When Shane Stillman told me that he was bringing Supra’s new SC450 to Salt Lake City for my Supra Dealer's, Marine Products, customers to demo I jumped at his invitation to try her out. Back in May, I got the opportunity to demo the SA550, so I was eager to see how the SC measured up. Unlike the SA, I had never seen the boat in person prior to the demo. I only saw pictures and videos that were posted online, so I didn’t have an accurate idea on what to expect.
My first impression when I stood on the swim platform was that this boat was huge! After I got in and sat in the passenger seat, I asked Shane, “is this a 23 or 24 footer”? I was astounded, and seriously thought he was lying when he said it was only 21.8ft long. The cockpit sits several inches deeper than the SA and is extremely comfortable from any position you sit in. The SC has many of the same interior features that the SA has (vinyl quality and construction, electric E-boost drivers seat, Vision Touch system dashboard with manual switches for redundancy, snap out carpets, tower, etc) but the SC also has some unique features as well. For instance, it has the custom SeaDek Non-Skid padding on the top of the gunwales for a safer entry into the boat. It also has a removable jump seat between the driver and passenger seat to allow for multiple seating configurations. The biggest difference, however, is the bow shape. The SC has a traditional bow, but its unique shape was designed to push water out and away from the boat. This made it virtually impossible to take water over the bow. As I sat up front, Marine Products owner, Randy Casper tried repeatedly to dunk the bow into rollers and couldn’t get me wet. The bow is shorter in length, but is very spacious for 2-3 adults. It is also deep like the cockpit area, which makes it much safer when children are sitting up front.
The drive of the boat was powerful but smooth, just like the SA. During turns, even at speed, there was no cavitations or prop slipping. Again, I was impressed with the feeling of the driver’s area. The comfort level is extremely high for the driver due to no visual obstructions by the windshield line and anatomical designs of the dash and throttle area.
Due to high winds, the water conditions weren’t conducive for wakeboarding, but we did get the chance to surf. Shane explained that the hull on the SC is the same as the SA from the windshield to the stern, so it would produce the same wake as the SA. That got me anxious since I didn’t get to wake surf behind the SA back in May. I was very impressed that with just the rear corner tank and flex bag completely filled, along with the center tank at 50%, the surf wake was fun. Normally, I would have to fill an additional large ballast bag on either side of the boat but that wasn’t necessary. With the smart plate at 50%, the wake was steeper, which I preferred. At 100%, the wake was mellower but longer, which allowed you to get further back on the wake. The SC’s wake was so solid that even when we crossed over a Moomba Mojo’s surf wake, you barely noticed any change in the SC wake, allowing the rider to surf on without any disturbance.
After spending the day on the SC, it’s quite clear that this boat was designed to do it all, and do it well. Contact your local Supra Boats dealer and elevate your expectations to "beyond better" in the new 2014 SC350-550.
Posts
0 comments:
Post a Comment