The Intrepid 35 Valor and the 35 Panacea ride on the same hull, yet they’re configured differently. One is an overnighter and the other an open day boat. The 35 Valor has a nicely equipped cabin complete with a convertible V-berth dinette and a full head with a proper stand-up shower. A cruising couple could comfortably spend a long weekend on the 35 Valor while the 35 Panacea is geared toward an owner looking for all the attributes of a center console.
The 35 Valor is the first Intrepid I’ve stepped aboard since the company was purchased by MarineMax in 2021. “This is the new Intrepid,” says company CEO Terry McNew. “We’ve created a common architecture for these boats.” They are designed to fit together, he adds, like a Lego set with common parts. This has helped reduce waste while improving construction time.
McNew is a longtime marine executive with a background in engineering. His résumé includes stints at Sea Ray, Brunswick, and MasterCraft. As he walks me through the 35 Valor, I can see that boat design still excites him. He proudly tells me that all of Intrepid’s boats are developed and built with a company mindset rooted in three principles: performance, comfort, and capability.
The 35 Valor replaces Intrepid’s 345 Valor and mixes two styles of boats into one. The forward portion looks more like an express while the aft section feels more like a center console. The helm is nearly enclosed with a sizable windshield and glass on either side of the console. Accessing the cabin below is easy thanks to a sliding door on the port side of the helm. I much prefer this type of forward entry as side doors can get tight and awkward. Down below, Intrepid uses yacht-like materials and light, natural colors that give the space an airy feel.
The 35 Valor rides on a double-step hull that’s actually just over 37 feet long, and the beam is a somewhat narrow 10 feet, 6 inches, but McNew says she handles like a dream. “I tried to spin it out and you couldn’t,” he says. The base 35 Valor is powered by twin 350-horsepower outboards with the option to move up to twin 425s. You often see boats in this size range equipped with triples, but the Valor does just fine with twins. According to McNew, she’ll run upwards of 50 knots wide-open with the 425s and cruises at 28 knots, yielding 1.2 mpg.
Boarding the boat is easy, with plenty of room on the swim step in front of the engines and a walkthrough door in the transom. There’s also a hull-side door for swimming or docking beam-to. The boat is set up for fun in the sun, with a rocking JL Audio system including speakers mounted into the transom for swimmers or sandbar outings. There’s a nice grab rail, shore power plug-in, and bilge access on the transom as well. Intrepid also offers the 35 Valor with an electric grill atop that transom, a sink, and an insulated livewell that doubles as a cooler. A drop-down aft seat tucks out of the way when not in use. The mezzanine seat holds a slide-out Yeti cooler below and the backrest folds down to become a cooking, baiting, or filleting workstation with storage for tackle or utensils.
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The cockpit hatches provide easy access to the battery bank and bilge where a Seakeeper can be mounted. All systems on the boat are powered by a lithium-ion inverter system. Accessibility is a common theme. All of the pumps, seacocks, and filters are quickly reachable. I also appreciated how Intrepid is making the fuel tanks reachable, so you don’t have to pull the boat apart just to get to the sending units. The oversized hardtop flares out aft and a pair of arched aluminum legs connect the top to the gunwales. It’s a unique design that provides more shade and coverage.
The 35 Valor is a fully digital boat with all of the switching integrated into the twin 17-inch Garmin displays. The helm is simple and well executed. The large windshield offers great visibility, with no curved glass that can distort your vision. The helm chairs are beautifully stitched and the flush-mounted electronics give the dash a very clean look. The switch panel is located behind a door underneath the helm chairs.
The sidedecks up to the bow area are wide and navigable so you can get up to a sunpad with adjustable backrests quickly. The handrails on the hardtop are both elegant and functional. Having two rambunctious boys, I appreciated the bow rails, so you could let guests enjoy the foredeck with some peace of mind. There’s also a large anchor locker.
McNew said the 35 Valor at the Miami boat show is considered a prototype, so we may see some design changes down the road, like a queen berth instead of a V-berth, or perhaps the option to choose between the two. But no matter how an owner decides to outfit this Intrepid, it will be a capable overnighter with plenty of features for playing on the water, from the sandbar to well offshore.
Intrepid 35 Valor Specifications:
LOA: 37’5”
Beam: 10’6”
Displ.: 14,179 lb.
Fuel: 335 gal.
Water: 55 gal.
Power: /350-hp or 425-hp Mercury V10s
Info: intrepidpowerboats.com
This article originally appeared in the August/September 2026 issue of Power & Motoryacht magazine.
