Beam: 8’4″
Dry Weight: 3,500 lb.
Seating/Weight Capacity: 11/1,550 lb.
Fuel Capacity: 40 gal.
More Information: cobaltboats.com
We Say: When does size not matter? When a boatbuilder uses many of the same amenities found on its bigger vessels on the smallest craft in its lineup. Take the Cobalt 200 — and in particular the 200S version we tested — which possesses fit and finish comparable to all of Cobalt’s runabouts.
The “S” in the name stands for Cobalt’s sport cockpit layout option. The standard 200 has a rear-facing chaise lounge configuration with a rear-facing backrest on the port console. The S-package consists of forward-facing seating in front of the port console. But the backrest is adjustable so that it can be converted to a rear-facing lounge or fully reclined for a sun pad.
One of my favorite features is the signature flip-down swim step on the extended swim platform. It makes reboarding from the water a nonissue.
The construction has notable attributes like a Kevlar-reinforced hull and graphics molded into the gelcoat. The most impressive thing is Cobalt’s Free Space Reclamation (FSR) process, which engineers the hull and deck in the mold to create an extra foot of interior width in the cockpit.
The deep-V hull with 20-degree transom deadrise and an extended running surface help the boat handle seas and achieve a near-44 mph top end, plane in 4.6 seconds and hit 30 mph in 9.8 seconds. — Pete McDonald
Who’d Want One: Family boaters looking for a high-quality bowrider.
Another Choice: Check out the Regal 2100 ($52,615 with a 225 hp Volvo Penta V-8 SX sterndrive), which features Regal’s FasTrac stepped hull.
Bottom Line: $55,643; cobaltboats.com
