Boat test for the 2006 Hampton 740 Pilothouse with boat pictures, boat specifications, and boat test results. Includes pricing, videos, engine test reviews, and ratings for the 2006 Hampton 740 Pilothouse.

She’s part long-range cruiser, part yacht, and part sportfisherman. And although the Hampton 740 is part of the Shanghai, China-based boatbuilder’s Pilothouse line, she’s a true yachtfisherman.

I recently sea trialed the 740 off Marina Del Ray, California, and the first evidence I saw of this was in her teak-sole cockpit, a six-foot extension Hampton added to its popular 680 Pilothouse. Here I immediately noticed two in-deck, gasketed fishboxes that, while not fitted with macerators, could easily handle a dozen or so albacore. Two other fishy features here that caught my eye were cockpit tackle stowage and an in-transom stowage/fishbox/livewell. Hampton designers cleverly shortened the optional skylounge overhang to prevent it from covering the after-most section of the cockpit, and thus there’s no chance of hitting it during a hard hook set.

But this boat is about more than just an extra six feet of LOA, some fish-fighting space, and a couple of fishboxes. One of the biggest changes is the addition of that skylounge. This $100,000 option gives the 740 an extra enclosed living space, and that still-mammoth overhang also provides an alfresco entertaining space and room to mount a davit for the tender. The skylounge, which on my test boat featured an upper helm (a lower helm is also available), has frameless smoked-glass windows on the house sides and clear windows in front. Visibility up here was clear forward, to port, and to starboard, but while at the wheel I decided that the best aft view was via the cockpit camera displayed on one of two NecVox displays (engine-room views are also available). Indeed, to back her into a slip, I’d use the starboard cockpit controls.