boat. Sure, frequently it will carry five passengers, but to me 25 horsepower are enough and imply a relevant price saving.
The Selva GT.342 iof our test mounted an aluminum 13” propeller. As you can tell by looking at the photos, when cruising alone it's important to evaluate the weight balance. It's not a problem though when some passenger are aboard, so it becomes easy to appreciate the ergonomics of the helm station. If the top speed reading of 27.2 knots (at 5500 rpm) has a relative importance, the interesting figures come from the time to reach planing of just 2.5 seconds, at the extremely low speed of 6 knots (the lower, the better). Last but probably first for importance, Selva GT.342 is a very dry boat, even when crossing some sharp waves. Reaching that party on land while wearing your tuxedo is not a problem at all.
Read also our test of the 40-knot rib Selva D600 Black Edition
Selva GT.342 in number
Length overall 3.35 m (11ft)
Beam 1.73 m (5ft 8in)
Inside length 2.67 m (8ft 9in)
Inside width 0.84 m (2ft 9in)
Chambers 3
Tubular diameter 43 cm (17in)
Displacement, no engine 200 Kg
Max power 40 HP
Engine installed Selva Aruana 4T EFI 40 HP
Fuel reserve 40 l (10 US gal)
Passengers 5
CE design category C
Performance
rpm knots mph
1000 3,0 3,5
1500 4,1 4,7
2000 4,8 5,5
2500 5,4 6,2
3000 11,0 12,7
3500 16,0 18,4
4000 18,0 20,7
4500 22,0 25,3
5000 25,0 28,8
5500 27,0 31,1
Test conditions
Calm lake, temperature 16°C (61°F), clean hull, fuel 23 l (6 US gal), passengers 2
Indicative price (VAT not included)
Selva GT.342 – Aruana 4T EFI 40 HP € 11.180
Selva GT.342 – Kingfish 25 HP € 10.230
