REGULATOR 24XO
Go anywhere, do everything” is the mantra for Regulator’s XO crossover boats. The newest 24XO offers a graceful Carolina sheerline over a shallow-running, Lou Codega-designed, 17-degree bottom that sharpens forward into a wave-cleaving, flared bow that can accept coastal assignments on reasonable days. Even with Regulator’s robust construction, the 24XO is light enough to tow behind a compact pickup truck.
Fishing comes first, of course. With an optional Minn Kota Ulterra and iPilot system, the 24XO can masquerade as a freshwater bass boat one morning, work an eelgrass bed for speckled trout and redfish the next, drift for flounder the third, and jig an offshore wreck for stripers or black sea bass the fourth. Lockable racks port and starboard in the bow deck hold fly rods to 9 feet, 6 inches; horizontal racks under padded gunwales each hold two spinning/plug rods to 7 feet, 3 inches. There’s tackle storage in the helm’s leaning post, plus a four-rod rocket launcher. Another launcher is optional for the T-top. The stern deck holds a livewell to starboard (a portside one is optional) and has plenty of casting room.
In the afternoon, mount the 24XO’s optional watersports tow bar, or snap in the cushions, put the bow on the beach, and roll out the bow and stern sunshades that hide under the hardtop to create a shaded porch with restroom in the console. Seating includes two lounges in the bow platform, space for two in front of the console (with a cooler beneath), and another for two in the stern platform.
The 24XO will pay back handsomely to anyone willing to learn all it can do in different sea conditions. That means watching how the hull’s shape reacts to the wave it meets, then using the throttle, power trim, trim tabs and hydraulic jack plate appropriately. With Yamaha’s wellproven F300 on the jack plate, the 24XO tops out close to 50 mph, but it is happy at speeds from the low 20s to the mid-30s, a wide range for adapting to whatever conditions a day on the water brings. We were particularly impressed with the supersweet spot at 3,700 rpm (29.8 mph, with a 9.2 gph fuel burn).