Boat test for the 2006 Tiara 3900 Sovran 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 2006 Tiara 3900 Sovran.

Tiara Yachts is gutsy when it comes to technology. The successful, family-owned company was the first in the United States to seriously venture into pod-type propulsion systems some years back, partnering with Volvo Penta to launch the first American-built powerboat with Volvo's revolutionary Inboard Performance System (IPS). And now Tiara's upping the ante yet again with the intro of a sleek, solidly-engineered, IPS-powered production vessel, the 3900 Sovran, with the same joystick control Volvo Penta demoed for dealers and members of the marine press at the Miami International Boat Show last year.

The Sovran's an open-water greyhound. I know because I had the exclusive opportunity to wring 'er out amid the islands of Lake Erie's west end, thanks to the folks at Lakeside Marine Group in Port Clinton, Ohio. Conditions were uproarious. Winds whooped at velocities approaching 20 knots, and brown foamy seas crested at six feet or thereabouts, with short, steep troughs in between. But the Sovran took it all in stride, turning in an average top speed of 38.7 mph in a comparatively flat patch of water we found behind Kelley's Island, accelerating like a rocket-propelled rabbit and producing a dry, true-tracking ride no matter which way I pushed her in the rough stuff, whether up sea, down sea, or side sea.

You couldn't beat the handling. Cornering was tight and solid, the IPS electric steering had a smooth, automotive feel, and the boat's lithe power and responsiveness instilled confidence, even while I barreled the Sovran straight into jagged six-footers off Catawba Island at 20 mph. Visibility from the electrically adjustable helm seat was superb, as the Sovran's windshield and side windows are immense.

A transom deadrise of 14 1/2 degrees is great for rough seas—our test boat did 20 mph in six-footers dry and comfortably.

Of course, all this grooviness was great, but it immediately took a backseat to the Sovran's dockside-maneuvering capabilities back at Lakeside's marina. I started the party by stopping the boat outside the breakwater, then hitting a push-button switch at the base of the joystick pedestal, thus boosting the maximum maneuvering revs of the Sovran's IPS units from 1200 to 1500 rpm—I figured I might need a bit more oomph considering the way the flags ashore were standing straight off their staffs.

Control was totally intuitive. I pushed the stick forward, the boat went forward. I pushed it astern, she went astern. I pushed it sideways, the boat went sideways. I rotated the knob at the top of the stick, the 3900 spun in the same direction. And as I continued to play around, adding subtle combinations and permutations to my growing joystick repertoire, the wind seemed to hold little sway over the power of the two IPS units vectoring beneath the hull.

Once I'd gained some joystick familiarity, I took the Sovran through the narrow opening in the breakwater, sidling sideways at one point to counteract a powerful set toward some rocks, arrived at our slip, pivoted the boat in her own length by rotating the joystick knob, and then slid her home, broadside to the zephyrs. Easy? The entire maneuver was so effortless and fun that an idea dawned on me: Why not give a local youngster a shot? I could do my dockside walk-through while we waited for school to let out!

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