Boating USA — January 2018

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# 3045

BOATINGMAG.COM | JANUARY 2018| 47

Chaparral’s new 191 Sun-

Coast outboard joins a

movement that might make

2018 remembered as the

year outboards shouldered

past sterndrive runabouts.

We think the 191 will be re-

membered among the many

cool, value-priced family

runabouts from top brands.

On a blustery day on

Biscayne Bay we slipped

into the Intracoastal Water-

way channel between large

cruisers and center consoles.

Wakes rocked us as we slid

over them at a respectful an-

gle, but they didn’t rattle us,

the hatch hinges or anything

else as we took our place in

the parade. We buzzed past

some of them, and realized it

doesn’t take V-8 horsepower

to have a good time.

Outboards bring more

than green fuel effi ciency to

boaters — they bring sim-

pler maintenance, shallower

CHAPARRAL

191 SunCoast

SPEED EFFICIENCY OPERATION

rpm knots mph gph naut. mpg stat. mpg n. mi. range range s. mi. angle levelsound

1000 3.4 4.0 0.5 6.9 7.9 216.2 248.9 1 64

1500 5.1 5.9 0.9 5.6 6.5 177.9 204.8 1 65

2000 5.8 6.7 1.3 4.4 5.1 140.0 161.1 4 67

2500 6.6 7.7 2.2 3.0 3.5 95.2 109.5 7 76

3000 9.8 11.3 3.3 3.0 3.4 93.3 107.4 10 77

3500 16.7 19.2 3.6 4.6 5.3 146.0 168.0 6 79

4000 19.3 22.2 5.8 3.3 3.8 104.8 120.6 2 82

4500 25.7 29.6 8.9 2.9 3.3 90.9 104.6 2 86

5000 29.1 33.5 9.4 3.1 3.6 97.6 112.3 4 89

5500 33.9 39.0 10.5 3.2 3.7 101.7 117.0 4 90

MOST ECONOMICAL CRUISING SPEED

High Points

The 191 even includes an anchor locker

with a bow boarding ladder.

We were pleasantly surprised that the

colored gelcoat was a standard feature.

Let the good times roll: The trailer is

standard.

Low Points

While we’re not a fan of acrylic wind-

screens, this one saves money to bring

the boat in at a value price.

Spring cleats are hard to reach from

the helm.

Toughest Competitor

The Tahoe 1950 deck boat is powered

by Mercury’s super-smooth 115

($28,995) and offers six side-color

options at no charge. It boasts a cockpit

refreshment galley and ski-tow pylon,

among other standards.

·LOA: 20'0"·BEAM: 8'6"·DISPLACEMENT:

2,870 lb. (dry with power)·DRAFT: 1'2" (motor up)

·TRANSOM DEADRISE:18 degrees·BRIDGE

CLEARANCE:4'7" ·MAX HEADROOM: NA·FUEL

CAPACITY: 35 gal.·MAX HORSEPOWER: 150

·AVAILABLE POWER:Yamaha 115 or 150 hp outboards

HOW WE TESTED

ENGINE: Yamaha F115 PROP: Yamaha 13^1 / 8 " x 17"

3-blade aluminum GEAR RATIO: 2.15:1 FUEL LOAD:

20 gal. CREW WEIGHT: 240 lb.

draft and, when needed,

the ability to skim over bars

with the motor trimmed

high, making them ideal for

coastal boating.

The crossover deck-boat

hull has a sleek look and a

cab-forward design that pro-

vides wide forward seating.

The upholstered lounges

wrap around both ends and

are divided on the port side

by a refreshment galley com-

plete with water supply.

The dashboard is sporty

with ana-

log gauges,

but you can

upgrade to

a Garmin

display for a

sci-fi -cool dash. We think it

may be as little as fi ve years

before gauges with needles

all but vanish from boats.

Chaparral off ers a stan-

dard tow point, but there’s

an aff ordable wakeboard

tower ($2,850 ) available.

We stepped to the transom

platform and noted the

hatch covering the stainless-

steel ladder. Boats in this

price class often leave them

exposed to stub toes. The

swim platform is divided by

the outboard and transom

well, and that may be the only

downside of outboard power.

But for saltwater boaters, it’s a

bargain trade-off because the

outboard is easily fl ushed of

salt by connecting to its con-

venient hose fi tting.

The SunCoast is also sim-

ple to wash down thanks to

its fi berglass nonskid fl oor —

hose it down and head for the

dock-tail party. You’ll arrive

refreshed, relaxed, and may-

be with just enough sun on

your face (if you didn’t deploy

the standard Bimini top) to

let people know what you’ve

been up to. — Randy Vance

To see a photo gallery of the
Chaparral 191 SunCoast, visit
boatingmag.com/3045.

CHAPARRAL BOATS

Nashville, Georgia; 727-595-2956; chaparralboats.com

PHOTO: COURTESY CHAPARRAL BOATS

Price: $29,995

(as tested, with trailer)

AVAILABLE POWER:

OUTBOARD