Parker Offshore’s 23 SE provides all-fiberglass construction, Yamaha F250 outboard power, plus an optional factory-rigged 36-volt MotorGuide trolling motor and 10-foot Power-Pole.

To enhance performance, the builder modified the existing shallow-draft SE hull design with two added lifting strakes, improving planing and rough-water ­handling.

A 6-second rip to 30 mph and a 48 mph top speed add fun and confidence at sea. At its most economical cruising speed of 25 mph and 3,500 rpm, the 23 SE can make over 300 miles with reserve fuel. In our tests, it sliced and diced the heavy stuff while keeping the crew dry and ­comfortable.

In the bow, a well-designed anchor locker houses deep and finished anchor stowage, plus access to the trolling-motor plug. The optional V-seating in the bow, which can be added during the build or after boat is purchased, has ample storage underneath the twin facing bench seats.

The center console features a folding cushioned seat over a built-in insulated cooler up front. The optional black powder-­coated T-top hardtop is fitted with speakers to complete the Wet Sounds stereo option. There’s also a built-in electronics box overhead for radios and gear. The dash panel spans the entire console and can be ordered and fitted with several different Garmin graph packages. 

Underneath the console is a small cabin with a portable head, and access to rigging and battery chargers for house and trolling-motor batteries. A standard leaning-­post pilot’s seat provides the ­stability and cushion for rough-water running.

Belowdecks, there’s a 14-gallon freshwater washdown tank for the stern-mounted freshwater shower. Twin rear seats house an underseat cooler on the port side and dry storage to starboard. There’s a cool (optional) splashwell insert to close up the stern area, making it harder for backwash to come aboard the aft deck. Delete it for a roomier cockpit. The Yamaha 250 is the Parker 23 SE’s largest available engine, and it makes this hull perform whether conditions are serene or severe.

High Points

• Optional bow seating adds comfort and an elevated platform for casting a net.
• Abaft, the optional splashwell bulkhead closes the transom from backwash. 
• Easy-access side panel houses battery main breakers and on/off switches. 

How We Tested

• Engine: Yamaha F250 four-stroke
• Drive/Prop: Outboard/Yamaha Saltwater Series II 15.5″ x 16″
• Gear Ratio: 1.75:1 Fuel Load: 109 gal. Crew Weight: 400 lb.

Pricing and Specs

The post 2025 Parker Offshore 23 SE appeared first on Boating Mag.

Overview

We’ve known Parker Boats for decades as no-nonsense, able, modified-V fishing and utility boats with sweet Carolina lines. The company began with Linwood Parker’s 25-foot Sou’wester open workboat in the early 1970s.

Fast-forward to 2019. Linwood and Trudy Parker sold the company to Correct Craft, which recognized the value of that dedicated local workforce and expanded the capabilities of the Beaufort plant while blending in its strong manufacturing traditions. The parent company also changed the name to Parker Offshore and continued to offer the classic 18- to 25-foot Special Edition (SE) line for inshore ­customers, while also heading into some new territory.

Newer deep-V models offer more family features while retaining the fundamental Parker DNA. Structural integrity is assured thanks to full inner hull liners bonded onto foam-filled composite stringer grids. The flagship is the 2900 CC, which we had an opportunity to shake out on the blustery open waters of the lower Chesapeake Bay. We came away feeling that Parker Offshore’s future is true to its heritage and bright.

Interior and Accessories

The base 2900 CC comes with U-shaped bow seating and a ­double-wide lounge with armrests and cavernous dry storage in front of the console, including a large dry hold in the sole. Upholstery is now diamond-stitched, with upgraded foam material inside. The forward-facing seatbacks ($1,121) and a removable bow casting platform/sun pad with cushion ($1,814) are optional, as is a double-wide folding transom seat built on a sturdy, easy-folding frame ($2,095). Also optional is a fiberglass T-top with electronics box, courtesy lights, LED spreader lights, Wet Sounds speaker pods ($1,899 upgrade available), windshield, and four-rod powder-coated rocket ­launchers ($9,995). There’s a standard stainless-steel anchor chute, with a windlass and 300 feet of ­anchor rode optional ($2,270).

