Cutwater's Long Awaited 24 Outboard

One year ago, I stood dumbfounded aboard the Cutwater 24 Solara at the Seattle Boat Show.  The boat was visually stunning and featured a fully enclosed cabin with a comfortable rear cockpit.  The 24 Solara on display was equipped with a gas inboard/outboard engine.  

At the same time, there was a 24 Solara powered by a Yamaha F300 outboard on display at the Toronto Boat Show.  I knew that the outboard version was going to be a smash hit with our boaters in Maine.  The 24 Solara reminded me of a saying from a wise old salt I know.  He said:

"You know Dan...folks always want the same things in a boat.  They want it to go fast, they want it to be big, and they want it cheap.  You can certainly get one of those things...you may even find two of the three, but you ain't gonna ever get all three!"

Well, if this boat did as well on the water as it did in the Seattle Convention Center, I was going to prove that old man wrong!

Well...history would side for the old man.

Preliminary orders for the boat were record breaking, but as is often the case in the boat building world...the hull and deck needed some tweaks.  It would take another year to achieve Cutwater's full satisfaction related to performance, handling, and comfort.

Where many builders might have pulled the plug on the project, Cutwater steamed on ahead.  They employed massive resources to ensure that the Cutwater 24 customer would get more for their money.

Here are a couple of spy photos of the new and improved Cutwater 24 Outboard that is testing at 46 MPH with three passengers, full fuel, and water:

One of the perks of my job is that I get to do some pretty sweet boat stuff.  I'm travelling to Seattle later this month with my wife, Katie, and some of my favorite customers to seatrial one of the first production Cutwater 24s.  We've already pre-ordered a couple for customers and one will be on display in our booth at the New England Boat Show in Boston next month.

The new and improved Cutwater 24 will change the cruising game in Maine.  I anticipate that early orders for this will be huge, so if you think you might want one this season...contact Hamlin's right off!