Boat test for the Outer Reef 73 including boat specifications, photo galleries, boat videos, boat layout diagrams, boat test numbers, boat test results, and boat speed graphs. Also includes pricing, engine test reviews, ratings, standard features, and gear for the 2007 Outer Reef 73.

I love catching up with old friends. But it's gotten to be a challenge, as many of us are scattered up and down the East and West Coasts. When the holidays approach it gets easier, as we return to our hometown, although now instead of congregating at a local bar, we meet at various homes, surrounded by children, spouses, and parents. Many of my friends' parents are long-time powerboaters, and for most of the night, I'm cornered. They all want to talk about the same thing: a comfortable, well-appointed cruiser aboard which they can retire that's capable of handling the open ocean. They throw out one manufacturer's name after another before I can comment. And these Baby Boomers are serious—they have the enthusiasm and the spending power to realize their dreams.

It was just these folks who came to mind on the eve of my sea trial of the Outer Reef 73: boaters who want a yacht built to handle challenging offshore conditions. And it appeared the weather—a sustained 20-knot wind that had the flags outside stiff and forecasts calling for thunderstorms—was going to offer me the chance to see if the 73 qualified.

Based solely on her construction, I suspected that she would. The 73's built to American Bureau of Shipping (ABS) standards for pleasurecraft and for A-rated ocean conditions, which means 18- to 20-foot seas and sustained winds more than 40 knots. Her three-piece build (hull, deck and house, and flying bridge) is solid: The deck is through-bolted to the hull every six inches and further secured with 3M 5200 marine adhesive and multiple layers of fiberglass lamination. The hull is solid fiberglass from the keel to six inches above the waterline, averages two inches thick, and is vacuum-bagged to ensure an ideal resin-to-fiberglass ratio. Full-length longitudinal and athwartship stringers further enhance her stiffness.

Disappointment set in the next morning as Outer Reef sales executive Mike Schlichtig whisked me to Hull No. 1, Sea Star, at a private quay in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. The sun was shining, and the wind had laid down. But after a few hours in the two-foot seas the Atlantic Ocean offered up, one thing did become clear: This boat is agile. Full-speed 180-degree turns took about three boat lengths, and the 73 responded quickly to the Hynautic hydraulic steering as she gracefully weaved through the traffic in Port Everglades Inlet. The combination of hard chines and flat aft sections helped her to get on plane quickly: From a standstill Sea Star's optional twin 1,015-mhp Caterpillars propelled her to an average top speed of 19 mph in less than 20 seconds. When I backed her off to 1500 rpm (13.7 mph), she tracked superbly. I took my hands off the wheel for a full minute, and she stayed right on course.

PAGES:

1

2