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| Reprinted from Boats & Places |
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| By Mike Milne |
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I admit having a pre-ordained soft spot for Glastron’s GXL 235, the wide-beam 23-footer that’s one of two new entries in the company’s upscale bowrider series. My sympathies stem partly from its color--a vibrant blue that’s remarkably similar to the accents on a sporty runabout that I drove about 15 years ago. Aside from being a bigger boat, the GXL shows how far Glastron has come.
First of all there’s the two-tone color, moulded into the gelcoat above and below the rubrail where the hull and deck are joined. Three other color choices are also available.
At the helm, there’s a leatherette and simulated burlwood steering wheel with adjustable tilt and a burlwood dash with silver-bezel Faria instruments. A visor eliminates glare, switches and controls are properly at hand and there’s a four-speaker AM-FM/CD stereo: The helm and companion seats are supportive swiveling buckets; the helm seat adjusts full and has a flip-up seat bottom for added height when you need it.
Aft, the cockpit has the U-shaped seating found on many bowriders in the 20- to 25-foot range. Glastron adds a hinged cushion in the middle of the aft sunpad that lifts to expose a walkway. No more footprints on the sunpad. An aft cockpit table and the cushions to turn the U-shaped settee into a full-width sunpad are standard equipment.
A bow compartment deep enough for kids to ride safely and swim platform with telescoping boarding ladder round out the day-cruising accommodations. The huge molded-in swim platform carries the boat’s band of color aft with a design flourish and gives the 235 a really sleek appearance.
More practical problems such as storage are solved in style. The molded aft lounge area has clean, convenient storage below the seat bottoms. There’s a huge cockpit floor locker for skis and wakeboards with carpeted storage lockers under the bow seats. Options are few; on the test boat they included a Bimini top. The Bimini was appreciated as test day--in the midday sun on the Gulf of Mexico off St. Petersburg, Florida--was positively steamy. A few top-speed runs soon cooled me down.
Even with the Bimini in place and more than a half-tank of fuel, the boat tops out at 51.4 mph at 5,000 rpm. Equipped with a twin-propeller Bravo III sterndrive as well as the 300-hp 350 MAG MerCruiser engine, the test boat is on plane quickly, accelerating to 20 mph in under five seconds and reaching 30 mph in 6.18 seconds.
Even if top speed is not a major concern, consider the test boat’s lively cruising speeds--37.2 mph at 3,500 rpm and 30.2 mph at 3,000 rpm--and the fact the boat stays on plane right down to 2,000 rpm where it still moves along at 16.9 mph.
Good looks aren’t all a family needs in a big bowrider, but Glastron’s GXL 235 sporty appearance is just a visual indication of the kind of care the builder has taken to provide an appealing, sporty platform for the family boating lifestyle.
TEST PERFORMANCE:
Test Boat Engine: MerCruiser 350 Magnum MPI 5.7-litre (350-cid), 300 hp, multiport fuel-injected V-8 gasoline engine pushing a twin-propeller Brave III sterndrive with a counter-rotating 24-inch prop set.
Acceleration:
0-20 mph: 4.8 sec
0-30mph: 6.18 sec
0-40 mph: 8.25 sec
Top Speed (GPS):
5,000 rpm/51.4 mph
Cruising Speed (GPS):
3,000 rpm: 30.2 mph
3,500 rpm: 37.2 mph
4,000 rpm: 42.7 mph
Sound Levels at Cruise (3,500 rpm):
Helm: 83 dba
Aft cockpit: 86 dba
Sound Levels at Top Speed:
Helm: 85 dba
Aft cockpit: 90 dba |
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| for GXL 235 photos, specifications, options, etc. |
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| © 2007 Glastron Boats |
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