Boat Reviews/Brochures

Tired of walkarounds with limited accommodations? On most fishboats less than 26' with walkarounds, the cabins seem like an afterthought. But that's not the case with Century's new 2400 Walkaround. Its upscale decor should make your family feel more at home.

When you have bigger fish to fry. Going to the bow on many convertibles means stubbing your toe on rail stanchions, tripping over cleats, and worst of all, clinging to the side of the cabin while hoping you don't end up in the drink. No such worries with the new Jannace 430C Sportfish. When I went up the side decks, I discovered well-placed grabrails, a 2’-wide walkway, and a 3" toe kick that kept my tootsies inboard. Plus, elevated cleats and stanchions are where they can do no damage - every sportfish should have sidedecks like these.

Fishing off America's southernmost tip in a family's brand-new CAVILEER 44 "THE FlSHlNG'S BEEN AWESOME," ANNOUNCES Jack Thomas as he greets me from the cockpit of his new Caviler 44 at Conch Harbor Marina in Key West. “Tyson got 1,000 pounds of kingfish yesterday.”

For many sailors, the Island Packet 440 will fill the bill as a rugged, long-legged passagemaker Brand loyalty, an accountant will tell you, is an intangible asset, but around an Island Packet display at a boat show, it's palpable: a living, breathing demonstration of how it can boost a company's balance sheet by contributing to the value of "goodwill." Among owners of Island Packets, brand loyalty verges on the cultish. Island Packet Owners identify with the company and each other, most visibly at the well-attended regional rendezvous, notorious for their extravagant raft-ups.

Rinker raises the bar for accommodations in a sterndrive cruiser on its new 390. When you descend the five steps from the helm deck into the main cabin of the new Rinker 390 Express Cruiser, you may forget that you're in a boat. The squared-off corners, the generous headroom, high counters and the tall door to the forward master stateroom all contribute to a sense of spaciousness. The cherry cabinetry and the teak-and-holly sole are nautical chic. This squared-off salon is just one of the ways Rinker has achieved a decidedly big-boat feel in a sterndrive express boat model.

The Four Winns 318 Vista proves that a serious cruising boat begins somewhere near 30 feet. How big must a boat be before you can call it a true cruiser? Ask someone who's squeezing his family into an express boat with one overworked sterndrive and a legally trailerable beam and he'll probably say real cruising begins at 30 feet, for two good reasons: twin engines and accommodations for four. There's a variety of boats in this category, a number of which are well-built, good-looking and offer excellent value. The new Four Winns 318 Vista is among them.

Newest in the Mainship trawler line is its midsized 34, a boat I predict is going to be as popular as the 900 34-foot cruisers Mainship built between 1978 and 1988. For many couples, the earlier Mainship 34 (a version of which was called the Nantucket) was the epitome of a no-frills cruising classic, capable of doing just about any adventure most owners might undertake, economically and safely. The new Mainship 34 is a hugely updated version of that classic. Let’s face it, most couples can do more with less, and in the case of the new Mainship, that means an easy-to-handle boat that offers not a floating hotel, but a terrific value in a trawler designed for a couple. Available with various engine packages to satisfy a range of performance desires, the Mainship 34 is about ideal for that low-maintenance summer home. The basic boat has lots of neat features, and it is refreshing to talk about a boat that puts simplicity ahead of other elements. Let’s go aboard…

We sea-trial the new Cruisers 385 Motor Yacht on a run up the coast from Ft. Lauderdale to Wilmington, N.C. Somewhere north of Daytona Beach, mangrove gave way to mallow along the banks of the ICW and we saw the beginnings of the great spartina marshes that stretch northward into Georgia and the Carolinas. It was the second day of our journey from Ft.Lauderdale to Wilmington, N.C., to deliver the new Cruisers 385 Motor Yacht to the facility where it will be made. 

Fishability meets civility... Contender boats are noted for showing up high in the standings in the big-money kingfish tournaments- and for good reason. They're light, fast, and tough. What they're not known for, however, is being family friendly. With the new 36 Fish Around, that could be changing. The interior of the boat looks a bit like a cross between a walkaround and a center console, but the sidedecks and foredecks are much deeper and broader than the norm. And unlike most walkarounds, this boat is eye candy, with sleek fairing on the cabin and console and a low-slung smoked Plexiglas windscreen. The design is functional, too. By bringing the sides of the console area well aft, a spray-proof mini-enclosure is created. There's still plenty of air circulating, but you're not going to get wet.

I could produce over a hundred reviews of Chuck Paine designs. A 40-footer that's being finished up for the Cabo Rico company is design number 112! Among all those rolls of blueprints, virtually every one is intriguing enough to warrant publication.

