Regal’s bold and brawny 3350 stirs a commotionwith its slick lines and sweet performance.Story by ROY ATTAWAY Photos by ROBERT HOLLAND

MAKING WAVESMAKING WAVES

This boat, the new Regal 3350, makes no pre-tensions. It is a cruising boat, a party boat, apleasure barge. It is also very peppy, very ag-ile and, during my test ride, just a little wet.But, then, regarding that last, the day we—Dan Stenger, Regal’s test skipper, and I—gave

her a run for her money, the wind was honking outof the northeast like a runaway 18-wheeler on theWest Virginia Turnpike. Even as we put her noseout of the inlet leading from the Atlantic into DuckKey and Hawk’s Cay Resort in the Lower FloridaKeys, the usually aquamarine water was churned tothe color of milky glacier melt. One dip into a head

sea and I was hanging onto the grabrail in the com-panion seat and praying for my foul-weather gear.

We earnestly tried to run her, tried to get her upto top speed, but it was another classic case of theboat being able to handle more than its passengerscould. Only a couple of yahoos hell-bent on provingtheir manhood would attempt to run at wide-openthrottle in a small craft advisory. So, after driving heraround in the slop for half an hour, we managed toget her up to 3600 rpm and a speed of 36.2 mph witha pair of 320-hp Volvo Penta sterndrives under thehatch. But we stopped there, even though the builderhas recorded a top-end speed of 52.8 mph with the

same power in good conditions. Nep-tune was clearly annoyed and spat hisvengeance on us at every turn. Pity. Itwould have been fun to take this verysexy little boat down to KeyWest and letthe babes drool. Over the boat, that is.

She looked pretty cool, though,sliding through the canals that makeso many Duck Key homes into wa-terfront property. (Remind me to tellyou sometime about the day we werephotographing from a helicopter an-other Regal in these very same watersand found ourselves swarmed over bythe Coast Guard; some old geezer hadradioed that we were making a drugdrop.) This particular boat was hullnumber four and had a few of the op-tions you’d crave—like the lovely two-tone gel coat with a boot stripe as partof it, not a mere stick-on.

Both the helm and companion seatsare double-wide and flip up into bolsterconfiguration. The tilting wheel (withpower steering) and the dashboard arefaux burl, but still very handsome, asare the really snappy Faria gauges thatoffer red illumination for night running.Controls are by Volvo and are nice andcrisp. A row of rocker switches for mostfunctions is at the helmsman’s elbow;very convenient. The optional Rayma-rine chartplotter is something you def-initely will want to spring for, as is theVHF. The Lowrance depthfinder is stan-dard. Other items of interest and desireare a Xintex gasoline fume detector anda Fireboy automatic fire extinguishersystem (the former is an option).

The windshield is split by a conve-nient, but steep, walk-through. The

steps are small for my feet (we’re talk-ing size 15EEEEs here), but they arecovered with a rubbery nonskid thatmakes them very safe.

The cockpit is humongous, featur-ing a giant U-shaped bench seat thatwraps around it entirely. A very sim-ple cushion-swap converts this bench,port and starboard, into two mini sun-pads. Another walk-through is in thecenter aft, leading to the wide swimplatform. Four cockpit speakers makeJimmy Buffett seem as if he really isperforming live on your private stage.Stowage is everywhere and excellent,and none more so than in the cockpitarea, with a lazarette amidships andhuge bins under the bench cushions,port and starboard. These house thecockpit cocktail tables, among otherthings. The battery switches are underthe starboard cushion.

There is a wet bar just abaft the com-panion seat, with Corian top, trash re-ceptacle and a sink. Under this is a re-movable Igloo cooler. There are someoptions to consider here: You may adda grill and/or another fridge and an ice-maker. Mind you, this boat has nocooktop in the cabin, so think hardabout some or all of this.

The stern, part of the bench and all,lifts on a hydraulic ram to reveal the en-gine room, which, I must say, is neatlyorganized. Engine access is good, withdiamond plate steps leading down intoits deep recesses. The battery box iseasy to get to, and next to that is a blankspace where you can add a genset.When lowered, the stern also has fourdeep lockers, with hatches operating on

60 MOTORBOATING JUNE 2004

GAME ZONE: The Regal 3350 is one of the biggest and best-equipped sportboats afloat.

