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02/01/2008
Let the Good Times Roll. SUN TRACKER® Party Barge 26 Regency Edition
By: GO BOATING Test team
The name Party Barge pretty much sums up what this boat was designed to do — share good times with a whole boatload of friends and family. With comfortable seating for 16, room to relax with food and drinks, a rockin’ sound system and a great view, a party can break out anytime. “Barge,” however, belies this boat’s sporty feel, attractive interior and spirited performance. As a matter of fact, the outboard-powered Party Barge 26 Regency Edition is ideal for watersports excitement as well as casual cruising. It scoots along well enough to pull a skier, and provides a steady and roomy platform for fishing or exploring.
FIRST IMPRESSIONS
The deck layout is well designed, with large L-shaped bench seats in the bow and stern and three swiveling and reclining “captain’s” seats — one at the helm, one in the bow and one amidships. The forward bench seat features a lean-back on the starboard side, great for relaxing and reclining a lazy afternoon away. Underneath the starboard bench you’ll also find storage and a removable trash receptacle. The portside bench seating features a ski locker to safely secure your slalom skis and other sports gear. Heavy 28-ounce sculptured carpet and new, more deeply cushioned seats and backrests further increase passenger comfort.
The fiberglass-reinforced console features simulated burlwood accents, tilt sport steering, soft-touch digital switches and a full complement of gauges and instruments including a digital depth sounder and flush-mounted Ritchie compass. Beside the helm, there’s a special recessed area in the gunwale that stores the included fire extinguisher. A satellite-ready AM/FM CD player with an MP3 jack and four directional speakers is right at hand to keep the party atmosphere going.
In addition to comfortable aft wrap-around bench seating, the Party Barge 26’s versatile aft layout includes a starboard changing room with a bench and a padded sundeck for soaking up rays.
PERFORMANCE
With a 135 hp OptiMax outboard, our test boat topped out at 36 mph while still getting a respectable 2.3 mpg. At 4000 rpm and almost 24 mph, fuel efficiency increased to 3.3 mpg. With numbers like these, it’s easy to see how this pontoon will keep the cruising, tubing or skiing fun going all day long. We found its cruising sweet spot at 3000 rpm and 15 mph, where you can expect to stretch 3.8 miles from each gallon of fuel. Sun Tracker’s NV Performance pontoon design provided a smooth ride and helped the Party Barge 26 get onto plane in just over 4 seconds. Keep on the throttle, and this roomy 26-footer will crack 30 mph in just over 11 seconds.
The sporty console with tilt hydraulic steering (standard with 90 hp outboards and up) gives the driver a family runabout feel and helps the Party Barge 26 track confidently and smoothly through turns. Sun Tracker’s heavy-duty construction adds to the solid feel and quiet ride. It’s made with 26-inch multi-chambered pontoons with full-length deck support, full-width “Z” bar floor supports and onepiece “M” bracket floor supports. Special sound- and vibration-deadening insulation is used on the fence for reducing noise when running in choppy waters. GO
For complete review of this test, please click on the PDF file below.
View 393_Sun Tracker Boat Test.pdf