Browsing: Pocket Cruisers

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Eastern 27: User-Friendly Pocket Cruiser

The outboard-powered Eastern 27 Islander a user-friendly, no-frills, Down-East styled pocket cruiser. It’s also the top of Eastern’s fleet of 10 models from 20- to 27-feet. Easterns have been made in Milton, New Hampshire, since 1981.The company now also makes Rosborough Boats and Seaway Boats. The Eastern 27 Islander is designed as a couple’s cruiser, with a V-berth below plus an extra berth (or storage area) tucked under the helm deck. The V-berth can be converted to a settee with a table. There are also shelves, a hanging locker, and an enclosed head with shower. The helm deck can be…

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New Cutwater C-288 Pocket Cruiser

The all-new Cutwater C-288 Coupe is a versatile, trailerable pocket cruiser that’s ready for doing just anything you want to do on the water, whether fishing, cruising, picnicking, or even working remotely on board. The C-288 is powered by twin 250-hp Yamaha outboards producing a top speed of about 45 knots, and a range of about 200 nm at 30 knots. It has a 10-foot beam for stability, and a double-stepped, deep-V hull with Cutwater’s Laminar Flow Interrupters, basically small indentations that help in higher-speed cornering. The boat sleeps two in the forward cabin, which also has an enclosed electric…

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The Favors Downsize: Next Boat, a Ranger Tugs 25

A lot of us (including myself) were certainly surprised when we learned that Jim and Lisa Favors put their beloved, and well-traveled, Ranger Tugs 29 Kismet up for sale last summer, without any explanation of what they would do next. After all, the Favors have been cruising most of their adult lives, most recently on Ranger Tugs, and have written about them extensively on their website, trailertrawlerlife. Now we know what comes next: A new Ranger Tugs, but the Favors are downsizing. Their next Ranger will be a 25, with a single 250-hp Yamaha outboard to give them more performance…

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NorthCoast Boats Launches New 315HT Flagship Pocket Cruiser

NorthCoast Boats in Bristol, Rhode Island, just launched its new flagship, the 315HT, a pocket cruiser that sleeps four, hits 55 mph with twin 300-hp Yamahas, and cuts through an offshore chop with a 23-degree deadrise at the transom. NorthCoast builds no-nonsense boats, with an emphasis on coastal and offshore functionality. Jose DaPonte, the owner of NorthCoast, a division of C&C Marine, says the new 315HT “defines the next generation of NorthCoast Boats, with more fishing and cruising performance, minus the over-the-top amenities boaters pay for but never seem to use.” The new 315 has a flared bow, high freeboard…

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Ranger Tugs Launches New 25 Trailerable Pocket Cruiser

Ranger Tugs just launched its new R 25 trailerable pocket cruiser at the Fort Lauderdale show. This newest Ranger is powered by a single Yamaha 250-hp outboard and, like all Rangers, it’s packed with enough amenities to make cruising easy and fun. Over the years, I’ve cruised on several Rangers in the Pacific Northwest. They’re made by Fluid Motion, based in Kent, Washington. It also makes Cutwater Boats, and it’s one of the most successful boat companies in recent times. I’ve always felt that each cruise ended much too soon, as Rangers (and Cutwaters) provide a lot of room and…

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Beneteau Launches New Antares Line of Outboard-Powered Pocket Cruisers

Beneteau has just launched a new line of outboard-powered pocket coastal cruisers. Called the Antares, the new line has a 27, 23 and 21, all products of the Beneteau design team and meant to be introductory boats for coastal or lake cruising. All powered by Mercury outboards, the 27 has twin 200-hp engines; the 23 a single 250-hp engine, and the 21 a single 175-hp engine. A bow thruster is optional to help with docking. The Antares 27 has a glass sliding door opening to the salon from the cockpit. With light coming in from a panoramic sunroof and large…

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New 2018 Ranger Tugs 27 with 300-hp Yamaha Outboard Power

As more evidence of the increasing move to outboard power, Ranger Tugs just introduced its 2018 R-27 with a single Yamaha F300 outboard, opening up the cockpit a bit, adding to the boat’s overall length, and certainly producing a bump up in speed. We don’t have any performance details yet, but we do know that the shift to an outboard will appeal to a portion of Ranger’s potential market that wanted some more juice. The Kent, Washington-based company will still offer the popular R-27 with a standard 200-hp Volvo D3 diesel. Over the years, I’ve cruised on Ranger Tugs in…

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New 50-mph Cutwater 302 Pocket Cruiser: Innovations and Speed. See Video

We first wrote about the new Cutwater 302 when it was launched (last Dec. 14), but now the boat’s in the water, with a video, and it’s even more impressive than we had thought. Indeed, its 50-mph speed, driven by twin 300-hp Yamaha outboards and Cutwater’s double-stepped hull, is eye-opening, and its overall creative engineering and out-of-the-box thinking offer more living and entertaining space on board than you can find on much larger boats. The largest in the Cutwater fleet, the new 302 is a two-cabin, one-head pocket cruiser that actually can sleep six (with two on the convertible dinette).…

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Cutwater 28: A Proven Pocket Cruiser

Cutwaters are made in Washington State by Fluid Motion, LLC, the same company that makes Ranger Tugs, and that was founded by the father-son team of David and John Livingston. They know how to build boats; David was president of Bayliner when the company was making 56,000 boats a year. And they know how to create value for their owners. Indeed, the new Cutwater 28, fully equipped with a 260-hp Volvo diesel, Garmin electronics, bow and stern thrusters and ready to cruise, carries a base price of $194,937. With an 8’6” beam, the 28 is trailerable, user-friendly and packed with…