Specifications: LOA ..........................................................34'8"Beam .......................................................11'4"Draft (drive down) ...............................2'11"Disp.................................................11,100 lbs.Transom Deadrise ......................19 degreesWater.................................................30 gals. Fuel ...................................................136 gals. Test Power: (2) 320-hp Volvo Penta 5.7 GXi gassterndrive engines turning Duoprops through a1.95:1 gear ratio. Power options include twin300-hp MerCruiser Magnum MPIs, twin 375-hp MerCruiser 496 Magnum MPIs and twin 375-hp Volvo Penta 8.1 Gi Duoprop sterndrives.Performance:RPM MPH Knots MPG1000 6.7 5.8 2.61500 9.0 7.8 1.72000 12.6 10.9 1.32500 23.7 20.6 1.83000 30.1 26.2 1.93500 36.1 31.3 1.74000 41.3 35.9 1.54500 47.9 41.6 1.25150 52.8 45.9 1.1Speeds and fuel consumption provided by Re-gal Marine Industries. Performance numbersrecorded in fresh water with a light chop andfive- to 10-knot winds.Price: $157,240Standard Equipment (major items):Snap-in car-pet and courtesy lighting in the cockpit; two cock-pit tables; sliding companionway door w/screen;10 oversized drinkholders; pressure water systemw/transom shower; UV/stain-resistant vinyl; wetbar; anchor roller w/ss chain plate and rope lock-er; ss anchor scuff plate on bow; eight pop-upcleats; Sunbrella bimini top and boot; Sunbrellacockpit cover; power steering; Kenwood AM/FMstereo w/six-disc CD-player; hot and cold transomshower; water heater; compass; Faria fog-freegauges; trim tabs; carbon monoxide detector; 30-amp shore power; dockside water inlet; automaticfire extinguisher; VacuFlush head; battery charger.Optional Equipment (major items): Reverse-cycle air-conditioning system; anchorwindlass; canvas, side and aft, w/connector; cockpit icemaker; cock-pit refrigerator; cruise packagew/PFDs, fenders,docklines,first-aid kit and fire extinguisher;docking lights; gas vapor de-tector; custom two-tone gelcoat; 5.0-kW Kohler genset;gray-water system; gas grill;salon microwave and refriger-ator; Kenwood CD package;transom stereo remote; teakinlay on swim platform; 15-inch flat-screen TV; wet bar;wire for generator; wire forwindlass; Raymarine GPS/chartplotter and VHF.Warranty: Lifetime coverageon the hull to the original own-er; this warranty includes afive-year transferable feature.

Regal Marine Industries,(800) 877-3425. www.regalboats.com. For more information, contact(866) 626-2846 or www.motorboating.com/motorboat/productinfo.

JUNE 2004

gas rams, giving you lots of roomfor hoses, lines, fenders and ashore power cord. There also is afreshwater shower with hot andcold water.

Now then, for the cabin.The wide beam carries well

forward into the cabin space, butrather than make the hull profilelook like a humpbacked whale,Regal’s design team dictated 5'3"headroom. In essence, then, it’s anoversized and very well equippedcuddy. Most of the space is tak-en up with a rounded V-benchthat, of course, converts to avery large berth. You can indeedmove the whole party down hereif you like. However, as men-tioned, there is no cooktop, onlyspace for an optional microwave.The fridge is small, too. There isone modest cedar-lined hanginglocker, four portlights and a cir-cular overhead hatch. The elec-tric panel is behind a cupboarddoor—which is where you wouldmount the optional flat-screenTV. A mirrored bulkhead forwardhas stowage behind it, and there’slots more stowage under thecushions. Lots more.

The head is small, with an evensmaller door. You have to sit onthe toilet to take a shower. A plas-tic curtain shields the door, andthere is a bulkhead-mountedbracket to convert the telephoneshower head into a stationary one.Headroom here is for small chil-dren or diminutive actors. (Whatwas his name, the wee one on“Fantasy Island”?)

The bow offers no sunpad, butthere are two hatches forward forall the necessaries, including thefreshwater washdown and an-chor windlass. One nice touch,fore and aft and all about, are thepop-up stainless steel cleats.

The new Regal 3350 is a boat inwhich you could plan a shortcruise, and as a model with a lot ofpep, good performance and greatstyle, it should prove an im-mensely popular addition to thebuilder’s line.Z