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270 CRUISERS WITH 8 FT 5 INCH BEAM
Does a trailer boat like a 260/270 with generator, A/C, Vaccu Flush and every other accessory make a good boat to own, operate and tow?
The legal width limit to tow down the road without some type of permit is 8 Foot 5 Inches. But are you actually going to tow the boat as much as you think? So what does this mean to cruiser buyers? Well it means that you will likely buy up to a 27 foot boat with the thought that it can be towed on a trailer, right? Yes you are right but what does this mean for the boat?
Well a 270 is a nice size starter cruiser or weekender not a yacht. As a matter of fact now a days the size is more apt to be 260. I believe most buyers get into a 260/270 thinking that they will have options. Options that include the ability to tow the boat from location to location and they will save a few bucks in overall cost of ownership. Even I like the thought of not being married to some ones travel lift or crane. Receiving all the benefits of a cruiser with the amenities of a yacht. Is this the right question when you are buying a 260/270 cruiser. The question is why not move up to a 280 or slightly larger with the 10 foot beam for the same kind of money. You may ask yourself what's the big deal in an extra one and a half feet in width. Well ask some one who has owned both sizes they will tell you "the difference is huge"!
I have owned both sizes 8 foot 5 inch and 10 foot beam boats and they are completely different boats. I will use the 260/270 in virtually any make as an example. First off these are not go fast boats or runabouts were the extra space in a cabin really is not as critical. These are boats that you plan to overnight and cruise on. This is all the difference in the world. To keep the beam narrow there are a few design elements I don't like. The first is the hull sides end up feeling and looking very high giving most 270's a tall narrow look. Lets face it in a narrow beam the dead rise in the hull has little space right or left of the center to angle out creating a step V ( manufacturers need to keep that deep V to maintain a lower floor level). The seating in the aft cockpit is a highbred between a runabout and a cruiser. The cabins are too narrow, when two adults have to pass in front of the galley one has to hang out in the head. The same design element that happens on the hull happens on the deck. To create head room the deck becomes high and boxy looking. The v birth seating areas are knee knockers and the aft birth is claustrophobic. New design with its flat decks and all the windows in the hull can create a 260/ 270 that just feels to tight and forced into a size rather than designed to be its own boat. Manufacturers try to keep the same design elements in their cruiser line, so the whole line is recognizable. The 260/270 cruiser in 99% of the cases is everything you want in a starter boat. When builders load up a 260/270 to create a small yacht the boats have a tendency to become strange in the ride department, too heavy to tow and difficult to service. I can give you two stand out examples of this.
Two different builders, two pain in the ass issues. First Off: The 270 Rinker Express which has also shrunk into a 260, how the hell that happens is beyond my comprehension! Any way I picked up a 2001/ 270 Rinker and had to trailer the boat 4 hours on a triple axel trailer with a one ton truck, it was a horrible to tow experience (its so tall and too heavy). This boat was loaded it had every option that Rinker could possibly put on the boat. IMMEDIATLY my biggest problem was the location of the generator on the boat. It is placed near mid ship across the beam. I did not think to much of this until I was putting the boat on the trailer. That extra weight at mid ship seems to give the boat a tetor/totor effect over the center of balance (not very comfortable when loading). This strange balancing act, weight loads the trailer in an interesting way the distribution of weight on the trailer only settles down once the boat is entirely over the trailer (however the boat remains mid heavy, you can see the load on the two front axels). I have towed thousands of boats thousands of miles and this one I wanted to unload at the first rest stop. Right onto the driveway. It was a slow trip and 100 % necessary to remove all the canvas.. I know that trailers need to be set up for your boat but this was a big triple, the transom was right at the end of the trailer bunks and we moved the tower to fit the boat. When I delivered the boat I had to take it for a spin on the lake. I have to say it is a fast 270 Cruiser no doubt. But I found the boat a high rider and the water break on the hull pushed un naturally too far ahead of the center of the boat. The person who was with me commented that for a 270 Rinker this boat really seemed to roll over a lot. Yes it was and the boat even seemed needlessly unstable at the dock. The last thing I noticed before leaving the dock was this boat had the most ridiculous list to the starboard I have ever witnessed. I have since seen other 270 Rinker's with the same list, not as bad but a list all the same and it always seems to be the 270 Rinker's with the generator and all the accessories possible.
The Next boat is a 245 Regal Commodore. The owners of this boat have been plagued with issue from the moment they bought this boat. The one piece automotive style dash has been a piece of junk from day one and everyone including the manufacturer knows it. The dash has never worked for more than a few months before the cluster packs it in (most have been replaced with custom dashes and regular analog gauges). The boat wont back up straight or even close to it. This took some thinking but we figured out why. This boat has a step in the hull and with the loaded version the generator is shoe horned into the aft port side of the engine compartment. Which is itself one of the worst designed access points on a boat I have ever encountered. There is no way to remove the floor without damaging speaker covers (or the speaker if you remove the cover) and the vinyl on the aft bench seat. You have to remove the whole aft deck and aft seat base to service the motor generator and every other piece of equipment that Regal could possibly place in the engine compartment. Any way the boat will only back up to the right no choice. The weight of the generator and the step create a water break and the boat will only move in reverse one way.
When manufacturers build a 8 foot 5 inch beam cruiser they should leave it as it was in the past, a weekender and forget about turning this size boat into a small yacht. I have a friend who has a 270 Bayliner an older one and he loves it is simple and not over stuffed with accessories that are just overkill. So I am not saying that 270 Cruisers are all bad boats. What I am saying is it easy to have a 270 that has way too much in it and on it. You have to remember this is the smallest cruiser out there. You can make a Limo out of a Fiat 500 but its still a Fiat 500. I think manufacturers feel obligated to load everything they sell up with options, despite the fact they don't work well or at all in the limited space. Narrow beam boats are just that narrow if you move up to a 10 foot beam the boat feels like its a half a size bigger. The extra length makes the hull sides feel lower and the extra two feet means that you can do more than change your mind in the cabin. 260 and 270 boats look big when they are at the boat show or on a trailer but once you have to live with one they are small. Step up a little buy a 10 foot beam boat and get a better ride and the room a starter cruiser should have. If you are looking at 260/270 8 foot 5 inch bean look at all the manufacturers ( Larson has a nice 270). Take the time to look at used 270 boats they are bigger no doubt. Always compare a 260/270 to a 280 or larger with a 10 foot beam before you decide. There are always lots of 270 for sale and there is a reason why!
I hope that with the reduction in registered vessels in the US the boat builders will start to explore starter boats again. A nice 260/270 Weekender Cruiser that is exactly that a weekender without all the accessories a simple lower, easy to tow boat that will fit the needs of a boater who is trying to get his or her foot wet in boat ownership. Trailer Boats are trailer boats lets not get overboard about these boats needing every accessory a boat could have.
Author RP
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