Overview
Ranger Boats has built top-shelf fiberglass bass boats for 60 years and tank-tough aluminum craft for more than 10. The new center-console RB210 bay boat is long and broad but boasts a shallow-draft hull rivaling flats boats while bringing more walk-about stability to anglers.
Engine
A Mercury 150 outboard is standard, which we predict would rocket it to 50 mph, but with the Mercury 200 bolted to the transom, top speed is dead-on 60 mph. It rips to 30 mph in just 4.1 seconds and is really on plane the instant the throttle is touched. Its V-bottom pad hull rises out of the water like a performance bass boat. It’s thrifty too: Best cruise is at 30 mph and 3,000 rpm, where the big 200 sips 4.9 gph making a heady 6.1 mpg. If the 40-gallon tank is filled, it’ll take almost 220 miles to empty it, leaving 10 percent in reserve.
Its low freeboard eases bringing fish aboard, and its broad 8-foot-2-inch beam provides a safe, confident feeling on the water. The combination of smooth acceleration and crisp turning makes it easy and fun to drive. Ranger names the mechanics and the effect Broad Beam Stability, and it fits. Ranger designed the pad-V hull to float and plane in very shallow water, so the boat can shine fishing the flats and bayous. It’s also a quiet performer; the foam-filled all-welded hull deadens sound and makes for a solid, rattle-free ride.
Interior and Accessories
The deck layout is purpose-driven. The bow casting deck is dominated by the Minn Kota trolling motor and loads of storage, with twin rod lockers flanking center storage compartments and a recirculating aerated livewell just forward of the step down into the cockpit. The captain steers with hydraulic steering and monitors performance with the standard Ranger System Monitor 7-inch touchscreen display. A Lowrance Eagle 7 graph is standard atop the console.
An upholstered padded leaning post is comfortable yet firm, and it tilts forward to provide access to the livewell. Situated to port and starboard are twin folding jump seats that hide more dry storage underneath; when stowed, the backs of these seats serve to complete the aft casting deck. They flank a 25-gallon aerated livewell. And for long-term easy maintenance, a large bilge hatch provides generous access to the fuel tank and transom rigging.
Read Next: Ranger Alpha 208
How We Tested
- Engine: Mercury 200 Pro XS outboard
- Drive/Prop: Outboard/Mercury Tempest 14.6″ x 22″ 3-blade stainless steel
- Gear Ratio: 1.85:1 Fuel Load: 40 gal. Crew Weight: 250 lb.
High Points
- Rawhide coating—similar to spray-on truck bed liner—on gunwales and throughout the interior provides a tough, lasting finish.roughout the interior provides a tough, lasting finish.
- Foam-filled, all-welded hull provides a smooth, quiet ride.ab rail is sturdy and attractive.
- A trailer weight of less than 4,000 pounds makes it easy to tow behind most midsize SUVs and trucks.
Low Point
- Though maximum capacity is listed as five, its layout is best-suited for two anglers. Adding more crew means utilizing the aft jump seats, positioned low and to the port and starboard of the leaning post.
Toughest Competitor
- Crestliner’s 2000 Bay measures 20 feet, 5 inches in length and 8 feet wide, maxes out with 150 hp, and has a 32-gallon fuel tank. Packaged with a trailer and some options, pricing is in the $50,000 range comparably equipped.
Pricing and Specs
| Price: | $58,465 (as tested) |
| LOA: | 21’10” |
| Beam: | 8’2″ |
| Draft: | 1’1″ |
| Displacement | 2,370 lb. (without engine) |
| Transom Deadrise: | NA |
| Fuel Capacity: | 40 gal. |
| Max Horsepower: | 200 |
| Available Power: | Mercury outboards to 200 |
Speed, Efficiency, Operation
Ranger Boats – Flippin, Arkansas; rangerboats.com
