N
ever underestimate the importance
of mid-20ft sportscruisers. This is the
absolute heartland of first ‘proper boat’
ownership, the place people gravitate to
when, with the onset of a family and the
need for a separate loo and space for the
kids to kip, the cuddy cabin can no longer
cut it. Even for those that have outgrown
this sector, the success of boats like this brand new 25ft Glastron
might be what stands between a future buyer of your used Princess
V39 signing on the dotted, or choosing to take up golf instead.
It’s a sector that absolutely has to work in order to springboard its
owner and family into a lifelong boating addiction, yet paradoxically
it’s also potentially the most compromised arena in the motor boat
market because it has to do everything – be a driving machine for
dad, a weekend cottage for mum and an aquatic play centre for the
kids. And it has to do all of this while delivering compact
dimensions that keep running costs down and manageability
up. And it has to be affordable.
Glastron has form in this segment of the market. A decade ago,
the previous model GS 259 sportscruiser sold strongly in the UK.
Things have moved on for Glastron since then, not least of all,
ownership of the company. Rec Boat Holdings, which also owns
Wellcraft and Four Winns, is now wholly owned by the monolithic
French Bénéteau Group. Currently the boats are still built at
Glastron’s base in Cadillac, Michigan. But don’t rule out French-
built Glastrons in future, or indeed American-built Bénéteaus,
as the group seeks to capitalise on its international factory base.
But what of the boat? Fundamentally, the concept echoes the
GS 259 of old, and indeed pretty much every other sportscruiser
in this sector. And like most other similarly sized sportscruisers,
particularly those hailing from the USA, the biggest area ofboat report