The helm seat offers folding bolsters. There’s also aft mezzanine seating with three tackle drawers inside (one converts to a trash can), plus a seatback that folds down to become a rigging table and tackle center with gear ­storage ($2,130). Underneath the seat lies an insulated cooler for drinks and food (or rigging for a backup livewell). The Marine Mat cockpit sole covering ($2,284) is easy on the feet.

Inside the 2900 CC’s console, you’ll find a 5-foot-1-inch-high space for a portable flushing head with a macerator and dockside pump-out ($764). It also offers excellent access to the electronics inside the broad helm dashboard. (We’d like to see lighting and positive ventilation for the head, and maybe a full marine toilet with holding tank.) Outside, that dash provides space for electronics up to a single 16-inch Garmin GPSMap 8616 XSV ­multifunction display and B60 transducer, with VHF 115 and antenna ($11,910) or a pair of 12-inch Garmin GPSMap 8612 XSV and B60 with VHF 115 and antenna ($15,842), in addition to Yamaha’s Helm Master autopilot and joystick ($13,250). Options such as Garmin radar ($2,094 to $2,931) and SiriusXM weather ($1,351) are also available.

In addition to the optional folding seat, the full transom offers a 270-quart fish box, a transom door to starboard, and a 40-gallon livewell to port. The transom door leads to the outboard bracket’s full-width boarding/swim platform with a folding telescopic ladder. To port, immediately forward of the livewell, is a dive door with another telescoping ladder. Additional storage for fish or gear in the cockpit includes port and starboard 200-quart in-sole fish boxes with macerators. Parker offers a ­variety of fishing upgrades such as Gemlux outriggers and a rod-holder-mounted Docktail utility table. A bow-mounted electric positioning motor would be a dealer-installed option, integrated into the boat’s Yamaha/Garmin wiring harness. With all of the fishing features listed above, we’d like to see more factory rod holders and rod-storage options, though any Parker dealer with a good rigging shop should be able to customize the 2900 CC’s open layout for any individual owner’s angling needs. Adaptability has always been a Parker strength.

The 2900 CC comes standard with trim tabs. We strongly recommend that ­owners learn to adjust running angles in varying ­conditions to cushion this boat’s ride. Think of the tabs and the engines’ trim especially to tailor fore-and-aft trim to existing conditions and side-to-side trim in windy conditions with quartering or beam seas and wind.

Engines

Performance with the twin 300 hp ­Yamahas proved impressive, especially the fuel efficiency. Top speed in breezy conditions maxed at 57 mph, but efficiency peaked at 27.25 mph, netting us better than 2 mpg. For comparison, we remember running a Boating sea trial back in the late 1990s of a 24-foot walkaround boat with a single, conventional 225 hp two-stroke V-6 outboard, both from major manufacturers. It cruised in the mid-20s and topped out around 40 mph. Its fuel-economy profile looked like the 2900 CC’s, with a much smaller, lighter hull and lower cruising and top speeds. Boats have come a long way! 

In the end, the Parker 2900 CC is a big, brawny, classic-looking Carolina center-­console with abundant family features, but plenty of strength to take on bluewater ­challenges as well.

Read Next: Parker 2200 CC

How We Tested 

• Engines: Twin 300 hp Yamaha V-6 outboards
• Drive/Prop: Outboard/15″ x 20″ Saltwater Series II-SDS 3-blade stainless steel
• Gear Ratio: 1.75:1 Fuel Load: 180 gal. Water Load: 0 gal. Crew Weight: 600 lb. 

