The renderings of the new Hinckley 40x sport boat, the cruising boat version, are certainly appealing, but they really don’t do the boat justice. I just saw a model of this latest Hinckley at the Palm Beach show, and it’s simply a beautiful boat. Everything is right – the proportions, the flowing lines, the updated application of Hinckley’s classic Down East heritage.
The 40x is the second version of the outboard-powered sport boat that Hinckley introduced six months ago, and it will be launched in a few months. The first version, the 40c, was the center console model, although as Pete Saladino, Hinckley’s chief marketing officer, puts it, that boat was not really a center console but rather a “center cabin.” Fair enough.
But the upcoming 40x is a cruising boat with a cabin large enough for two couples, while maintaining all the performance, engineering and cutting-edge attributes of the 40c. The boats are designed by the Ray Hunt team, the people who basically invented the modern deep-V hull for offshore performance, and they were built specifically for outboard engines.
Both 40s are powered by three 300-hp Mercury Verados, producing a top speed of 47 knots, although you can order two monster 627-hp Seven Marine outboards as options. The boats are built with lightweight epoxy-infused carbon fiber and Kevlar, combined with Hinckley’s traditional built-in-Maine craftsmanship.
You walk on the 40x using steps on either side of the cockpit, or through a door on the starboard side of the swim platform. A bench seat is across the port side of the transom, and a two-person, aft-facing seat is forward on the port side; a single aft-facing seat is to starboard.
Moving forward, the bridge deck is fully protected by a hardtop and large side windows. A large L-shaped settee with a teak table is to port, across from a console with a sink, fridge and storage to starboard. A single helm seat on a stainless steel pedestal faces the helm.
Below, three steps down, a guest cabin is tucked under the helm with a berth for two set athwartships. The galley is to port and the head to starboard. Forward, a set of V-shaped settees and a raised teak table function as a social or dining area during the day; at night they convert to a double bed. A teak-and-holly sole add a nautical touch.
Specs.: LOA: 42’7”; Beam: 12’5”; Draft: 3’1”; Disp.: 20,000 lbs.; Fuel: 450 gals.; Water: 98 gals.; Power: 3×300-hp Mercury Verado outboards.
