Pontoon & Deck Boat

Pontoon & Deck Boat April 2018 25 www.pdbmagazine.com a box I-beam design for the seams as well as in the stern to help increase the maximum horsepower rating that is currently rated for up to 350hp, but could be on the rise. Barletta additionally employs V.I.P. technology, a small rubber landing pad, which helps lessen the vibration and rattling that might occur underdeck with metal on metal attachments. With the L class the boat comes standard with a full aluminum skin below deck along and the three 26-inch diameter pontoons that help with the overall flotation. Another unique feature is the two-stage lifting strakes, not only in design, but in function. We'll talk about performance in a bit, but the strakes were designed with the ability to flush invasive species for those of you who might trailer your boat from one body of water to another. Throttle Down When we first saw this pontoon on display at the Minneapolis Boat Show it had a Mercury outboard on the back. This time around for our test it still had a Mercury, but it was upgraded to the brand-new 3.4L V6 that was just released the week before our test. The new 225hp four-stroke works well with Barletta's dual-stage strakes and helps get the boat up on plane quicker, but then keep the pontoon gliding across the water at higher speeds. At full throttle we reached a top speed of 41.8 mph, but it was the quick 4-second zero-to-20 mph time that impressed us most. You'd never guess the dry weight was more than 3,700 pounds by the way this boat maneuvers. One of the key factors to the new Mercury V6 lineup is the midrange torque and you could really appreciate that added power on this Barletta. Mercury Perks We had a little extra time during our test so Mercury rep Paul Adams walked us through some of the key features that are dealer-added items that were possible because this pontoon was equipped with a Simrad as well as Mercury's Vessel Link system. Of course with Vessel View Mobile app a lot of these same features are available too on your smartphone. Key Mercury features include cruise control where you can pre-set the RPM's or by miles per hour with the ability to dial in your exact speed on the fly. There is also a smart tow setting that you can pre-program in advance so you can slow down your holeshot when you're towing younger children on tubes. By far our favorite feature is the GPS-based trim system. It's all controlled through the Simrad and you never have to touch the manual trim button again. Even in our tightest turns the Barletta trimmed quickly and automatically, which truly helps even the most inexperienced boat drivers look like veterans on the water.

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