High Points

• There’s 5 feet, 1 inch of headroom, a marine toilet, and great access to electronics inside the console.
• MarineMat atop the console cushions phones and glasses and helps hold them in place.
• Versatile tackle center with work surface resides abaft the mezzanine seatback.
• Excellent fuel efficiency for a boat of this size and power.

Low Points

• Needs more rod-holder capacity.
• How do you mount the windshield wiper?

Pricing and Specs

Speed, Efficiency, Operation

The post Boat Test: 2024 Parker Offshore 2900 CC appeared first on Boating Mag.

Every once in a while, though, we come across a model that has remained in a builder’s line for a significant length of time, because its enduring value continues to attract customers. This winter, four of these long established “modern classics” put us to thinking about what characteristics contribute to their continuing appeal. Here they are:

Everglades 243 CC

In 2004, BOATING tested hull #4 of the brand-new Everglades 243cc, the first “hybrid bay boat” that could run shallow inshore but still handle big seas offshore. It was impressive then and still is, eighteen years and 1,400 hulls later, judging by a new one we ran recently in sporty big-water seas on the lower Chesapeake. We asked David Brown, Vice President of Product Development & Engineering why Everglades Boats still offers it. “It’s the ride and the variable-deadrise hull shape,” he explained.  “We build 70-80 243cc’s each year because demand remains strong. It’s sort of a cult boat.” 

Even so, Everglades adds features as they become available. Everglades Founder Bob Dougherty designed the 243cc for Yamaha’s original 225-hp four-stroke outboard, which powered our 2004 tester. Today’s engine is the F300, which offers more power on less fuel, plus Helm Master EX electronic steering and controls, with autopilot and joystick. The original canvas T-top has morphed into a composite hardtop with VHF and storage box, stereo speakers, life jacket storage, rod holders, and a ski pylon. The optional Fishing Package includes a T-and-H Atlas jackplate, an 8’ Power Pole shallow water anchor, and a 36-volt Minn Kota iPilot bow mount trolling motor. For sight fishing, a full upper steering station is available with controls and electronics. A pair of transom lifting platforms, built separately and foam-filled, bolt on for added buoyancy, lift, and a base for the PowerPole. 

Other upgrades include lighted stereo speakers, SeaDek pads, a Yeti on a slide under the helm seat, and Garmin electronics. Everglades engineers monitor updates to the systems standards promulgated by the American Boat & Yacht Council (ABYC) and the National Marine Manufacturers Association (NMMA).  For example, the three 12-volt trolling motor batteries fit into a bow compartment on mounts that must pass an ABYC pull test. After eighteen years, the Everglades 243cc remains a safe, seaworthy rig, an investment whose working lifespan measures in generations rather than years. It endures because it works.

Parker Offshore 21SE and 23SE

While Parker Offshore is now a division of Correct Craft, the boats are still built in Beaufort, NC by the same people who did so under Parker family ownership. The company adds Offshore to its name, but the 21SE and 23SE (Special Edition) models are simple and tough, with shallow drafts, true to Linwood Parker’s inshore workboat roots. Developed around 2004, the hull forms are 2^nd generation modified-Vs, with 14-degree running bottoms. The deadrise flows evenly from the transom to a sharp forefoot, with classic Carolina bow flare and sheerline. The chines turn up gradually to follow the sheer.

The hulls are rock-stable at rest but lift easily onto plane at speeds in the low teens. As the designer told us in a phone conversation, “Running outside, it’s all in how you use the boat [adjust speed to the seas].  She’s got a nice bottom and enough weight to ride well. The rising sheer and the flare mean the bow can’t go down into a sea without creating resistance. The flare peels water off, increasing buoyancy.”  Trim tabs recessed into the hull bottom are standard on the 23SE and optional on the 21SE. They are especially valuable for dialing in fore-and-aft trim while adjusting speed to fit sea conditions. 

To ensure self-bailing, the cockpit includes a carefully crowned deck an inch higher in the center, with scuppers 3” above the waterline. To prevent clogging, stainless grates cover the scuppers with one-way flaps at the transom. The hull’s interior provides 19-21” cockpit depth for bracing legs.

