Our pick of the new Cannes launches

THRILL SEEKER We test three very different 30-35ft boats to see what your money can buy

One of the joys of shopping for a new boat is the sheer amount of choice and variety on offer at any given size or budget. Take these three craft from the 30-35ft sector as a prime example. We have the thrill seeker: the XO Cruiser. This is a white-knuckle, edge-of-your-seat sportsboat with a razorsharp aluminium hull and a thumping great pair of 350hp Mercury Verados. Its top speed is a whisker under 50 knots. It’s a ripsnorting point-to-point specialist that will gobble up anything you can throw at it and provide reasonable accommodation once you’ve finished.

Now let’s flip to the other end of the spectrum: the weekend cottage in the shape of the Linssen Grand Sturdy 35.0 Sedan. It may be made of metal, but that’s where the similarities with the XO end. This is a genteel inland cruiser with a level of home-from-home comfort that few rivals of this size possess. It majors on

storage space and practicality and, with a single 75hp diesel engine, it’s most at home meandering along inland waterways. It’s a boat that doubles up as a waterside property that can be enjoyed even if the weather prohibits you from leaving your berth.

Somewhere in between these two is the Sea Ray 320 Sundancer: the party boat. This is an archetypal family cruiser with a safe, sociable cockpit and enough sunbathing and seating space for many happy hours soaking up the sun. It has four decent berths and a proper toilet for weekends away. Sea Ray’s trim packages make it easy for customers to spec a boat that suits their needs. It’s funky and a little bit flash in places but provides the perfect step up for a family to go a little further afield and enjoy time on the water together.

All three of these boats will relieve you of £250,000 but they each use it in very different ways. Over the next 12 pages, we assess their strengths and weaknesses to get a taste of the diverse style of boating they offer within similarly sized and similarly priced packages.