Wakeboarding - April 01, 2018

WE SAY With its open layout, seating
for 16, and acres of transom lounge,
Bennington’s 25 GSBA vies for high
honors at the sandbar or cove. Facing
lounges adorn the bow. The consoles
are set back quite a bit, limiting room
in the stern but afording better hull
balance and giving the bow seating a
huge footprint. We admired the simply
arranged dash atop the sweptback and
curvaceous console, noting the presence
of vital instrumentation and a digitally
controlled Kicker sound system.
Aft, an aircraft-size transom lounge,
upholstered in stitched Tuscan Dune
and Perforated Firecracker color-
combination vinyl, features a reversible
backrest. The seat hinges up to reveal a
changing station, plus access to batter-
ies. Note the Bennington logo plate at
the base of the lounge. At the transom,
we noted neat, clean routing of wiring

BENNINGTON

25 GSBA

SPEED EFFICIENCY OPERATION

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

1000 4.4 5.1 1.9 2.3 2.7 73.9 85.0 0 67

1500 6.0 6.9 2.6 2.3 2.7 73.1 84.1 1 72

2000 9.6 11.1 3.8 2.5 2.9 80.4 92.5 2 74

2500 15.1 17.4 4.8 3.2 3.6 99.8 114.8 1 76

3000 19.3 22.2 8.3 2.3 2.7 73.6 84.7 1 80

3500 22.2 25.5 8.4 2.6 3.0 83.6 96.2 1 82

4000 26.6 30.6 11.4 2.3 2.7 73.9 85.0 1 84

4500 30.3 34.9 13.6 2.2 2.6 70.6 81.3 1 85

5000 33.9 39.0 16.9 2.0 2.3 63.5 73.1 1 89

5500 37.8 43.5 20.5 1.8 2.1 58.4 67.2 0 90

6000 40.8 47.0 26.9 1.5 1.7 48.1 55.4 0 92

6350 44.0 50.6 30.5 1.4 1.7 45.7 52.6 0 93

MOST ECONOMICAL CRUISING SPEED

·LOA: 27'9" ·BEAM: 8'6" ·DRAFT: 1'3" ·DISPLACEMENT:

3,298 lb.

HOW WE TESTED

ENGINE: YAMAHA F350 V-8 FOUR-STROKE DRIVE/PROP:

OUTBOARD/YAMAHA SALTWATER SERIES XL 16.25" X 15"

GEAR RATIO: 1.73:1 FUEL LOAD: 26 GAL. CREW WEIGHT:

375 LB.

and hoses to the Yamaha outboard.

Our test boat’s 350 hp Yamaha V-8

delivered a max speed of 50 mph. Best

cruise occurred at a sedate 17.4 mph and

2,500 rpm, where we recorded 3.6 mpg.

At most any other speed level, mpg was

in the 2s, not 3s. For those needing low-

end grunt, this is your ride; we ripped

zero to 30 multiple times in a consistent

5.4 seconds, enough to beat more than a

few bass and speed hulls

out of the hole. Optional

power-assist steering

harnesses the power.

—Kevin Falvey

WHO’D WANT ONE

Boaters seeking luxury for

a crowd.

ANOTHER CHOICE

Check out the Cypress

TESTS ///#3067

Cay Cayman LE 250 ($116,889, powered

by a Mercury Racing 400R).

BOTTOM LINE $117,456 (as tested);

benningtonmarine.com

PHOTO: BILL DOSTER