The Special Edition models do not have inner liners, which saves weight and cost while offering under-gunwale horizontal rod racks with toerails and showing off Parker’s strong hull-to-deck shoebox joint fastened with adhesive but also through-bolted with washers and stopnuts. A forward casting deck is optional, but light tackle guides operating in rough coastal waters often do without, allowing casters in the bow to stand lower and brace against the coaming. The 23SE offers 65” headroom in the console for a portable toilet.

These SE models were designed for Yamaha’s original F150 (21SE) and F225 (23SE). The efficiency of the hull form, however, has allowed the 23SE to run very well with the more-recently introduced F200, which keeps both the price and fuel burn low. Mike Patrick, Parker’s National Sales Manager, tells us the greatest demand for the 21SE and 23SE comes from anglers and families in the open waters of New England and the Chesapeake Bay (where they are favorites of several of this writer’s friends). Between the standard features and options, SE boats offer “Everything you need, nothing you don’t.” 

Pathfinder 2200 TRS

The 2200 TRS is the modern version of the original Pathfinder, introduced in 1998. The company adapted the hull from the Maverick 21 Master Angler, using the same running surface (which also survives today as the Redfisher 21 under the company’s sister brand, Hewes). “Around 2008,” Pathfinder’s longtime Director of Sales and Marketing Charlie Johnson told us, “we substituted a 25” transom to raise the topsides and create more distance between the cockpit floor and drains, improving self-bailing capability while adding just enough additional hull volume to offset the weight of four-stroke outboards.” He noted that 55% of 2200s go out rigged with Yamaha’s F200s and 35% with F150s.  Performance is excellent with both engines, which have well-deserved reputations for longevity and fuel efficiency. A few equipped with jackplates and F250s go to the Texas coastal bays.             

Also around 2008, Pathfinder added seats and storage under the stern deck, improved rigging access, and enlarged the anchor locker. The company relocated the hinges on the lids of the bow storage compartments to the forward edges for easier loading of rods (check Charlie’s 2200 TRS video on the Pathfinder web site). In 2012, they added under-gunwale rod racks, front access to the console, and a toe-kick under the console. “Cockpit drainage and access changes have been the big ones. “All of the changes to the 2200 over the years have been 100% based on experience with the boat by customers, dealers, and Pathfinder staff,” Charlie added. “My family owns a 2200. We do everything with it, offshore runs on good days for sailfish, water sports, sand bar picnics, sunset cruises. Cushions on the recessed forward lounges and grab rails beside them allow two passengers to ride facing forward on social trips. 

“It’s a good sea boat [this correspondent remembers running one of the originals through 4-5’ seas in Ft. Pierce Inlet in 1998]. Pick your days, know your boat, and pay attention. You’ll do fine. I don’t know if there’s a more successful family boat for utility and ease of use. The evolution of the 2200 comes from our being on the boats through the years and thinking about how to make ‘em better. It’s still our highest-selling boat.”

Read Next: The Future of Boat Design

Key West 1720 CC

“Our most popular model, year after year since 1992,” proclaims the Key West website. “It just fits,” said Tom Marlowe, longtime Director of Sales at Key West, with a smile, “fits your budget, fits your fuel bill, fits your tow vehicle, fits your family, fits your needs, fits your garage (in case your HOA doesn’t allow boats parked outdoors).” There has always (or at least for sixty years) been something special about 17’ center console skiffs that could go shallow or safely handle wide, choppy coastal bays. The Key West 1720 CC remains a worthy example of the breed.

We had a chance to live with one back in 1997, when Suzuki made it available to show off its then-new 70-hp four-stroke. It carried that engine well, but Key West rebalanced it around 2006, Marlowe told us, to carry 90-hp four-strokes better. The company shifted the battery from the starboard stern quarter to the console, moved fuel tank forward 4”, and increased its capacity from 31 to 40 gallons. “The most popular power has always been a 90,” he said, but a 70 is adequate for many uses.” The current 1720 CC has the same running bottom as its predecessor in 1992. 

