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Cobalt Boats Founder and Chairman Pack St. Clair was named Entrepreneur of the Year, an award recognizing business leadership among companies based in Kansas, Missouri, Iowa and Nebraska.

the cabin front windows make the difference

Experience the light inside the 2860 Regal cabin cruiser with the curtains pulled back and you will have seen the best there is available inside a boat cabin for airiness and sunshine brighten your boating weekend. Regal 2860 wins this point hands down.

Next, lay out on the skipper’s berth and see the biggest size berth there is for a good nights rest. Again, the Regal 2860 wins as it’s a “no contest” in this size class cabin cruiser.

Check off what else is important in a cruiser and a 2860 Regal cabin cruiser is competitive in all respects.

Competitive in everything that one looks for in a cabin cruiser and “the best in class” in two points of top importance.

Take a look, there is a sale going on right now.

clean running hull design that is well balanced

Seabuddy boat test of the new Mercruiser Mercury Marine engine from seabuddy. First on-the-water boat test.

Mercruiser now owns the tooling to make the former Chevrolet 502 engine. They use this engine in their Mercury Racing division for Mercury Marine Mercruiser Racing engines from 525 Hp, 600 Hp, 662 Hp, and 700 Hp.

Now they (Mercury Marine Mercruiser) have discontinued their two versions of the, made by Chevrolet, 496 engine and offer this Mercruiser Mercury Marine 502 engine in family boat, sport boat power outputs of 380 Hp and 430 Hp.

Thus, Mercury Marine has invented a new family boat engine for 2010. Any 496 Mercury Marine Mercruiser powered boat has a now discontinued engine powering it. There is inventory out there at boat dealers, but that is about it. Seabuddy has not heard of a program to offer extra discounts on the discontinued Mercury Marine 496 inventory yet.

Volvo, still uses their on-hand inventory of Chevrolet made 496 engines at 375 Hp and 420 Hp for 2010 and the foreseeable future. They bought all the on-hand inventory from Chevrolet to keep Volvo in stock on engines. Volvo will have to make a change in the future once their on-hand inventory of 496 engines runs out. But that future change in a boat model year down-the-road is not yet public information.

All new family and sport versions of the 502 Mercury Marine Mercruiser engine require two Catalytic Converters, but  any 496 engine is exempt from needing Catalytic Converters for 2010 except for CA boats. The 525 Hp, 600 Hp, 662 Hp, and 700 Hp Mercury Racing engines do not need catalytic converters as they are over the Hp ceiling (500Hp) that federal law requires Catalytic Converters be used under.

How does she run?

Better, faster,  acceleration from about 2,700 rpms on up. A huge amount of torque that is the reason for continuously pushing speed numbers forward FAST on up to 4,200 rpm for the 380 Hp Mercury Marine Mercruiser and to just over 4,700 rpms on the 430 Hp version with its different, upgraded  internal parts like the camshaft. She is a Smoothy, too, some how the balance of Mercury Marine Mercruiser engine with the Mercury Marine Mercruiser Bravo III x drive and Mercury Marine Mercruiser prop set marry with the 7,500 lb big Cobalt boat and deliver a new level of smoothness to seabuddy.  Not that much else is different by seabuddy seat-of-the-pants.

Yes, she holds her grip on very solid water bite to the props in more violent turns. A big improvement really, but how often does a family boater whip a 30 foot plus boat around a slalom cross type turns? Boat testers do, as we want to see what is either a strong or weak point in a rig under test conditions. Here, it’s the Mercury Marine Mercruiser prop set and the ideal, precise  way the boat builder has dialed in this package.

And the Mercury Marine Mercruiser is quiet. That feature should be attributed to the new Exhaust system using the two catalytic converters. Get a switch able exhaust and the sound gives off that level of sound that  is music to a performance boat owner’s ear.

Top speed was 50 mph in a quick, short run this day, but there should be another mile an hour or two available if you take the time for a longer run on a higher hour Mercury Marine Mercruiser package (say about 50 hours on the engine hour meter). We were three aboard with and some fuel on this day. Add another 12 mph to the 50 – 52 mph in this boat if you buy a twin Mercury Marine Mercruiser package.

Our boat test was a 296 Cobalt bow rider boat that measures 30 feet 2 inches with a 9 foot 5 inch beam for a generous 8’ 8” interior beam in the cockpit. She was a big, roomy bow rider, quick in the water for the helmsman and a luxury soft ride for the passengers.

Starting with a new desire for a Cobalt bow rider boat perfection, Cobalt invented and uses a five piece mold for the hull. Cobalt then adds more hand craftsmanship at each step of creating a masterpiece of a bow rider.

