Performance Powerboats P280 With Twin 15” Mercury Racing 300R Outboards: On The Water Review
If you’re in the market for a sport cat but the jaw dropping prices and size of many of the boats is daunting, then the Performance Powerboats P280 might be what you need. This latest one is powered by twin 15” Mercury Racing 300Rs, and suit this boat perfectly. Here are some details and a video overview of this smaller sport cat.
Available as a single or with twins like this one. LOA is 28’ with a 8’3” beam, the tunnel is pretty deep and the P280 feels like a little rocket. The hull can handle some chop and really accelerates with the twins. The cockpit is smaller, but comfortable, with nice twin buckets and a small short bench in the back for 2, maybe 3. Being a 28 and not too wide, towing and storing are a little easier.
Myrick Coil from Performance Boat Center had the props turning inward, which helps with bow lift and carries the boat through any mid range hop, alleviating it mostly. He mentioned the boat stays very planted setup this way, although you do sacrifice top speed. For the runs at the Miami Boat Show it was propped for taking passengers and lots of fuel. 30” Max 5 props pushed it to 105 MPH at around 6,350 RPM with 3 passengers. The compact cat cruises beautifully at 55 MPH at 3,500 RPM, 85 MPH at 5,500 RPM and 100 MPH at 6,000 RPM.
You could probably see 115+ setup more aggressively and a light load. Finished in a really crisp metallic white, the paint was really nicely done. The cockpit was well finished overall. I’d like to see a little nicer upholstery work on the rear bench, but overall it’s really nice. The bucket seats upfront were well bolstered and fit perfectly in the compact cockpit. Just enough real estate for a nice Garmin screen mounted in the middle of the dash and push button switches on the console. For passengers the windshield was really effective and looks great.
Contact Performance Boat Center for pricing and details. Performance Boat Center