Key West Boats believes in the enduring quality and seaworthiness of the 1720 CC enough to enter it each year in the Florida Skiff Challenge, a grueling, 1,300-mile circumnavigation of the Florida peninsula.  “She comes through just fine,” said Marlowe. (We note that his son Mike is one of the skippers). Trim tabs are optional on the 1720 CC “but generally not needed,” Marlowe added. The boat planes around 18 mph with a 90-hp engine and no tabs, tops out at 40. With a 70 (the horsepower limit, by the way, for the Skiff Challenge), it planes a little lower (and even lower with tabs) and tops out in the low 30s. The former would be the choice for lakes and calm coastal bays, the latter for broader, rougher open waters. 

When the time came for a new mold in 2016, Marlowe told us, the designers raised the topsides and cockpit sole 2” so the boat would self-bail with people aboard. They modified the console to accommodate flush-mount electronics, rounded the corners there and on the windshield, and softened the lines. The 1720 is now available with wiring for a bow-mount electric motor, dual batteries, and an on-board charger. Most buyers are serious fishermen, but plenty still buy the 1720 CC for general family use, sunset cruises, dock n’ dine trips, and sandbar visits. For all of these uses, it just fits.

Conclusions

So what factors build the enduring appeal of these modern classics?  Here’s what we found:

• All of them are versatile, open utility boats, ready for their owners to fit them to various water activities.
• Each is efficient enough for light tackle and fly-fishing that guides own and use them with clients.
• Each is a “little big boat”, an overachiever that is seaworthy for its size, with an engineered self-draining cockpit.
• Two (the Pathfinder and the Key West) have survived the transition from two-stroke to four-stroke outboards with modifications, including weight balance, higher topsides, and cockpit soles for self-draining.
• The others (the Everglades and the Parkers) were designed around original four-strokes in the early 2000s.
• They are relatively simple in layout, though options like lounges are optional on some. Only one (the Parker 23SE) offers enough headroom in the console (65”) for a toilet. People have for centuries found ways to work around that perceived limitation.
• All are economical to run.
• They are sturdy and well built.
• They are easy to maintain.
• They are trailerable with compact to standard SUVs and pickups.
• They hold their value; some family boats are passed down from generation to generation because they are so generally useful and, for that reason, well loved. They simply make sense.

The post Four Modern Classics appeared first on Boating Mag.

Parker Boats has always had a reputation for being a fisherman’s hardcore boat, but this boat has a new twist. We have comfort built onboard with the transom seat that folds down, double bolsters on the helm seat with flip down armrests, a lounge on the front of the console and even lounges on the storage boxes at the bow.

The post 2023 Parker 26CC appeared first on Boating Mag.

Overview

A glance at Parker’s 2200 CC reveals the strength, simplicity and seaworthiness of this boat’s Carolina roots. We stepped aboard and discovered robust functionality borne of a builder with big-water experience.

Interior and Accessories

Raised bow compartments to port and starboard provide seating and dry storage upfront. Both are insulated to double as fish boxes. A pedestal table fills the gap in between to form a raised casting deck, and it also rises to turn the bow into social seating.

The 36-inch-wide console has a roomy head compartment inside, and seating for two in the front features a backrest and a cooler designed to also serve as a livewell. The business side offers sufficient real estate for all must-have electronics, including a pair of 10-inch multifunction displays. Should you run out of mounting space, the optional hardtop package includes an overhead electronics box.

An aluminum leaning post affords standard helm seating for the skipper and a companion, but Parker offers an upgraded version featuring flip-up bolsters and a fiberglass module that incorporates tackle storage to port, plus a larger 33-gallon livewell and a pair of flush-mount rod holders in back. Removable transom seats add comfort or can be stowed to increase space. 

