HARDY SEAWINGS 254
BUILT 1995 PRICE £23,750
Hardtop sportscruisers feel like a recent invention, generally found on boats of 30ft and above. In fact, Hardy launched this hardtop sportscruiser back in 1991, and it’s only 25ft long! Until the late 1980s, Hardy was (and still is) best known for its traditional trawler style motorboats. The Seawings range was its attempt to take on the likes of Princess and Fairline, which at the time ruled this segment with the 266 Riviera and Targa 27.
INTERIOR There is sitting headroom only at the dinette but it’s a decent size and converts to a double berth. The chef gets to stand upright at the galley as it’s cunningly positioned under the sliding hatch to take advantage of the extra headroom when open. There’s a heads down here as well of course, with a sea toilet. It’s all very nicely finished, with plenty of Hardy-esque teak.
EXTERIOR The canvas roof over the helm detaches completely rather than slides, but it leaves a decent aperture as a result, and if you stand at the wheel you can look over the windscreen.
The cockpit layout is simple but effective. The backrest of the double helm seat folds forward to create rearward facing seating at anchor, augmenting the U-shaped aft seating around a table that drops to create a sunpad. It’s a very sociable layout. Six inch side decks offer reasonable access forward.
PERFORMANCE When this boat was first launched, powerful but compact diesel engines were in their infancy, so if you wanted the black stuff you had to make do with a 130hp Volvo Penta AQAD31. You would be better to opt for the 4.3 litre V6 petrol unit fitted to this boat. It might cost a bit more to run, but it reached 30 knots when new and cruised at about 25 knots.
SEAKEEPING Hardys were built in Norfolk when this boat was in production, so it comes as no surprise that Andrew Wolstenholme designed the hull – is there any motorboat from the English east coast he has not had a hand in? The Seawings 254 gave a, “sound, if lively, account of itself”, according to our original new boat test from this era.
LENGTH 25ft 4in (7.7m) BEAM 8ft 2in (2.5m) DRAUGHT 3ft 0in (0.9m) DISPLACEMENT 2 tonnes FUEL CAPACITY 313 litres
ENGINE Volvo Penta 205hp petrol engine
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