The Regal 29 OBX outboard-powered bowrider is Boating magazine’s 2016 Boat of the Year, competing against more than 100 2016-model-year boats and four finalists for the prize. Boating’s Tech Team, a group of experts with a combined 75 years of boat-testing experience, tested 137 boats throughout the year on criteria including innovation, technology, safety, performance and style to determine the overall winner of the industry’s most prestigious annual award. Boating’s “Certified Boat Tests” represent the gold standard in boat reviews and are valued by industry professionals as well as consumers seeking to buy a new boat. Boating editors test and analyze more boats than any other organization in the industry. Boat of the Year candidates must comply with all American Boat and Yacht Council standards, fulfill the mission of the builder, and advance the art of boat building and the sport of boating.
The Regal 29 OBX is the only bowrider of its size with twin outboard power. It offers a smooth, spacious, luxurious experience with high-tech amenities like the single Garmin touchscreen display for controlling navigation, depth, engine function and even the Fusion-powered stereo system—a first for the industry. In Boating’s long-time boat test editor Randy Vance’s review of the 29 OBX, he observed that the boat “restores the promise of smooth-running, reliable power” and noted the helm’s “BMW-like firmness with a Cadillac touch of soothing comfort.”
“Regal’s 29 OBX harnesses the efficiency and ease-of-ownership of outboard power, combined with a successful stepped hull design,” said Kevin Falvey, editor-in-chief of Boating. “It will launch a new era in the bowrider category.”
The Regal Boats 29 OBX is a big, family-oriented bowrider that combines luxury, comfort, and lots of storage space thanks to the outboard design. The swim platform extends well past the outboards on both sides, adding usable space for watersports. The doublewide aft bench seats can be extended 10″ into the cockpit at the touch of a button for lounging comfort or retracted to open up walking space in the cockpit. She proved a capable performer with the twin 200-hp Yamahas turning 19 Reliance props, reaching a top speed of 52.6 mph at 5250 rpm.
A highlight of the Regal 29 OBX is the new swim platform that wraps around the outboard motors. It provides more room for watersports or fishing, and a pressurized transom shower comes standard. There’s a stainless-steel boarding ladder in its own compartment to port, and the walking surface is covered in nonskid. An owner can upgrade the area with Flexiteek or SeaDek mat. Regal has effectively solved the problem of little platform space that gave sterndrive boats their watersports advantage. The swim platform’s side sections extend aft past the motors on each side, so anyone jumping into the water should land well away from the propellers. With the push of a button, the bottom cushions on the doublewide aft bench seats slide forward 10”, or they can be retracted to open up walking space in the cockpit. An owner can choose between the Power Tower that folds down for low bridges or the Luxury Hardtop that has a retractable sun shade.
Read more about the exciting features in a review from BoatTest.com on this link: http://www.boattest.com/review/regal/3532_29-obx