Rod storage consists of four flush-mount rod holders on the covering boards, two more on the optional fiberglass leaning post, and a four-rod rocket launcher as part of the optional hardtop package. Hiding behind a pair of removable jump seats, transom doors on opposite aft corners provide direct access to twin swim platforms to port and starboard, and also make it easier to bring aboard trophy fish.

Engine

The single Yamaha F250 proved an excellent match for the 2200 CC, which displayed nimble responsiveness during a number of maneuvers, and exhibited the desired power and quickness on the straightaways, rushing from zero to 30 mph in 9.4 seconds, and flirting with 49 mph at wide-open throttle. At 3,500 rpm, the Parker achieved its best fuel efficiency, running at 28 mph while burning a scant 9.3 gph.

How We Tested

• Engine: Single Yamaha F250
• Drive/Prop: Outboard/Yamaha Saltwater Series II 15.5″ x 17″ 3-blade stainless steel
• Gear Ratio: 1.75:1 Fuel Load: 79 gal. Water Load: NA Crew Weight: 450 lb.

High Points

• Console houses a large compartment with room for a portable head.
• Helm has enough real estate for dual 10-inch MFDs and other essential electronics.
• Two transom doors make it a cinch to take a dip or boat gaffed fish on both sides of the boat.

Low Points 

• Undergunwale racks for rods are not available. 
• Dry storage/fish-box capacity is somewhat limited.
• Less dedicated tackle storage than other boats in this size class.

Toughest Competitor

The Sailfish 220 CC ($86,950 powered by a Yamaha F200) is rated for less power, carries more fuel and rides a deeper V—a 22- to 24-degree variable deadrise hull form, which Sailfish calls VDS.

Pricing and Specs

Speed, Efficiency, Operation

Parker Boats – Beaufort, North Carolina; 252-728-5621; parkerboats.com

The post 2022 Parker 2200 CC appeared first on Boating Mag.

Strength, simplicity and seaworthiness are the driving forces behind every Parker model, and a glance at the new 2200 CC quickly reveals its Carolina roots.

Raised compartments port and starboard provide seating and dry storage upfront. Both are insulated to double as fish boxes. A pedestal table fills the gap between the bow seats to form a raised casting deck, and it also rises to turn the front of the boat into a scenic picnic area.

The 36-inch-wide console has a roomy head compartment inside, and seating for two in the front with a backrest and a cooler designed to also serve as a livewell. The business side offers sufficient real estate for all must-have electronics, including a pair of 10-inch multifunction displays. Should you run out of mounting space, the optional hardtop package includes an overhead electronics box.

An aluminum leaning post affords standard helm seating for the skipper and a companion, but Parker offers an upgraded version featuring flip-up bolsters and a fiberglass module that incorporates tackle storage to port, plus a larger 33-gallon livewell and a pair of flush-mount rod holders in back.

Rod storage consists of four flush-mount rod holders on the covering boards, two more on the optional fiberglass leaning post, and a four-rod rocket launcher as part of the optional hardtop package. Hiding behind a pair of removable jump seats, transom doors on opposite aft corners provide direct access to twin swim platforms to port and starboard, and also make it easier to bring aboard trophy fish.

The single Yamaha F250 on the test Parker proved an excellent match for the 2200 CC, which remained nimble and responsive during a number of turns and maneuvers, and exhibited the desired power and quickness on the straightaways, rushing from zero to 30 mph in 9.4 seconds, and flirting with 49 mph at wide-open throttle. At 3,500 rpm, the Parker achieved its best fuel efficiency, running at 28 mph while burning a scant 9.3 gph.

High Points

• The hull’s V-shape, with its tall bow and flare, is perfect for taming a considerable chop.
• Console houses a large compartment inside (5 feet, 2 inches of headroom) for a portable toilet or extra storage.
• Helm has enough real estate for dual 10-inch MFDs and other essential electronics.
• Two transom doors make it a cinch to take a dip or boat gaffed fish on both sides of the boat.

