Hi, I am boat test editor Eric Kolby,
and today we're on the brand new 250 OSX
from Chaparral Boats.
I'm gonna do a full features inspection
and performance evaluation.
So let's get started. Starting at the stern,
we have swim platforms on each side that extend 34 inches
by 22 across.
There's a 5 inch cleat that's a pull up,
but then also up high, there's another one on the stern.
And notice this stainless steel chafe plate,
it's a nice touch. This hatch
for the ladder is on a tension hinge, so you don't have
to worry about holding that while you
deploy the four step ladder,
another thoughtful feature.
As we work our way across, you've got room to pass
between the motor and the splash
well. Fresh water flush,
access plate, gets you to components you would need
to get to down in the bilge,
and then over here, up top we have a fuel fill.
Then the stereo remote, which is standard, a nice touch,
and down low is the pump out.
You have the same cleat installation
that you saw on the starboard side.
All right. This is an eight foot, 6 inch wide boat,
which means you don't need a permit to trailer it.
Having a fuel fill on the port side
and here on the starboard means when you pull into a
land-based gas station, you don't have
to choose which side you're gonna fill from.
Now it's a 4 inch step up to a passageway
that's a foot wide in between the stern seats.
Now what's amazing about this is
how easy these seatbacks slide, there's no ratchet,
there's no click, it just moves
and you're either forward facing or your aft facing.
Put it back into the forward facing, undo a latch
and the whole thing picks up
and there's a huge storage tub in there.
31 inches long by
17 and a half wide and 15 inches deep.
But always thinking about access
because the folks at Chaparral are boaters.
You can pull the tub out, it's light.
Your steering pumps down there, your fuel
water separator, your oil,
anything you need to get to, yes, you're gonna have
to crawl a little bit, but the access is there.
Good example of how much space you have,
there's three life jackets in there,
and it look like they're barely touching the bottom.
Okay, from this half passageway,
one foot down into the primary cockpit area, 88 inches
from the base of that step all the way up here to the base
of the helm console. Then we're 42 inches wide,
so there's a lot of space to work with in here.
Our test boat had the optional Seadek matting
and notice the size of these drains in the
aft corners of the cockpit.
Three and a half inches in diameter.
For all the features we want during a day
on the water, grab handles, courtesy light,
two stainless steel beverage holders, JL audio speaker,
and this is repeated on each side.
And we have a clip for the table,
instead of a hole in the deck, which we like much better.
We have additional bench seats on each side with
deep storage. On the port side,
we also have your battery switches, circuit breaker
and an air pump for blowing up water toys.
Now gone are the days of calling these
compartment ski lockers.
This one's 80 inches long,
the opening itself is 15 inches wide,
so you've probably got a few inches on each side
and it's 16 inches deep.
To give you an idea, you put your life jacket bag in here,
give it a shove forward, close it down,
and you still have plenty of room.
The second of your two under deck lockers 30 inches long.
The open is 16 inches wide.
It goes wider than that outboard on each side,
and it's 16 inches deep.
It opens on a gas strutt and you got access to your batteries.
If you need to remove the batteries, you will go
through the removable bins in the aft bench seats.
Our test boat has the optional water sports arch
and it folds down with the push of a button,
if you gotta clear a low bridge.
The matte finish on the optional tower gives the boat a nice
contrast to the sheen on the seats.
And also notice you're not gonna hit your head on aluminum,
if you're sitting facing inboard next to the tower.
The helm is finished in a nice dark upholstery, gives
a classy look and feel.
Two 7 inch Simrad screens come standard.
You can split them up using one for engine data
and the other for navigation. Stainless steel plates
on each side are your accessory switches
that are clearly labeled, and they
light up when they power it up.
Ignition is alongside the tilt wheel
and your stereo as to starboard just ahead
of your digital controls.
For those who like your music,
you have two speakers in the bow, two more in the cockpit,
two alongside the helm seats, plus a big
subwoofer under the helm console.
