Making Waves

 
Regal's bold and brawny 3350 stirs a commotion with its slick lines and sweet performance.

By Story by Roy Attaway
Photos by Robert Holland

This boat, the new Regal 3350, makes no pretensions. It is a cruising boat, a party boat, a pleasure barge. It is also very peppy, very agile and, during my test ride, just a little wet. But, then, regarding that last, the day we—Dan Stenger, Regal's test skipper, and I—gave her a run for her money, the wind was honking out of the northeast like a runaway 18-wheeler on the West Virginia Turnpike. Even as we put her nose out of the inlet leading from the Atlantic into Duck Key and Hawk's Cay Resort in the Lower Florida Keys, the usually aquamarine water was churned to the color of milky glacier melt. One dip into a head sea and I was hanging onto the grabrail in the companion seat and praying for my foul-weather gear.

We earnestly tried to run her, tried to get her up to top speed, but it was another classic case of the boat being able to handle more than its passengers could. Only a couple of yahoos hell-bent on proving their manhood would attempt to run at wide-open throttle in a small craft advisory. So, after driving her around in the slop for half an hour, we managed to get her up to 3600 rpm and a speed of 36.2 mph with a pair of 320-hp Volvo Penta sterndrives under the hatch. But we stopped there, even though the builder has recorded a top-end speed of 52.8 mph with the same power in good conditions. Neptune was clearly annoyed and spat his vengeance on us at every turn. Pity. It would have been fun to take this very sexy little boat down to KeyWest and let the babes drool. Over the boat, that is.

She looked pretty cool, though, sliding through the canals that make so many Duck Key homes into waterfront property. (Remind me to tell you sometime about the day we were photographing from a helicopter another Regal in these very same waters and found ourselves swarmed over by the Coast Guard; some old geezer had radioed that we were making a drug drop.) This particular boat was hull number four and had a few of the options you'd crave—like the lovely two-tone gel coat with a boot stripe as part of it, not a mere stick-on.

Both the helm and companion seats are double-wide and flip up into bolster configuration. The tilting wheel (with power steering) and the dashboard are faux burl, but still very handsome, as are the really snappy Faria gauges that offer red illumination for night running. Controls are by Volvo and are nice and crisp. A row of rocker switches for most functions is at the helmsman's elbow; very convenient. The optional Raymarine chartplotter is something you definitely will want to spring for, as is the VHF. The Lowrance depthfinder is standard. Other items of interest and desire are a Xintex gasoline fume detector and a Fireboy automatic fire extinguisher system (the former is an option).

GAME ZONE: The Regal 3350 is one of the biggest and best-equipped sportboats afloat.

The windshield is split by a convenient, but steep, walk-through. The steps are small for my feet (we're talking size 15EEEEs here), but they are covered with a rubbery nonskid that makes them very safe.

The cockpit is humongous, featuring a giant U-shaped bench seat that wraps around it entirely. A very simple cushion-swap converts this bench, port and starboard, into two mini sunpads. Another walk-through is in the center aft, leading to the wide swim platform. Four cockpit speakers make Jimmy Buffett seem as if he really is performing live on your private stage. Stowage is everywhere and excellent, and none more so than in the cockpit area, with a lazarette amidships and huge bins under the bench cushions, port and starboard. These house the cockpit cocktail tables, among other things. The battery switches are under the starboard cushion.

There is a wet bar just abaft the companion seat, with Corian top, trash receptacle and a sink. Under this is a removable Igloo cooler. There are some options to consider here: You may add a grill and/or another fridge and an icemaker. Mind you, this boat has no cooktop in the cabin, so think hard about some or all of this.

The stern, part of the bench and all, lifts on a hydraulic ram to reveal the engine room, which, I must say, is neatly organized. Engine access is good, with diamond plate steps leading down into its deep recesses. The battery box is easy to get to, and next to that is a blank space where you can add a genset. When lowered, the stern also has four deep lockers, with hatches operating on gas rams, giving you lots of room for hoses, lines, fenders and a shore power cord. There also is a freshwater shower with hot and cold water.

Now then, for the cabin.

The wide beam carries well forward into the cabin space, but rather than make the hull profile look like a humpbacked whale, Regal's design team dictated 5'3" headroom. In essence, then, it's an oversized and very well equipped cuddy. Most of the space is taken up with a rounded V-bench that, of course, converts to a very large berth. You can indeed move the whole party down here if you like. However, as mentioned, there is no cooktop, only space for an optional microwave. The fridge is small, too. There is one modest cedar-lined hanging locker, four portlights and a circular overhead hatch. The electric panel is behind a cupboard door—which is where you would mount the optional flat-screen TV. A mirrored bulkhead forward has stowage behind it, and there's lots more stowage under the cushions. Lots more.

The head is small, with an even smaller door. You have to sit on the toilet to take a shower. A plastic curtain shields the door, and there is a bulkhead-mounted bracket to convert the telephone shower head into a stationary one. Headroom here is for small children or diminutive actors. (What was his name, the wee one on "Fantasy Island?)

The bow offers no sunpad, but there are two hatches forward for all the necessaries, including the freshwater washdown and anchor windlass. One nice touch, fore and aft and all about, are the pop-up stainless steel cleats.

The new Regal 3350 is a boat in which you could plan a short cruise, and as a model with a lot of pep, good performance and great style, it should prove an immensely popular addition to the builder's line.

©Motor Boating Magazine, November 2004