Beneteau Swift 41 | Grady-White Express 370 | Palm Beach 70 - 08/30/20
BoatTEST Newsletter August 30, 2020
Most Popular Boats of the Week
Every week, BoatTEST publishes news items on about 25 boats and products. Readers have asked which ones are the most popular each day, so below you can find the answer.
See BoatTEST REPORTS Webcast
Subjects covered in this week's webcast are:
- Part Two of our Interview with Leon Slikkers
- BoatTEST Highlights
- New Yamaha and Malibu Launches
- How to Tie a Sheet Bend
- Boating News
Monday #1
Manitou 25 Encore VP:
A Premium Brand and Model
The Manitou 25 Encore VP with twin pontoons.
On almost any drive to the summer lake house, the roadside will have a number of dealers with pontoon boats for sale. There are dozens of brands made in anything from a garage to World War II Quonset hut. In most cases, the thought and engineering that has gone into them is often dubious. Pontoon boats aren’t all the same. The Manitou brand is at the top of the toon charts. The Manitou 25 Encore’s mission is to provide a premium build and feel without a high price tag. She is available with two or three pontoons so buyers can choose based on their intended activities. The two-pontoon version is for people who plan to cruise and maybe tow tubes at a mellower speed. Putting on the third pontoon gets the boat on plane, making her more suitable for towing multiple watersports activities. More...
Schedule a Test Drive Dealer Contact Request Pricing Request
Tuesday #1
BENETEAU Swift Trawler 41:
A New Model Evolves the Range
The Swift Trawler 41 is the latest addition to the BENETEAU series and is all new. Like her siblings, she has a semi-displacement hull and can run faster than 20 knots. Among her firsts for the series are an aft galley and generous seating near both helm stations, which is pretty remarkable considering her 44’1” (13.43 m) overall length. She also brings dedicated shower and toilet rooms to the master stateroom area, enhancing comfort for longer trips. More...
Schedule a Test Drive Dealer Contact Request Pricing Request
Wednesday #1
Grady-White Express 370:
Well-Rounded Express Fish
The Grady-White Express 370 is a triple outboard-powered boat with a focus on saltwater fishing, but she also has impressive cabin space for overnighting and a large cockpit that can entertain while day cruising and the fish aren’t biting. With the company’s SeaV2® hull, she’s more than capable of heading offshore in rough conditions with a closed bow and AV2 hardtop enclosure. More...
Thursday #1
Regal 33 XO:
Outboards Have Their Advantages
By eliminating sterndrives on its 33 XO, Regal freed up a ton of cockpit space to make the boat more amenable to day boating and entertaining. Getting rid of the engines under the aft sunlounge provides ample room for storage, a generator or even a Seakeeper. Outboards also give the boat the ability to explore backwaters and out-of-the-way coves because the engines can trim all the way out of the water, while a sterndrive has much more limited range. Finally, the wraparound swim platform has port and starboard extensions that reach past the engines so the boat can still be used as a watersports platform. More...
Friday #1
Palm Beach 70:
Not Just Another Motoryacht
The Palm Beach 70 has been built for connoisseurs of fine yachts. The man responsible for that is company CEO, Australian Mark Richards. He founded the company in 1995 in Palm Beach, New South Wales to build sailboats, then in 1999, started building powerboats with a very special vision. He has an eye for classy lines, and a no-compromise approach to boat building. Together, these two elements quickly established the brand around the world as something special. (When we first saw one of his powerboats at a boat show, we couldn’t take our eyes off of her.)
In 2014, he sold the company, which he owned 100%, for cash plus a 6% stake in Grand Banks LTD, and he became the CEO of both. Because Mark was an offshore ocean racer of a large sailboat that won line honors in the notorious Sydney-Hobart Race nine times, he is a superb seaman, and knows how a tight ship should be built. Because of his proclivity for perfection in everything he does, he personally pays attention to every system and installation on the boats he and his team build. (He is famous in the industry for requiring that all personnel shop vac their work after every installation.)
To illustrate Mark Richards’ penchant for order in the natural chaos of a modern motoryacht’s engine room, we offer the image above, which illustrates his philosophy that not only must everything be done right, using the best equipment available – but it also must look good. More...
Put Your Pursuit Boat to Work for You
The 27’ (8.33 m) Pursuit S268 Sport center console has a beam of 8’9” (2.67 m).
BoattestLEASING is looking for an owner of a new or late model Pursuit 26’ to 42’ center console, dual console, Offshore, or Sport. Since the average boat in the U.S. is used just 25 days, why not turn that asset into found income? If your boat is in the northern climate, why leave the boat high, dry and unused for over 50% of the year, when it can be earning income for you at work in Florida under BoattestLEASING’s charter/leasing management program? This year more than any other, boat usage will be in high demand, so why not take advantage of the Covid situation and recover some of the costs of ownership? For more information, contact BoattestLEASING GM Greg Sweeney at (727) 200-3474 | [email protected].
Photo of the Day
Are you boating this weekend? Send us your photos!
We want to see your boating photos and videos! Email us at [email protected] and we may feature your submission in our newsletter.
Expert Boating
OOOPS!!!
They Should Have Watched Smart Boating!
Sometimes it's not what you know, but what you've forgotten. We have the perfect solution for you.
Based on the feedback we've been getting about BoatTEST.com's Video Boating Course, it's clearly not only for beginners but for veteran boaters as well. Perhaps that is why the NMMA started promoting the course after just one look. It's the most complete boating course available... period. Order your 4-disc box set...
Watch the trailer...
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