Smooth, Safe & Unsinkable: Boston Whaler 330 Vantage Test Drive

Added: 2026-06-02

[00:00:00]Okay, the mission for today, ladies and gents, is we're taking you along for a full day on the water. We're going to do >> [music] >> um basically what we're going to attempt to do everything that you would do um to give you a bit of an insight as to whether the 330 Vantage uh is a boat for you.

[00:00:18]>> [music] [music] >> Uh first things first, we've got the boarding door. So, this is just public dock, so we've just we haven't secured it professionally. We've just got a balance stern line, but you get the idea because that makes life safe and easy for anyone boarding. And it's it is such a large boat, she doesn't have a lot of rock and movement. So, if you are coming from a large vessel, uh you're going to feel comfortable. And essentially, your day is going to potentially start, depending on where you store the boat, with removing the Isinglass, which does uh enclose the back of the boat, keeps this area uh protected from the weather, and just above me is where you store it all. Now, if you don't know what Isinglass is, we've got it on here. You may have already confused that for real glass because you it you can see through it just like real glass. And it's designed in panels like this, so we can just fold it up, chuck it up there, and do it really quickly. Way, way better than clears. So, if you're rolling up clears, the visibility is not so great, and the manageability is a bit of a drama. So, that's a big difference. Uh just let me show you our panel in here. So, we're down in the head, and we just open up these two.

[00:01:44]I'll just put that in shot for you. And first thing we want to do, we've got our engines and our house batteries just here. You actually hold them down, and then the light comes on, and then we've got uh starboard.

[00:01:58]And wait for the light to come on, and it's the same process turning them off.

[00:02:02]So, that's just gone green.

[00:02:05]And port.

[00:02:08]Okay, that's lit up.

[00:02:10]And then I'm going to turn the inverter on.

[00:02:15]So, we're actually Can you can have air conditioning? I've just got the uh battery charger and the refrigerators on there. All these switches are already on. That's our windlass. Um uh breaker just there, which is already on.

[00:02:28]These are all pencil fuses. Everything's marked in English. So, essentially, that's all you need to do. If you are on shore power, you may need to go from shore to ship. Okay? So, that's uh depending on where you are storing the boat.

[00:02:41]And then we literally I'll pass this back to you. We can come up here. Oh, beg your pardon.

[00:02:49]The >> [clears throat] >> smart thing to do would be to turn the engines on, cuz the key's here.

[00:02:56]It's always something to remember. So, we go to on.

[00:02:59]On. Okay, so now we have power at the helm. And with that power, big door this one, so close that and lock it just so it doesn't open open underway.

[00:03:13]We would then Ordinarily, we would drop the engines into the water. We're already at the dock, so they are in the water. If it's the first time on the boat for a little while, check around the boat before you lower the engines in case there's been some flooding. You don't want sort of logs and stuff getting in between them.

[00:03:29]And then it's a simple With power, we can see green light neutral, and then we can just do push button start. So, one, two. Boom boom, okay? My screens have come alive, and then I can select what information I want, but I'm essentially just going to take us off the dock here.

[00:03:48]I'm going to do this myself, uh simulating what you're going to be doing because you'll probably uh position a few of your guests around the boat. I would always keep a clear runway from here to the bow. So, we do have that bow door open. I'll talk to you about that in a second. And what I might do before I cast off, I'll just slide the boat towards the dock. I'm going to use the joystick just to take any pressure off the lines and just close that gap.

[00:04:19]Okay, so that's just taken a little bit of pressure off the lines. And then I'll just go forward, take my bow line.

[00:04:31]And then I can just take my stern line and everything's under control. See, it she is a moderately heavier boat, over 5 and 1/2 tons and more fully loaded. So, she'll take a bit of time to get moving, unlike a lighter boat. So, everything moves with a little bit more grace and predictability.

[00:04:54]Why don't you step on first? And then after you.

[00:04:58]No rush.

[00:05:00]And I I never rush when I'm operating around the dock. Close this door because that's where mistakes happen. Oh, it's a strong door, this one. Okay, press that button there.

[00:05:11]That's okay for now.

[00:05:13]Okay.

[00:05:15]Check all around. I got one boat on my bow and I have a jet ski to port, but essentially all I need to do is side slip the boat and looks like it's a jet ski lesson.

[00:05:29]So, I'm going to not scare them. I'm just going to press Skyhook before they get confused and we'll stay out of their way.

[00:05:41]Okay, and let's proceed forward.

[00:05:44]She doesn't look super confident at the helm there, so that's okay. And that's on us to have appropriate situational awareness, which a boat that doesn't consume too much of your head space to operate the boat is the perfect boat for you.

[00:06:04]If it's consuming too much of your head space, the operation of the systems, the management of the boat, then your intended mission, hopefully, the first point is fun and relaxation.

[00:06:18]And if you're too busy, you can struggle to do that. So So, just like then, I had some interruptions because I'm not in a overly complex piece of kit, cuz it's easy for me to transit around, um I was able to identify potential dangers and react to it. I'm just going to activate Skyhook. Now, the point I wanted to just show you before, it is important to have these open um before you're doing any maneuvers, and this door ordinarily would be really bloody heavy, but it's got a gas strut uh in it, so now this heavy door with glass and metal is a one-hand operation.

[00:07:06]Also, a one-hand operation for grandma, so that that makes life a little bit easier.

[00:07:12]But simple as that, guys. Um I'm going to tidy up my lines, stow the fenders, clean everything up, and then we'll go from here, and we'll actually do some anchor demonstration, and then we might even nose it up on the beach, just like you would.

[00:07:26]All right, so I've just been taking advantage of the Skyhook once again to stow the lines and fenders. Again, use it because it uh it's a time saver and it's a stress saver. Just a little reminder, you may have heard me mention this in other videos.

[00:07:43]Whenever you're going to activate the sky hook, always try to put the motors into the wind or tide, whichever is strongest, because then the motors will not work as hard as opposed to sticking the bow up into the tide. You're then going to hear lots of essentially aggressiveness, potentially unnecessary. So, uh we're going to do a quick test anchor just to simulate you doing the same.

[00:08:04]We've already released the safety. We operate it by turning the button on here. Then we have windlass up and down uh just here at the helm. I've opened the door or left them open so I have clear access forward to the bow as necessary. And we're in about 3 m of water. We're just going to do a quick anchor uh essentially touch down and then we will raise it again for the purpose of the exercise because then we're immediately going to beach the boat. Just pointing out this this armrest flips up. You might also consider having that in the up position when you are doing lots of maneuvers.

[00:08:40]Just measure how big your gut is. My mom was telling me my mine's too big at the moment so she's put me on a diet.

[00:08:46]Haven't seen her in a while. So, there you go. Thanks, Mom.

[00:08:49]Um okay.

[00:08:50]In line, good, all clear. Let's start dropping the windlass.

[00:08:57]3 m of water so I'll let out a bit of chain first.

[00:09:01]And now we're back down.

[00:09:08]Okay, release.

[00:09:10]Let's raise the motors a little bit just to give me some clearance. I'll go forward and look at that chain.

[00:09:19]Just see what angle I'm on, if any.

[00:09:22]Mhm, not too much. A little bit vertical.

[00:09:25]So, potentially at the nice part of the beach here, but we won't get too close.

[00:09:40]Okay, so now we will raise the windlass.

[00:09:45]I probably would have dropped a little bit more chain if I was staying here all day.

[00:09:54]But that's just giving you an idea of allowing you to get into the nicer spots. I'm just going to clear Okay, just going to check that that is secure.

[00:10:15]And I can do that by just opening up this door here. All secure, no problems.

[00:10:22]Okay, next thing we're going to do is stick the nose up on the beach. So you've got two options on a day boat like this. You can depending on the water and the destination you have available to yourself. So just dropping those motors back in, clearing these fishing lines. So go wide around this boat and I've found a nice little sandy spot that we've already scoped out. So what do you want to do? You want to understand the area that you're going to be um putting the nose up on the sand bar or wherever you are. You want to understand is it a tidal or heavily affected by tide? Is the approach to the beach um allowing you enough draft in order to um put the nose up on the beach and still have the rest of the boat floating. And is there any rocks or debris on final approach to the beach because we don't really want to be um pressing pressing the boat up into the beach and then discovering a big bloody rock or someone's anchor or something and punching it through uh the hull of the boat. Even though it wouldn't matter on this one cuz full of foam so it's not going to sink, but it's still going to be be day. So you get the idea.

[00:11:32]So, once again, we need to have have a clear access to the bow, have the door open, have it locked in the open position, um and then once you've made all those assessments of the position that you're going to be doing your uh bow.

[00:11:50]There you go, all clear. Of the position that you're going to be putting the bow on the beach, um just go for it. So, I'm going to do it here.

[00:11:58]Approximately, that looks good. So, I'm actually just going to keep going around, actually use my momentum, and I'll just go straight up onto the beach.

[00:12:07]And on final approach, when I'm a few meters out, oh, look at that. We're straight in line where we were before. Perfect. Okay.

[00:12:17]So, I'm just coming in in idle forward.

[00:12:20]I've I can feel some tide pulling me from left to right, so I'll just make sure I have enough momentum to press into that sand and keep us in a straight position, and I may just give it a little bit. There's a kid just there.

[00:12:36]And onto the sand. There we go.

[00:12:39]And don't leave the helm. Feel any tide, because if I go neutral now and I start to feel the boat getting swung by the tide, that means I haven't got enough boat up on the sand. Feels pretty good at the moment. I might just give it a little bit more.

[00:13:01]Okay.

[00:13:04]That's not going anywhere.

[00:13:06]So, now that feels safe to leave the helm, center the engines. I've still got them idling in case I need them, and they're trimmed up slightly, but I can see that I've got meters from about here onwards, plenty deep water. But, another great thing about this boat, which makes this maneuver so possible, it's this ladder and this shower. So, you just push it out.

[00:13:32]So, once it's in the out and deployed position, you undo the strap. You can put this back down. Boom boom. Boom boom.

[00:13:42]And [clears throat] deploy the ladder. So, that's the strap I've got to undo.

[00:13:48]Boom boom. Ready to go. And wash your feet when you get back on.

[00:13:53]Happy days.

[00:13:55]All right. So, once we've got the boat prepared to rock and roll, we've closed the center windscreen. We actually closed the door there to stop the wind.

[00:14:03]If we want to allow wind to come in and out, we have this vent available to us, which is really effective. You can also take out the Isinglass, so that's up to you. We've decided to leave it in today because it's pleasant and it's created a nice little atmosphere in here. Um this seat, super comfy by the way, but we've got electric up and down and there's also a handle I found under here, which allows you to go forward and back. So, I've actually put it forward and then transitioning from standing to sitting is super easy. I always like to practice that before I go driving on a new boat. Got some jet skis coming.

[00:14:39]Clear.

[00:14:41]Uh yeah, clear all ahead. Okay, he's not coming. He's just playing. So, we're going to run through speeds, fuel flows.

[00:14:47]We're going to focus on cruising speed.

[00:14:48]We'll do some maneuvers. We might encounter some waves.

[00:14:52]Uh I'll talk to you about the trim and then at the end, we shall do some wide open throttles. This thing with the 400s as opposed to the standard 300s gets up and goes. So, got a great white coming up my butt, so let's get moving.

[00:15:11]So, I just gave it a little burst uh up to 4,300 and settled back down to 4,200.

[00:15:20]I'm just trimming the boat out.

[00:15:23]Right now, 3,800 rpm, I got a speed over ground of 30 knots, so I might even settle that down a little bit. 3,500 rpm, fuel flow 40 L per side, noise levels low. These These Mercs are great, and this design doesn't appear to be reverberating any noise in around the cockpit, so holding conversation won't be an issue. I've also set up on camera three there, uh a vision for Grandma, cuz hopefully she'll be sitting here and having a good time.

[00:15:54]So, pay attention to that camera when we cut to it, so we can ensure that Grandma stays dry and comfortable, cuz that's important. So, coming through, really happy cruising speed, 3,600 rpm.

[00:16:08]I might vary that a little bit just for the exercise, 3,900.

[00:16:13]Fuel flow just bumping over about 50 L there. I'm playing with the trim, um even though I do have it in auto.

[00:16:19]Trim 29 knots. I'm going to raise my height now that we're coming into a wave-affected zone.

[00:16:25]Um I do have my trim tabs, so I'll use my throttle hand for that, and coming through, we're going to do some turns, but I just want to check traffic before I do anything. I'm clear enough of the gradient. We're moving into a wave-affected zone now, and we're also got clear outgoing tide, that's chopping up the sea a little bit. So, now we're into the chop, and first observation is it's handling it beautifully. I'm going to make my turn wide, so I'm clear of him, and cutting into the turn now, and I'm going to go tighter, and one of the observations of doing this tighter turn is that There we go, cut in behind, so if we're all safe, run the beach.

[00:17:14]Is this roof design allows us to really hook it in and you don't lose visibility. So, this higher roof design, just varying my speed from 25 to 29 knots and I'll talk to you when it changes again. When I come over here this time, I'm going to cut around the starboard.

[00:17:37]So, this high roof, yes, obviously it's not designed for big loads, but it screams of safe operation to me. Now, I'm going to cut around into a reasonably tight turn again cuz I don't want to go into the shallow water.

[00:18:00]Probably a little bit tighter than I needed to be, but I'm just playing it safe cuz there is some shallow water just to there, but no cavitation, boat feels good. She'll heel over if you want her to, but then she can also do the nice sweeping turns and I note that grandma, even anyone sitting back out out back there at the bar, is still dry going over some sizable waves there made by that Grady-White and going through some good chop here and here's where the boat's hull thickness and quality stands out because I guarantee you if you come along with me on some of the other boats that are more mass-market produced to a price and we rip through some waves like this, you're going to hear a lot of rattles, which is fine.

[00:18:52]It's not like the boat's going to fall apart on you, but it's just not built to the same standard. Cutting through some of that chop, it's going to be really obvious on the other camera now what we're going through. Lovely speed of 26 knots, 3,700 rpm, fuel flow has varied from 40 L to 55 L per engine as I go through the rev range in those turns, okay? So, that's what you're burning. So, now we'll just put it back on the straight and narrows. We're going into the tide.

[00:19:28]We're going into the tide, uh but what I'm going to do before we do any wide open stuff, I'm actually just going to play with a few speed variations for cruise efficiency.

[00:19:44]So, just 4,200 rpm giving us 29 to 30 knots into the tide, and I see 65 L a side. We can obviously vary that with a little bit of trim. Also, now on the flats we're at 60. But now if I reduce that speed, 3,800 rpm, I'm seeing 47 L a side and 26 knots. Let's slow it down again.

[00:20:21]I'm just going to keep to my side of the channel.

[00:20:26]3,300 rpm, I'm seeing 22 knots and 39 L per side at 22 knots.

[00:20:37]And then let's just dial it a little bit lower. I don't suspect we'll get much more. This could also just depend on your trim. You might need to go bow down at slower speeds.

[00:20:48]So, now I'm at 19 knots. I suspect you'll want to drop off the plane soon. 3,100 rpm, I see 34 L. What I've done is a little bit of bow down on the trim tab just to keep the hull slippery as opposed to digging the butt down too much. And now if we just dial that speed off ever so slightly, 2,800 RPM, we're almost Remember, we're going into the tide. We've got a lot of water flow underneath us. 27 L per motor.

[00:21:19]Speed over the ground at 14 14 knots SOG, and with those trim tabs all the way down, it actually almost feels like we're still on the plane, but from anywhere lower, now we're settling 2,400 RPM and lowering.

[00:21:35]Speed's dropped below 11 knots. I'm raising those trim tabs as we go into displacement mode.

[00:21:42]And the fuel flow down into displacement mode is now hovering at around about the 14 L per side, which still giving us a speed return of almost 8 knots.

[00:21:55]Uh and arguably, a not such an offensive stern wave. So, from social mode, chatting to your mates mode, uh I don't actually think there's too much of a drama if you're in a no wake zone or just trying not to be a be a a glar and annoy people. So, let's just cut around. It's going to Okay, we're clear.

[00:22:18]So, I'm just going to do from standing start to wide open throttle. I'm going to rip it up here. Wait for my waves to dissipate. Engine trim down. I've actually got the trim tabs in the up position. Just watching these other boats coming any other direction, just making a decision before I go. I'm just going to wait a little bit longer cuz I have one boat coming in my direction.

[00:22:44]And no, that's a fishing boat. Okay, that's okay. What I don't want to do is rip past a little low bow bow rider and put off waves cuz remember, we are a sizeable piece of kit in this thing. And if someone had a little small bow rider and you ripped past them with big waves, you might throw a wave into their bow and if they got kids on board, that's not a silly that's that is a silly thing to do. It's not a wise thing to do. But, we're all good. Okay, neutral engines down go.

[00:23:22]Okay, speed at 20 knots and rising. Engine trim's coming up.

[00:23:26]Trim tabs up.

[00:23:28]Fuel flows at 130 L. Speed over the ground is 40 knots and climbing. We're at 43 knots and climbing. Going through some waves here.

[00:23:37]47 knots and climbing. This is a 50-knot boat. We're going with the tide. I've got some traffic. Just adjusting. 50 knots and coming off the plane.

[00:23:49]Little Saxdor 200. Just got to make sure he's all clear.

[00:23:54]50 knots down tide.

[00:23:59]Okay.

[00:24:00]And backing off the pace here.

[00:24:05]All clear to turn.

[00:24:07]We're going to do the same thing up tide now. I'm not worried about a Saxdor. He can cut through my waves.

[00:24:15]So, that's fine. We'll just bring the boat to a stop. We'll wait till our waves pass us by.

