Cutwater is making a new C-288 Coupe with twin 250-hp Yamaha outboards, a fully equipped pocket cruiser suitable for a couple or a small family. The boat has a 10-foot beam to maximize the cabin area for comfortable living on board and to give the boat stability, while still making it a trailerable vessel.
The new 28 has a double-stepped, deep-V hull for performance and efficiency. It comes with a standard bow thruster and electric trim tabs to make maneuvering easy both around the docks and underway.
Inside, the forward stateroom has seating around a table that drops down to convert to a berth space. Another berth is tucked under the salon dinette on the port side, across from the helm and galley. The dinette also converts to a berth. A private head is forward.
Outside, the transom bench seat pivots to face forward or aft. And a pair of seats under the gunwales swing out. All told, the cockpit seats six people. The cockpit also has storage, rod holders, a livewell and an electric grill. On the cabin top there’s a solar panel and roof racks for SUPs, kayaks, bikes, whatever.
The salon has a full galley with a stovetop, stainless steel sink, fridge/freezer combo, microwave convection over and a wine or water cooler. The helm comes with a Garmin chartplotter, autopilot, sonar, radar and color engine displays. There are sliding overhead hatches and opening portlights.
With the mast down, the C-288 Coupe has an air draft of just 9′ 2,” so it can slide under most of the bridges on the Great Loop or the ICW in the Southeast.
In 2014, I drove a Cutwater 28 with a single 260-hp Volvo diesel, the predecessor to this boat, from New York City to Quebec City with George Sass, Sr., the photographer. The engine didn’t miss a beat and we spent a comfortable cruise living on board.
Cutwaters are made in Auburn, Washington, just south of Seattle, by Fluid Motion, the same company that makes Ranger Tugs. In the past decade or so, it has emerged as one of the most successful boat companies in the U.S.
Price for the C-288 Coupe at the factory is $299,937 for the Northwest Edition, designed for climates where air conditioning is not necessary (it has a diesel heater), and $314,937 for the Luxury Edition, with air conditioning/reverse cycle heating and a lithium-ion battery package that works with the inverter to power the AC.
Specs.: LOA: 32’6”; Beam: 10’0”; Draft: NA; Disp.: NA; Fuel: 200 gals.; Water: 41 gals.; Power: 2×250-hp Yamaha outboards. Read more:
