HYDROLIFT X-27 SUV

From stalwart of the sea to sporty SUV, pilothouse boats are encountering something of a revolution but the X-27 may be the most extreme example yet

- Hugo Andreae

Pilothouse boats never used to be the sportiest of craft. Practical, yes. Seaworthy, yes. Good value, usually. But sporty? Not so much. However, change is afoot. In much the same way that boring MPV cars morphed into sportier SUVs, so wheelhouse craft are evolving into something altogether more dynamic. Axopar went a long way to changing perceptions with its 28 Cabin and 37 Cross Cabin but now Hydrolift has taken it one step further with the most extreme sports utility vessel yet. Not only is its latest craft called the X-27 SUV but with a claimed top speed of more than 70 knots (yes, you read that right the first time) the emphasis is firmly on the sports part of the acronym.

NEED FOR SPEED

Wisely, Hydrolift UK decided to order its test boat with a single 300hp Mercury Verado outboard rather than the twin 250hp or single 450R options but the spec still makes for tantalising reading. The slender twin-step hull has a knife-like deadrise angle of 24° while its sandwich construction keeps the weight down to 2,300kg. The hull is the work of Norwegian powerboat racer and Hydrolift founder Bard Eker and is shared with the S-26 open sportsboat we tested last year. Impressive as that boat was, the X-27 SUV is more intriguing, partly because it can be used all year round and partly because it doesn’t look like it should be capable of those speeds. Whereas the Brabus Shadow 500 Cabin screams performance from every pore, the X-27 SUV looks more like a run of the mill sports fisher in the mould of a Jeanneau Merry Fisher or Finnmaster C8.