The A25 Cobalt bow rider boat boarding movements were studied and are addressed with molded in treads in both of the aft gunwales.

The ride and stability are improved with some hull running surface innovations from the engineers at Cobalt for their A25 Cobalt.

A up and down hydraulic elevator choice sets a new high bar for water access from the A25 Cobalt.

Cobalt addressed and improved both cockpits in the Cobalt A25 with features that are not common to other boats. Seating is adjustable such that different crowds (up to 15 people and their personal gear in the  Cobalt A25) all with a “ballroom dance floor” sized main cockpit.

The A 25 Cobalt helm station shows new thinking coupled with old world craftsmanship. Gauges and touch screen choices allow you to keep tabs on the boat, engine, and the water around one. A lighted glove box with a USB port is standard.

In the bow, the A25 Cobalt uses a flexible seat and cockpit layout that works for lounging or sitting (either side or forward facing).

Do not miss the “wet locker” storage for water sports gear, the fender storage port and starboard, retractable line systems, air compressor, and cruise control.

Three sizes of engines, two brands, and inboard outboard stern drive I/O powers are offered. The A25 Cobalt bow rider boat is a 25’ 6” boat with a 8’ 6” beam that features an extra wide cockpit through-out its length. She weights in at 5,125 lbs and is rated for a 2,065 lb load capacity.

See one of two examples coming for this model year here…

http://www.lakevikingmarine.com/

This is about as good as they come for room and ride in a bow rider deck boat. LOA is 26’ 4” and her beam is 8’ 6” with a dry weight of 5,400. Use a big V-8 from Volvo Penta with a Dup Prop stern drive I/O (inboard outboard).

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Go back a few years and Sea Ray could not keep up with the demand for Sea Ray Sun Deck bow rider boats. Then it happened, they updated their model line-up and lost the leadership in the deck boat business. Now, this boat, the 230 Sun Deck by Sea Ray, is charged to get that business back to Sea Ray.

What does she offer that the others did or did not? Let seabuddy cover that.

More words and photos are on the second page of this write-up.

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Monterey has a 318 SSX bow rider that has an LOA of 31’ 10” that can come with twin Volvo stern drives and Volvo’s JOYSTICK control for an easy, 10 minute, learning curve to master all boat control. You control your boat via the drives, four props, and two throttles from one simple joystick to overwhelm wind, drift, waves, current all at once with the Volvo – Penta computer on board. Point the joystick in the direction you want your Monterey bow rider to move and how fast and Volvo’s joystick puts the boat there for you. Hey, you’re the captain of the ship in all conditions in 10 minutes.

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This boat hull was designed by the folks at Baja, and since then the deck has been restyled by Sea Ray, and all Baja boats are now built by Fountain Boats (they bought Baja awhile ago). She uses a 27’ 5” hull with a swim platform and hull LOA of 29’ 2”. The beam is 8’ 6” and the weight is 5,100 lbs.

Note how much more of a “needle nose” she has and how far back towards the transom it goes. This a very traditional go-fast deep vee with a truely now old fashioned 24 degree bottom at the transom. There are no steps or breaks across the running surface in the Baja 277 boat hull. That all gives and outstanding soft ride in a chop, but takes extra Hp to over-come the drag that such a hull shape requires. Do not under power this boat!

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Standard is a Volvo / Chevy engine mated to a Volvo Duo Prop inboard outboard two propeller on one shaft drive. This is the drive invented for modern boating that changed boating for craft over 20’. The top power package uses the same drive with a bigger torque and Hp engine. Volvo uses the Chevy big block in their marine package to get high Hp (425 Hp) without using any catalysts to be emissions legal for 2010.

Monterey molded their 278 SS bow rider at 28’ 10” LOA. The beam is 8’ 6” for easy towing across the USA. The 278 Super Sport Monterey bow rider has a dry weight of 5,510 lbs.

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Standard is a bimini top, snap-in carpet, chart plotter and 300 Hp. As an option you could order the 8.1 425 Hp Mercury Marine Bravo Three inboard outboard package. Note, this is a now discontinued engine package by Mercury Marine (if you are interested, Volvo is sticking with the 8.1 Chevy engine – which does not use catalyst to pass emissions testing). The new engine, which I have water tested is the 8.2 liter 430 Hp Mercury Bravo Thee inboard outboard set-up w/ two catalysts to pass the USA emissions testing).

The 270 Sea Ray bow rider has a LOA of 28’ 6” and a not easy to trailer 9’ beam. She weights 5,555 lbs dry. Note, the inside of the head door on this craft, it’s the nicest seabuddy has seen this year.

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