Built explicitly for Volvo Penta's revolutionary new IPS propulsion system, the Tiara Sovran 4300 is in a league of its own... I was psyched! I've probably tested a dozen new Tiara yachts over the years, but never with the degree of anticipation I felt as I arrived at Galati Yacht Sales in Destin, Florida, with Dave Walsh, Tiara's marketing director, to sea-trial the new Tiara Sovran 4300. My curiosity was intense because this boat had been built entirely around Volvo Penta's radically new Inboard Performance System (IPS)- a diesel propulsion package whose drives mount beneath the boat, rather than on its transom, and whose four Duoprop propellers face forward rather than aft (See Motorboating, January). The concept is revolutionary, I was about to witness the application.

Fountain's 38 Sportfish Tournament Edition lets you pursue your quarry by day and return home in short order. As we headed out toward poen water on the Gulf of Mexico, lead test driver Bob Teague slalomed the Fountain 38 Sportfish center-console through a series of left and right turns. "Fountains always handle nicely," he said, almost under his breath. He was right. The 10-foot, 6-inch beam center-console transitioned from side to side just as it should, with no grabbiness on entry or bobbles on exit, all the while still 'on the bubble' and freed up from the water's surface. It felt just right, the way a boat should."

Show the marlin who's boss.  Equal but different: Sticking your finger into an electrical outlet, and firewalling the throttles on a new Cabo 40 Flybridge Sportster. Both give you one hell of a charge, and both leave your hair standing on end. Test this boat, and you’ll walk away feeling as if you’ve been wired during an electrical storm.

A true-born son of the sea. Step aboard McKinna’s 58 Pilothouse Motor Yacht and you feel as if you've entered something much bigger than its LOA would lead you to believe. Start in the engine compartment where the twin 800-bhp 3406s are lashed to the bearers with full-length steel channels that through-bolt to the boat’s structure. If you need to move hundreds of gallons of water out of the area quickly, there are crash pumps.

Run away from home,-for less. I'm a fan of the galley-up arrangement on boats. The setup aboard the Altus 42 is particularly appealing because of its lower control station abeam of the galley. Think about it: What's better than playing Master and Commander, the dry, quiet, teak-ensconced comfort of a lower helm, spume flying outside, fresh coffee perking within reach?

When an opportunity strikes, I say grab it. So I drag raced a diesel-powered Sea Ray 390 Sundancer while testing a sister ship powered by twin 370-hp MerCruiser 8.18 Horizon gasoline.inboards. It proved that if you opt for twin 375-bhp Cummins MerCruiser QSB 5.9 diesels, you won't ever suffer from performance anxiety. Though I have certified test results only from the gas-powered engine, the diesel raced me to a dead heat. Also, both boats came on plane in nearly equal time and achieved comparable top speeds.

The new Cruisers 455 offers livability both above and below decks. If you want the sun-filled pleasures of an express cruiser but can't bring yourself to give up the spacious interior layout of an aft cabin motoryacht, then the new 455 Express Motoryacht from Cruisers will fulfill your need for both. This Wisconsin-based builder has created an efficient hybrid by fusing an express cruiser deck to a capacious motoryacht hull.

Monterey’s new flagship 350 Sport Yacht: an express cruiser with racy good looks and the performance to back it up. It's got legs. That's the kind of thing you can say about that will probably be embraced by the public and enjoy a long life on the production line. That’s how I would classify Monterey's new 350 Sport Yacht. Its perceived staying power is achieved in two ways. First, it can perform. Designed to harness plenty of sterndrive power, the 350 can top 50 mph and leave some similar-sized boats to scoot along in its wake. Second, its looks are smokin'. Monterey took its styling cues from steamy European builds when it drew the deck's sharp, angular lines. The 350 is both brawny and sexy. When it comes to surface appeal, this express cruiser has hot legs.

Successful boat manufacturers are never content to rest on their laurels, and that maxim certainly applies to Boston Whaler. Over the last two model years, the company has made significant improvements to its line of Outrage center consoles by designing better hulls and adding more fishing features. The Conquest line of cabin boats is next on the upgrade list. The 305 is the first model in the new generation of Conquests. It incorporates many of the angling features I admire on the Outrages, but it has a softer side, too. In fact, I give it very high marks for both form and function.

This elegant cruiser was introduced to the press with a theatrical presentation that would have done justice to Barnum's best. While the dignitaries and executives were oohing and ahhing on the dock and the PR types were handing out brochures with complimentary bottles of designer water, guess where the boat guys were? The marine writers, with their scuffed deck shoes and dog-eared notebooks, were all grooving on a little switch in the cockpit. Flip it and the aft center section of the foredeck hinges up and the middle of the boat's big, curved windshield disappears into it; then the hatch closes and all is as before- except now the windshield is a walk-through. How to get to it? By using the teak-planked ladder that's permanently attached to the companionway door, of course. Slide the door shut, unfold the ladder and voila- instant access. Was this feature a big deal? By itself, maybe not, but when added to all the other design innovations on Doral's new Alegria 45, it justified the hype associated with the launch of this new express cruiser.