On both bucket seats at the helm,
you pick up the left hand lever to move the seat for and
aft, you raise the right hand lever
to rotate the seat inboard.
Okay, in the port console there's a glove box up top.
It's got some tension hinges on it that are brand new,
but there's padded place for you to place a cell phone,
something like that, no charging ports of any kind.
And the port console opens nice and wide
and inside there's a private head.
They have upgraded this boat
with the porcelain Tecma with the pump out.
It normally comes standard with a porta-potty.
Overall headroom in this compartment is 44 inches
and seated headroom on top of the toilet is 32.
There's a stainless steel sink with a pull-up shower, mirror,
and an opening port. When the temperatures get a little
chilly, close off the air dam,
close off the windshield.
The passageway to the bow at its narrowest
is 21 inches wide.
And look at these seatbacks, 17 inches I'm in up
to my shoulder and I've got a perfect grip on the rail.
You've got padded bolsters all the way around in the bow.
The center cushion is removable, so you can step up
to work the anchor and there's a non-skid underneath
this snapped-in area for bow storage,
insulated cooler. On the port side,
notice that these hinges hold the
seat bottom up on their own.
You can use two hands to remove the short leg for
the bow filler cushion.
This is a thoughtful touch, so the legs for the
filler cushion don't just flop all over the place.
They lock into position, small things,
but again, they've been out on boats
and they know things shouldn't flop around. To starboard,
the grab loop gives you an idea
that this is gonna be a bigger compartment to access.
Inside is your bow filler cushion, your leg
for your table in the cockpit,
and your dedicated storage for the table.
You also see the backside of the subwoofer is protected
and the JL audio amplifier. On each side of the foredeck,
our two 6 inch pull-up cleats,
and in the center, there's an anchor locker with clips
for a Danforth style anchor.
The anchor locker hatch,
like we've seen all throughout the boat, has tension hinges
that hold it up, makes it easier
to deploy an anchor when you can use two hands.
Now Chaparral designed some generous depth in this boat
throughout with 33 inches to the cap rail in the bow,
31 alongside the helm, and 30 right alongside the tower.
There's also tall freeboard on this boat;
36 inches at the stern,
43 next to the helm, 43 at the bow.
Our test boat was powered
by a 250 horsepower Yamaha four stroke outboard,
which was plenty of power.
The Chaparral 250 OSX measures 24 feet 6 inches long
with an 8 foot 6 inch beam and a draft of 18 inches.
Our test boat weighed 4,200 pounds without engines
and with three people, full fuel,
no fresh water and test gear.
We had an as tested weight of 5,721 pounds.
Powered by a single 250 horsepower Yamaha outboard,
spinning a 15 and quarter inch
by 17 inch salt water series propeller,
the 250 OSX hit a top speed of 47.32 miles per hour
at 5,700 RPM.
We recorded best cruise at 3,500 RPM,
where she ran 27.1 miles per hour
and burned 8.7 gallons per hour.
This translated to 3.1 miles per gallon
and a range of 168 statute miles with 10%
of her 60 gallon fuel capacity held in reserve.
In acceleration tests,
our test boat planed in 5.6 seconds,
hit 20 miles per hour in 7.2
and ran through 30 miles per hour in 10.4 seconds.
The 250 OSX held minimum plane at 24.2 miles per hour.
If you've run a boat with Chaparral's extended V plane
bottom, you know the benefits of the design.
Most boats have a running surface that stops at the transom.
The extended V plane goes all the way back
to the trailing edge of the swim platform
acting as trim tabs.
Basically this helps keep the boat level.
It comes up on plane more quickly
and in turns the stern doesn't squat.
You come out of the turn, you can accelerate
and maintain great grip through the turns,
had a nice comfortable lean.
This propeller was really hooked up.
The boat handles very well.
The 250 OSX from Chaparral Boats is a big boat
that's gonna appeal to the family.
It's got great handling, solid performance,
and lots of amenities For Boat Test,
I'm Eric Kolby. And remember,
if your boat's under 26 feet, wear this,
it's the law.