Boston Whaler 280 Dauntless
Whaler’s upgraded classic impresses on a run along Manhattan’s West Side.
Boston Whaler made its name on family-friendly fishing skiffs, and although the manufacturer has soared into new strata within the yachting sphere (see the seven-figure 405 Conquest), it hasn’t lost sight of its slightly humbler beginnings when founder Dick Fisher introduced its Montauk center console family back in 1974.
On first taking in the center console 280 Dauntless, you’d be forgiven for mistaking this bay boat as a pleasure cruiser or a fishing boat, but the versatility of this new release lies precisely in the trouble you might have in distinguishing it.
Boston Whaler has played this game for some time, and you could argue they invented the very concept of the family-friendly fishing boat with the Montauk. But while the Montauk continues to be the more pared-down center-console built to facilitate small family day trips and humbler fishing excursions, the Dauntless does the job with considerably more size and comfort.
The Dauntless’s nearly 30-year-old design underwent basic changes in 2015 with the addition of the Swim Patio and forward lounge seating, but the options offered today, like the adjustable leaningpost, optional Seakeeper, retractable SureShade (along with a very cool forward shade to cover the bow), and a substantial boost in storage throughout gives the new 2023 model an air of undeniable luxury.
All the same, if you want to keep to the basics of a bay boat without much flourish, or you want to deck the boat out for fishing, those are options too. “This isn’t a tournament boat,” Program Manager Mark Robinson told me while we trotted the new model out onto the Hudson River along Manhattan’s Chelsea Piers, “but it can be a very serious fishing boat.”
Along those (fishing) lines, the new model ditches the previous Dauntless model’s U-shaped settee for a continued foredeck right up to the nose, which contains a windlass compartment and a genius, easy-to-deploy beach boarding ladder—previous models accommodated only one or the other.
And though she’s as angler friendly as you’re likely to ever need, the 280 Dauntless still makes several safety and comfort accommodations where most fishing vessels wouldn’t dare. A nine-foot beam and an 18-inch draft make it stable in a bit of chop or swell, but still perfectly at home in skinny backwaters. With the basic package, four rocket-launcher rod holders come mounted on a fiberglass T-top that also holds an integrated watersports tow tower. You can also upgrade the leaning post to an additional 35-gallon livewell—that is, if the 19-gallon in-deck well doesn’t already suffice. Outriggers are also an option, as are twin, rear-mount Power-Poles. And the bow still leaves room for a 36v Minn Kota trolling motor.
Having daybed-like forward lounge seating on both the port and starboard seats, bow and stern table posts and an actual head with a vacuum pump-out option (and proper privacy) might be the pinnacle of center console luxury. The Dauntless further outdoes itself with both salt and freshwater rinse-offs astern, a pump-fed cockpit sink and storage to make for a sort of wet-bar galley. To further gild the lily, that wetbar galley can be made as sturdy as a landlubbing lounge with a Seakeeper installed beneath it. More and more, we’re seeing Seakeeper technology on smaller boats, making for an ever-smoother ride and anchorage. That’s as accommodating as anything short of a cabin cruiser gets without becoming a barge or a pontoon or a gas-chugging Clorox bottle.
When it comes to the ride, the Dauntless’s 18-degree deadrise gears this shallow-vee hull more towards bay excursions than open-water forays, but choose your days, and you’ll have no trouble cutting through an inlet and heading out offshore for a day. Choose your days exceptionally well, and with up to a pair of 300-hp Mercury Verados hung on the back (the base model comes with a single 350-hp Verado), you’ll be at your bluewater grounds in short order. Coasting up the Hudson River, along Manhattan’s west side, one August morning with Editor-in-Chief Dan Harding, we hit 43 knots with the twin 300s on the 280 Dauntless’ Simrad amidst ferry chop, shore bounce and an outgoing tide. Robinson told us the boat would top out at 50, but we didn’t push it, and chances are good that you won’t need to, either.
Boston Whaler isn’t trying to fool anyone with this model. As Robinson makes clear, this is not a tournament boat, neither is it a pure speedster, nor is it purely a pleasure cruiser. Instead, the 280 Dauntless meticulously achieves the best elements of each, and for most of us, that’s probably just right.
280 Dauntless Specifications:
LOA: 28’8″
Beam: 9′
Draft: 18″
DISPL.: 7,410 lb.
Fuel: 160 gal.
Water: 18 gal.
POWER: 2/300-HP Mercury; 1/350-HP Mercury
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This article originally appeared in the March 2023 issue of Power & Motoryacht magazine.
Source: https://www.powerandmotoryacht.com/outboard/boston-whaler-280-dauntless-test-and-review
