Pursuit S 328

Our first look at the Pursuit S 328.

By Jason Y. Wood

April 30, 2017

Pursuit is adding to its sport line of center consoles, and the S 328 shows the design team has a knack for dialing in these offshore machines for fishing and family fun. It all started with the S 408 last year, and this 32-footer aspires to emulate the larger boat, with similar fit and finish and features.

The styling is right there. The S 328 has that gently curving sheerline—Pursuit’s designers were paying attention when they drew the lines and the work is now paying dividends. A big part of this boat’s look is the hardtop, with its sturdy, powder-coated aft corner posts and integrated windshield: It’s so much more than a T-top when you see it in person and stand underneath it. One detail I loved: A vent in the top of the windshield powers open to provide fresh air to the helm team on warm fishing days. The hardtop also has a power sun shade built into its aft end, a big selling point when the days get hot but the crew wants to chill in the cockpit.

And I have not seen a 32-footer with a cockpit more ready for relaxing than this one. A dive door on the port side makes stepping aboard a snap. A transom bench seat unfolds, seemingly from out of nowhere, to give you a place to take a load off. Even better, there’s another bench in the aft end of the leaning-post console, so passengers in the cockpit can face each other and have an actual conversation. Imagine that. The leaning post also has an alfresco galley with a fridge on one side and an electric grill in the aft end. Unfortunately, that cooking area and the seat cannot be used simultaneously, but it’s so easy to fold out the seat, you can say, “Time to eat,” and put it out while everyone holds their plates.

But it’s not all about eating and sitting in the shade. At the helm, a seat specifically for the driver flips up to become a bolster, and it has folding armrests so a hands-on skipper can move in and out to grab a rod with ease. A companion bench is to starboard. The design team has kept the console height in control, so when you’re at the wheel, you feel like you’re in a commanding position, not looking around the side of a fiberglass iceberg. It’s important to see where you’re going when twin Yamaha F300 outboards on the Euro-style transom are reported to push this boat to 43 knots.

So what’s different from the 40-footer? The truth is, for the way most people use center consoles, not much. The bow seating area is a bit smaller. Power-actuated backrests flip forward from either side to support guests who wish to sit facing forward. The bench on the forward end of the console is a seat, not the double chaise longue affair that creates the massive belowdecks headroom on the S 408. And the cabin beneath the center console is really a glorified head compartment that’s not really ready for a long weekend, although it’s a good place for a nap, or a night in a pinch. A smaller boat has fewer amenities. But it may be dialed in to just what you need.

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