GROUPTEST


You have to wonder how many boats this tiny could be driven so hard in these conditions


Deck lockers abound on the XO 250


Moody black decking is an extra


Seating rapidly coverts to sunbed in around 20 seconds


SPEC UP Our pick of the


must-have options


TARGA RADAR ARCH + ESTHEC DECKING +


CARBON FIBRE HULL WRAP + 300HP MERCURY PRO


to side, instead it always fl ies and lands on an even keel. Yet I still have the throttle nailed wide open. Of course, we’re not racing, no sir. Still, may I mention that we’re now beginning to overhaul the Axopar 28, albeit extremely slowly.


SOLID AND SOCIABLE I gaze over and marvel at how beautifully the bigger boat rides in these conditions. That distraction proves my undoing, and we take off on a real whopper that I didn’t see coming, then crash land into the equally big hole on the other side. Finally my seat bottoms out, I throttle back, and the Axopar 28 hurtles towards the horizon. Nothing has broken, no hatches


Superb suspension seats are standard


have sprung open, and nothing has come adrift. You have to wonder how many boats this tiny – the XO 250 is only 24ft 8in (7.52m) long – could be driven so hard and fast in these conditions, and also how well they would survive the inattentive bashing I subjected my boat to. The answer is, very few outside the similarly impressive and capable threesome it fi nds itself up against.


As a small high-speed commuter par excellence, its obvious


adversaries would be the better RIBs, yet these rubbery rivals only serve to highlight the other key aspects of the XO 250’s appeal. And those are; an especially well protected helm position tucked behind the deep wraparound screens, a convertible seating-come-sunbed arrangement aft, and a sociable four-person cockpit forward. XO has engineered a full canopy arrangement whose sturdy stainless framework drops almost completely out of sight around the rear seating, an exceptional feature on such a small boat. Despite its size, the XO 250 sports


absolutely terrifi c storage – would you believe nine deck lockers and a further two open-topped lockers set into the sides of the boat. All these are things that even the fi nest similarly-sized RIBs will struggle to emulate. In truth, you need to look to boats like the ones assembled here to fi nd these practical and sociable benefi ts. Dave Marsh Contact Wessex Marine. Tel: +44 (0)1202 700702 Web: www.xoboats.fi


Deep windscreens provide excellent


protection for the crew


THE DATA


SPECIFICATIONS PRICE FROM inc UK VAT


£56,460


EVINRUDE E-Tec 150hp Std MERCURY VERADO 250hp £65,660 MERCURY Pro 300hp


SUSPENSION SEATS std


FLEXITEEK BLACK DECKING std ESTHEC GREY DECKING £1,320 CARBON FIBRE HULL WRAP £1,482 RADAR ARCH


CANOPY COVER ANCHOR PACK


£68,490


£1,320 £1,290 £480


MAY2015 61


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