DRACO 27 RS PRICE £92,376 TOP SPEED 42.3 KNOTS 0-30 KNOTS 10.2 SECS W


Helm position works best when seated due to low screen and freeboard


hen the time comes to allocate boats, I confess to a twinge of disappointment when I’m handed the Draco’s keys. In isolation it’s a fi ne looking craft with a near vertical bow and a long, lean, pared back look that the Scandinavians do so well. But


in this company of bleeding-edge stealth boats, it looks like a grown-up sportsboat rather than a Special Forces weapon. You sit on it rather than in it, your eyeline a few inches above the


windscreen with the low freeboard leaving you more exposed to the elements than the wraparound screens and taller protective coamings of its rivals. On a warm summer’s day it’s exactly what you’d want but in February, in the Solent, I’m not so sure. It doesn’t take long to dispel that notion. Once free of Lymington’s


speed limits, the Yamaha’s super smooth electronic throttle and lusty naturally aspirated V6 prove the perfect foil for the Draco’s effortless hull. I challenge the XO to a drag race and take great satisfaction in experiencing the Draco pull ahead and maintain its lead all the way to 40 knots, swiftly declaring victory and throttling back to idle before the XO’s superior top end speed comes into play. The Yamaha engine isn’t quite as eerily smooth as the Verado but its instantaneous throttle response and harmonious induction roar is arguably more characterful than the turbine-like Mercury.


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