Hinckley Building All-New, Carbon-Fiber, Outboard-Powered Line of 42-foot Sport Boats. A 63-mph Hinckley?
By Peter A. Janssen
Hinckley is on a roll. Last September it launched the first luxury all-electric, carbon-fiber 28-foot Dasher, named after hull number one of its iconic Picnic Boat, at the Newport boat show. Now, on the opening day of the Palm Beach show, it said it is building an entirely new line of carbon-fiber, outboard-powered, 42-foot sport boats. Powered by standard three 300-hp Mercury Verados, the company said the boats will top out at 52 mph, while two monster 667-hp Seven Marine outboards will push them to 63 mph.
The move to outboards (the latest in an industry-wide trend) is a major shift for Hinckley, which has been promoting jet power since it launched the first Picnic Boat in Maine in 1994. The new Sport Boat line, designed by C. Raymond Hunt Associates, was built from the start for outboards. “Performance was a big part of the design,” says Scott Bryant, Hinckley’s director of product development.
In another shift for Hinckley, the sport boats don’t have all the teak that identified the Picnic Boats. But it is a nod to modern buyers, who often want to enjoy their boats and then, after a day’s outing, wash them down and them away. What teak remains on the sport boats is actually faux teak, which Hinckley calls Artisanal Teak. “This allows for the Hinckley look in a wash-and-wear format,” says Bryant.
Hinckley will build two versions of the new Sport Boats. One is basically a modern center console, with an open bow but a cabin inside the console that’s large enough for a head with a shower, a three-person settee that converts to a V-berth and a galley with a cappuccino maker. In the weekender version, the cabin extends to the bow and has a V-berth forward and a settee aft that makes up into a bed. It has a full galley and an enclosed head with shower.
The center console version will be introduced at Hinckley’s owners’ rendezvous in Nantucket in July. Its base price is $735,000. The weekender will be launched next February, with a base price of $895,000.
Specs.: LOA: 42’7”; Beam: 12’5”; Draft: 3’1”; Disp.: 20,000 lbs.; Fuel: 450 gals.; Water: 50 gals.; Power: 3×300-hp Mercury Verado outboards.
