VIDEO: Pursuit’s all-purpose center console
Posted on 14 July 2011
Written by Chris Landry
Some boatbuilders are using words such as "crossover," "hybrid" and "multifunction" to describe their new models. Take Pursuit, for instance.
"It's built to be a great crossover boat for whatever offshore or inshore activity you want to do," Pursuit Boats marketing manager David Glenn says of the new ST 310. "There is a bit of a transition away from the real hard-core fishing [center console]."
You can do pretty much anything you want to do with this boat — fish, dive, swim, tow water-toy riders, take a dinner cruise.
Dim lights
Click here to watch the ST 310 under way as Glenn describes its workings.
The most noticeable differences between the ST 310 and a standard center console are the ample cushioned seating and the console’s extension to the starboard gunwale, allowing for a two-person companion settee.
I examined the boat and took it for a short ride during a recent Yamaha press event in Florida. The dark-colored helm reduces glare, and there's lots of real estate for flush-mounted electronics. You could fit two 12- or 14-inch displays here. The standard hardtop offers more coverage than a typical center console, extending outboard to the gunwales.
I saw many examples of the Fort Pierce, Fla., builder's top-notch workmanship and fit and finish. Most impressive was the nicely finished console door, which is held open by a mammoth stainless-steel gas lift. The area housed a head and an optional scuba tank holder.
In addition to the fiberglass hardtop, noteworthy standard equipment includes a windlass, fresh- and saltwater systems, a slide-out refrigerator, trim tabs with indicator, and a forward fiberglass table with a Corian insert that receives a sunpad filler cushion. A 20-gallon live well in the helm seat console, four flush-mounted stainless-steel gunwale rod holders in the cockpit, folding rod racks under the bow seats, and an in-deck fishbox round out the standard fishing equipment.
The builder hand-lays the solid fiberglass bottom and uses balsa as a core for the hull sides above the waterline, Glenn says. The stringer system, transom, hardtop, and various hatches and deck parts are resin-infused, he says.
The demo boat was powered with twin V-6 Yamaha F300s. Cruising at 29.6 mph, she has a range of 400 miles, using 90 percent of the 260-gallon fuel capacity. Ocean5 Naval Architects carried out the naval architecture and engineering for the ST 310.
Climbing out of the hole, I could see the horizon while seated at the helm, an indication of minimal bow rise. It tracked straight, and I felt in control during high-speed turns.
With the twin F300s the Pursuit ST 310's base price is $230,000. Contact: Pursuit, (772) 465-6006, www.pursuitboats.com
