Just introduced for the 2011 model year, the EasternBoats 22 Center Console may look like your typical,' '22-foot CC, but offers one unique difference, she is <,

built on a downeast-designed semi-planing hull,which milks maximum mileage out of every gallon of fuel.

• CORPORATE 'HISTORYAlthough Eastern Boats may be a recognizable marine trade-

mark with New England Fisherman readers, as you venture downinto the NYMetro and Mid-Atlantic coastal areas,you might not beable to makethe connection, soa brief corporate history is in order.

Eastern Boats began in 1981 building their 18-foot classic. A.few years later, they added the 22-foot model and offered it as acenter console or Lobster cabin. In 1988, SeawayBoatswent outof business and Eastern acquiredthe Seaway 19- and, 23-foot CCtooling. Today, these are repre-sented by their 20 and 21 mod-els. In 1991, Eastern introduced a27-footer under an agreement tobuy these hulls from Five Island BoatWorks and finish them in-house. A yearlater, they bought the molds and didthe entire build themselves from startto finish. In 1994, Easternacquired theJC31 and JC 35 under an agreementwhere Easternwas building the partsas well doing the finishing. Sincethen, Eastern has acquired differentmolds and, redesigned models toqetto their current 2011 model line-up. They have a 30,OOO-square-footfacility that operates out of Milton,NH and has been owned and oper-ated by BobBourdeau and his familysince 1993.

The EasternBoats22 CCoffers max-, imum fishability with its open centerconsole layout. There's24 inches of in-ternal cockpit freeboard for welcomeleg support if you encounter choppyseas, plus a self-bailing sole to chan-nel water and spray-back overboardvia large transom scuppers. Standardfishing features include a quartet offlush-mount rodholders, horlzontalracks under each gunwale, a leaningpost, twin insulated coolers/fishboxes under each forward vee-bunk in the bow area,plus a large console for enhanced wind andweather protection, with a Porta-Potti down below.

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outboard hull inthis size class. Since the new Eastern-Boats 22CC is a dirett descendant ofthe old Seaway.albeit .with a num-ber of tweaks and modern' upgrades, I can tell you from first-hand experience that this new Eastern 22-footer wfil be a steadyand predictable performer in various bay, inlet and inshore seaconditions. My buddy Mako Mike's old Seaway23 CCwas riggedWith a Merc 90 Horsepower two-stroke outboard and the les-son to be learned here is that these semi-displacement hulls willget along nicely with modest powerplants that are roughly lessthan "half" of the power required by similar sized planing boats.That translates into fewer bucks required for the initial acquisi-tion cost and ultimately down the road in smaller fuel bills tofeed all, of those hungry sea ponies. Given todqy's .econorny,. anythlnq.you can do to mitigate that challenge is a-good thingthat will still allow you to afford to go fishing,~,_ ,_,> '

My local Eastern'"Boats dealer(Hampton Watercraft and Marine)outfitted their 22 CC,with a Mer-cury 115 Horsepow.er in-line four-cylinder four-stroke fuel injected 'outboard. Their performance tests

produced a top speed of 32 mph atwide open throttle and,a )fery respect-able crUising speed of 24 knots at4200 RPM, burning approximately 6gallons-per-hour. You don't have to bean MIT grad to ascertain that the fueleconomy at this speed is roughly 4miles-per-gallon, which isan enviablenumber when tooling around theback bays and inlet areas"searchingfor some rod-bending contact withyour favorite gamefish. The onboard64-gallon fuel tank might seemsmall-ish for a 22-footer, but given -theseperformance figures, i~will take youover 250 nautical miles in.between fill-ups. In comparison, most similar-sizedplaning hulls with motors that aretwice the sizeof that 115,Merc will netsomewhere in the 2.5 to 3MPG ranqe,if you are lucky,with optimum cruisinqspeeds that are in the same ball park.

Notable standard features on theEastern Boats 22 CCinclude hydraulicsteering> a fuel filter/water separa-tor, combo rear seat/splashwell, sprayrails on either side of the' bow, stain-

less steel hardware, plus a marine compass. Popular options area gelcoat color change, swim platform with fold-down ladder, aleaning post/livewell combo, front canvasdodqerand a docksidepump-out for the Porta-Potti. Backed by a 1O-year,stvucMaj hullwarranty, my local dealer isoffering the EasternBoats22 CCfor anMSRPof $54,112 outfitted with a-Mercury 115 Horsepower four-stroke outboard. This boat is also available with other brands ofoutboards, depending on your local dealership. Formore informa-tion, call 603-652-9213 or visit www.easternboats.com. If 1.

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_LET'S ROLL• I had spent some quality time on myoid buddy Mako MikeTownsend's 23 SeawayCCin the past and Iam quite familiar withthe running and drifting characteristics of a semi-displacement

The NEW JERSEYFISHERMAN, (ISSN 1040-0117) is published weekly, except for three weeks in December by the NJ.F. Publishing Corporation. Main office at 14 Ramsey Road, Shirley, NY11967-4708. Periodicals Postage paid at Shirley, NY. POSTMASTER:Send address changes to The Fisherman, New Jersey and Delaware Bay Edition, 14 Ramsey Road, Shirley, NY 11967