New Boat: Solara S310 CW
From the parent company of Ranger Tugs and Cutater comes Solara Boats. Join us as we get a first look at the flagship of this new model line.
Solara S310 CW
Boat builders have to be equal parts manufacturer and fortune teller. It can take years from the point an initial concept is rendered until a boat debuts at a boat show. In that intervening time, trends and technology can change, and, of course, the fickle nature of the boat buyers can shift too.
All of this came to mind while walking through a boat show recently, when I came across an attractive looking walk-around sport model I hadn’t seen before. While admiring it, I couldn’t help but wonder who this brave builder was, introducing a new model into an already crowded market. As soon as I learned who was building this new boat, my concern was left in the wake: Fluid Motion, LLC, the builder of the highly successful Ranger Tugs and Cutwater brands. This is a builder who has figured out the secret sauce, largely by listening to their customers and understanding what they want.
Boats—even the best ones—are a compromise. When I think about my favorite boats, they had the most of what I liked, and I could tolerate what I didn’t and I’ve often wondered why a builder doesn’t take the best features of different brands and models and roll them into a single boat. Well, it seems Fluid Motion aimed to achieve just that with the Solara line.
The Solara S310 CW is an open style walk-around large enough to take the whole family out for the day, but nimble enough to feel you have somehow comfortably loaded everyone not into the family station wagon, but a sports coupe. They also managed to load features into this boat that I didn’t even know I wanted—until I saw it.
Let’s start with the advanced design in the solid fiberglass double-stepped hull, which reduces drag while increasing speed and efficiency. To further enhance performance, Solara incorporated laminar flow interrupters into the S310 hull which improves stability in turns. The standard twin 250-hp V6 Yamahas give this boat a range of approximately 300 nautical miles at a comfortable cruise speed of 30 knots and an impressive 50 knot top end.
Solara knew what their customers wanted when designing this boat—an all-sport platform for getting family and friends out on the water for whatever activity they could imagine. With this in mind, Solara was sensitive to not have any cleats, bow rollers, or hardware in a position to snag a foot or swimsuit if you’re practicing your cannonballs. The bow roller and forward ladder are contained inside hatches, which makes it a breeze to disembark and reboard on a beach. With an electric windlass also fully concealed, anchoring off the beach to play for the day or holding tight in your favorite fishing spot will be effortless. Rather than a full-circle walkaround, the center console is actually offset. You walk forward to aft along the starboard side. The port side is simply an enclosed portion of the console.
If you’re bored with fishing for the day and want to enjoy your kayak or paddle board for a while, just pull one down from the handy hardtop rack perfectly set up for carrying all your favorite toys. Just forward of the sport racks is an LED light bar to safely guide you back to the dock after dark. If clouds and rain interrupt your sunny day, just relax behind the helm, and turn on the wipers.
Solara didn’t just design the S310 CW for day use, this is an open design with comfortable accommodations belowdeck. Equipped with six lithium batteries, you can keep the air conditioning running for hours on end, freeing the need to complicate the boat with a generator. With the optional solar panels and you can keep the boat constantly charging too. The standard-equipment 3,000-watt inverter will also power all of your AC electrical needs.
The Solara team was also proud to point out that there are no mechanical or electrical connections impeding the swim platform, saying most outboard boats have rig-tubes and cables taking up much of the space between the engines and the transom. The S310 has a 90-degree fitting made specifically for them, so they can hide all of engine’s connections. They call it their clear path swim step, so even with two large outboards, you can access both sides of the swim platform.
Built at their factory in Arlington Washington, Solara is able to bring this boat to market for $350,000 fully featured—considerably less than any comparably equipped boat I’ve seen. I could go on writing about her accoutrements for way more pages, so I’ll conclude with saying, if you’re looking for a mid-sized walk-around multi-purpose sport boat, you won’t find one more thoughtfully equipped than the Solara S310 CW.
Solara S310 CW Specifications:
LOA: 30’10”
Beam: 10′
Draft: 2’1″
Displ.: 10,500 lb.
Fuel: 200 gal.
Water: 41 gal.
Power: 2/250-hp Yamaha F250s
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This article originally appeared in the February 2023 issue of Power & Motoryacht magazine.
Source: https://www.powerandmotoryacht.com/boats/solara-s310-cw-boat-review