How We Tested

• Engine: Single Yamaha F250
• Drive/Prop: Outboard/Yamaha Saltwater Series II 15.5″ diameter x 17” pitch 3-blade stainless steel
• Gear Ratio: 1.75:1 Fuel Load: 79 gal. Water Load: NA Crew Weight: 450 lb.

Specs

Parker Boats – Beaufort, North Carolina; 252-728-5621; parkerboats.com

The post 2022 Parker 2200 CC appeared first on Boating Mag.

Overview

Parker Boats has built shallow-draft boats for inshore guides for years. Now the Parker team has poured that experience into a sophisticated, versatile new offering—the 26SH (Sport Hybrid). At 26 feet, 6 inches length overall with a 9-foot-6-inch beam and 17-degree transom deadrise, the new boat matches very well with a jack-plate-mounted Yamaha F300 to produce a classy-looking shallow-water fishing machine that can also take a family to the sandbar.

No, the 26SH is probably not the best choice to run offshore, but it’s plenty able to jig on nearshore wrecks and reefs. Add Taco Grand Slam outriggers to the T-top, and single or dual power poles for the flats.

We liked the way this roomy hull rose onto plane and ran with its sharp forward sections just kissing the water to carve what swell we could find. It throws spray straight out to the sides. There’s plenty of speed when needed, but we also found that the 26SH could slow down to the teens and stay on plane if needed for truly nasty conditions. It comes standard with 10-by-14-inch Lenco trim tabs for fine-tuning the ride. On the drift, it exhibited great stability.

Interior and Accessories

Hatches are finished on both sides and bolted to stainless-steel friction hinges over properly gasketed gutters. Hardware throughout is fastened with bolts, washers, and locknuts. I found fantastic access to wiring, plumbing and the through-hull transducer (Garmin B60 or B150), as well as easy-to-reach bronze seacocks and electronics (Garmin 8612 or 8616 with VHF and Fusion stereo). There is plenty of room inside for a full-size human to sit comfortably on the portable toilet, and dedicated space for up to five batteries. Placing them in the console helps keep the hull well-balanced.

Parker’s new 26SH enters a growing field of high-quality 26- to 27-foot bay boats built to both fish and entertain families. Its stability, interior space and spirited performance will certainly satisfy the latter mission, but true to its heritage, its forte is fishing.

How We Tested

• Engine: 300 hp Yamaha
• Drive/Prop: Outboard/15.5″ x 17″ Saltwater Series II SDS 3-blade
• Gear Ratio: 1.75:1 Fuel Load: 40 gal. Water on Board: 0 gal. Crew Weight: 400 lb.

High Points

• Huge casting platforms bow and stern, plus twin livewells.
• Tilt-out tackle boxes under the gunwales.
• Large, cushioned seat with fold-down back under the stern platform.
• Good access to neatly arranged wiring, plumbing and pumps.

Low Points

• Rod stowage maxes out at 7 feet, 6 inches. Want fly rods? Hang them under the T-top.
• Only head option is a portable toilet without pump-out.
• Forward platform Comfort Package lounges are not secure if the boat is underway.

Toughest Competitors

Regulator’s 26XO ($139,995 with Yamaha F300) is similar in dimensions but about 1,000 pounds heavier, with similar fishing features, more seating, and forward lounges available for the bow platform. Pathfinder’s 2600 TRS (about $125,000 comparably equipped with a Yamaha F300) is narrower (8 feet, 10 inches) and about 800 pounds lighter, with a stepped hull, 18 degrees of transom deadrise, and lower fuel capacity (70 gallons).

Pricing and Specs

Speed, Efficiency, Operation

Parker Boats – Beaufort, North Carolina; 252-728-5621; parkerboats.com

The post 2020 Parker Boats 26 SH appeared first on Boating Mag.