How do you feel about seeing a bow rider profiled in Canadian Yachting magazine…does it strike you as odd? Canadian Yachting normally focuses on boats with onboard cooking and sleeping accommodations but, new ideas and new designs are coming out all the time.
We have seen a steady design evolution among express cruisers emphasizing the cockpit and bridge as a kind of marine “family room” on a boat that hopefully performs like a runabout. Here, we are coming at the same idea from the opposite direction with an oversized runabout that delivers a huge living area.
To be clear, we aren't putting the Larson LXi288 forward as a cruiser. It has no cooking facilities and no onboard sleeping accommodations, but this bow rider is 9 feet wide and almost 30 feet long. It absolutely has the size and performance to tackle offshore conditions or the Great Lakes. Consider too, that it weighs less than 6,500 pounds so; you could trailer this boat if you had a big enough vehicle and these days, many people do.
The idea here is a spacious big boat that can cover a distance in a hurry, taking you from the trailer or a dry slip storage facility to a marina and hotel or bed-and-breakfast instead of anchoring out and sleeping onboard. It has an enclosed head and spacious accommodations. As the details unfold, you may see some exciting possibilities.
The center line length is 29'2" on a 9 foot beam and with an offshore-ready 24° of deadrise to deliver a smooth ride yet, the wake is small enough that most people would have no difficulty skiing behind this boat.
Cruising range is good because it carries a fuel capacity of 100 gallons. In addition, the boat carries 12 1/2 gallons of fresh water and can handle 20 gallons of waste in the holding tank.
The styling is low and sleek with a sheer line that sweeps down to the water across the swim platform. A fiberglass cover conceals the fold-down stainless steel boarding ladder and there is a remote control for the stereo, drink holders in the sun pad, stainless steel rails and a ski tow eye.
The full width sun pad across the engine box covers large lockers on either side with a removable centre cushion that covers a walk-through. This all lifts on gas struts for engine access. Large storage areas on either side of the engine are very useful and service access is excellent.
Our test boat was equipped with Volvo Penta’s 8.1Gi engine and Duo Prop drive. This drive has two inline counter rotating stainless steel propellers. The drive delivers tremendous thrust, really hangs on in the turns and yet torque forces cancel each other out, delivering light responsive steering.
More on performance in a minute. Let's get into the main interior accommodations.
The wrap around aft seat creates a living / dining area to equal many express cruisers. A removable picnic table adds to the versatility and there is substantial storage under the seats. Larson includes a removable cooler on the starboard side.
To increase versatility, an owner could get a portable 12 volt cooler and portable barbecue. Your dealer can mount a base on the swim platform and you are set for all day entertaining because Larson included the fully enclosed head.
This is under the dash ahead of the companion seat and is sitting height only but it does have a porthole for ventilation, a sink in a vanity, toilet roll holder and a permanently mounted MSD.
The bow area is also well equipped with hand rails, drink holders and more storage. Larson has included another table base as well as filler cushions to make this into a big tanning bed. They also included a proper anchor and locker. Dropping the hook in a secluded bay is what this boat is all about.
We liked the deck-mounted docking lights, making things a lot easier when you come home after dark.
Coming home after dark is my segue into the helm and navigation discussion. We're presenting this boat to you as a cruising possibility but because Larson sees it as a family performance boat, they designed it with a sport oriented helm. The array of analog gauges is set into the dashboard, tightly grouped in front of the driver. There is a steeply-raked wraparound glass windshield with side wings, the Volvo Penta control is side mounted and the driving position features good ergonomics with an angled foot rest, tilt steering wheel and multiway adjustable swivel helm seat. This includes a flip up bolster so you can see over the windshield for better vision when running at night. The seat has thick padding and can slide back so you can drive from a standing position in really rough water.
What you don't have at the helm is room for navigation equipment. So, to cruise new waters, you would want a depth sounder and a chart plotter system. Luckily, either one could be mounted on the companion side on the fixed part of the dashboard above the head. This way, the driver could look across at the display but normally, your companion would be the navigator.
We mentioned that you could cover some real distance in this boat. The Volvo Penta 8.1 liter Gi stern drive has 375 horsepower and the Duo Prop drive helped the boat to stay planed down to a leisurely 2500 rpm cruising at 23 mph. For planning off a heavy load or for water ski duties, The Larson LXi288 accelerated to planing speeds in 5.23 seconds and reached 30 mph in just over seven seconds.
The single engine will be fairly fuel-efficient in spite of its size and horsepower because the hull design really lifts and rides easily. Picking up the pace, this boat will be comfortable at 3000 doing 31 mph and if the weather conditions allow, you can cruise at 3500 rpm doing 36.3 mph, still probably achieving fairly good fuel economy.
If fuel economy is not your thing perhaps you would enjoy running 4900 rpm at the impressive top speed of 52.3 mph. Even at that speed, the boat was soft riding and very controllable. It has the sporty responses of a much smaller runabout and the handling really inspires confidence at the helm. Plus, you can dock this easily.
Larson offers a welded aluminum arch with which would be perfect for aerials and radar equipment and it serves as a mounting point for some of the canvas options which include the Bimini top and full curtains option.
While living onboard is great fun, I would prefer to cruise this boat down the Trent Severn, staying in hotels and B&Bs and doing some skiing or even fishing along the way.
I think you can see that we really liked Larson's LXi288 and felt that its combination of design, performance, cruising capabilities and surprisingly reasonable price, delivers a unique range of possibilities to new boat buyers.
Always nice to have choices!
To see if this boat is available, go to http://www.boatcan.com to check listings.