[00:24:24]Oh, beautiful day.

[00:24:25]What a cracker. What would you rather be doing, eh?

[00:24:28]Okay, just wait these waves pass us, our own waves. I note in all of these operations here, no waves at the bow, no waves at that no no spray out back, no spray up on the glass. So, for this style of operations, this thing is a beauty. So, engine trim all the way down, trim tabs up, uh clear clear go.

[00:25:03]So, when I'm doing full acceleration, I don't just go foot to the floor. I always engage, increase, and then finish it. Just seems logical cuz it's a mechanical device. We're going up tide 5,500 RPM. Going trim up a little bit on the motors now. 129 a side. 5,900 RPM. 45 knots and climbing. 46 knots and climbing. 6,150 RPM. 47 knots INTO THE TIDE.

[00:25:37]THAT'S FUN.

[00:25:39]THAT'S FUN.

[00:25:41]THAT NEVER GETS OLD.

[00:25:45]AH, THAT'S AWESOME.

[00:25:47]That is great. So, yeah, this thing has it's got balls.

[00:25:53]It's got balls if it needs to be. So, what does that tell us?

[00:25:56]With this engine configuration, we can load this thing up. I think maximum capacity is like 14 people, maybe more.

[00:26:04]We can load this thing up, maintain a cruising speed of that 29 knots, no dramas, and the boat will handle it at a sensible enough fuel flow so everybody's comfortable for the day, and you're not running around. What you don't want to be doing is running around at 5,000 RPM, um requiring uh high high revs just to keep the boat at a sensible cruise speed. But, if we can do 50 knots with just two people on board, obviously we're in a light ship mode, that equates to an easy 30-knot cruise fully loaded cuz we've got a real big margin in there. So, that says to me the engines aren't going to be overloaded.

[00:26:49]They're not going going having to push massive revs, and uh you're just going to be having a good day.

[00:26:55]So, that's good. All right, onto the next bit.

[00:27:05]All right.

[00:27:06]I hope that gave you a bit of a window into what life can be like on the 330 Vantage, ladies and gents. Come and sit out here and let's enjoy this beautiful day.

[00:27:15]Um am I moving from the tire? No, I'm not.

[00:27:19]That's good.

[00:27:20]So, who's going to see the most benefit in operating a boat like this? What's it uh like to drive, and how many people should you think about when operating what is a big day boat? It is a It's a sizable day boat. Um I think you really can run this boat confidently solo.

[00:27:42]I I do think it's a a design that will happily um look after you in all aspects being solo operated. I don't see it totally necessary to um require more than that unless you uh so desire, put it that way.

[00:28:00]Um I'm really, really happy with the overall construction, the overall performance, her motion through the water. So, for taking people out of all ages, it's just a good, safe piece of kit for that kind of mission profile. Um in terms of speeds and performance, I think she's happiest sort of somewhere around that 29 knots. Uh she see she feels like she's sort of in the groove.

[00:28:29]Obviously, she's possi- uh capable of going faster, and we as we discovered, cruising slower it isn't an issue. Um what engines should you get? I think it really comes down to uh how many people you're going to load on the boat. I would personally always favor for these 400s. Uh you give me an engine selection choice, I'll always go for the bigger ones, but you do you. Like it that's I'm not here to make that decision for you for you. Um Yeah, so what would you compare it with?

[00:28:56]I think in our market, you know, it's really it's going to be probably Grady-White because they have a bit of a fishing focus as well. Um and you might also also put Regal in there in the sort of in the mix if you're doing your comparisons. Uh it has to be said Boston Whaler is sitting out there on her own when it comes to the safety margin with the foam fill construction. Okay? So, if that's on your priority list, then you really do just have to be focusing on the Boston because it's the only brand that's going to give you that.

[00:29:31]So, I hope that was useful, ladies and gents. Um do get in the comments. Do talk to me. Do let me know uh what you agree with, what you disagree with, and and um any boats that I'm missing. Um I love reading all the comments and I try to respond to every one of them. Uh my Patreon is there. I would appreciate your support. You can get more information, early access, merchandise, and pricing over there. So, thank you very much. I'll put another boat up on the screen right now for you to do your own research cuz that's what it's all about. Check out the links down below in the description. Thanks, guys. See you.

[00:30:08]>> [music] >> Demons on my tongue, spitting [music] venom on the beat. It's a dangerous game. Can you stand the heat?

[00:30:21]You can run away now or you [music] can grab a seat.

[00:30:25]Welcome