Family Recipe
Richcraft Performance is cooking up something special with its new deck boat.

Richcraft Performance Boats may be new to the deck-boat scene but company owner Rich Thomas has been building boats for family and friends for nearly two decades.

Thomas decided to take his hobby and turn it into a business. If the first boat, called the 28 Aggresor Convertible Deck, is representative of past work, those friends and relatives got a finely crafted boat.

It took Thomas more than 2 1/2 years to complete the tooling for the catamaran, which featured a forced-air induction system integrated into the hull step. The boat also had a capped bow and stern, a tough cosmetic feature to execute especially for the first boat out of the mold.

"They've worked pretty hard to get the fit and finish nice," said Bob Teague, lead test driver and workmanship inspector. "I've seen a lot of first efforts that weren't this close."

With a retail price of $112,595, the 28-footer was a good value especially for buyers on a tight budget. For the money, Richcraft equipped it with a MerCruiser 496 Mag HO engine with a Bravo One X drive.

The 425-horsepower engine was good for a top speed of 65.8 mph at 5,200 rpm. Considering the boat will be loaded down with friends and supplies, buyers might want to up the horsepower. (Richcraft offers up to 1,000 horsepower.)

Even with the base power, the 28 Aggresor still put up solid performance numbers. From still in the water, the boat was running 40 mph in 10 seconds and 55.5 mph in 20 seconds. Midrange acceleration was average given the power, taking 7.7 seconds to go from 30 to 50 mph.

Our evaluators Bob Teague and John Tomlinson gave the deck boat strong praise for its handling in slaloms and high-speed turns. When the catamaran encountered chop from passing boats, it rode over the wakes smoothly. Our testers also liked the Dana Marine electric visors that came out from the console to cut down the wind when running at speed.

The builder provided a transom walk-through for easy access to the cockpit. Seating included individual bucket seats for the driver and co-pilot, along with an L-shape lounge and facing lounges up front. To contrast the orange and yellow gelcoat graphics, the seating, flooring and console doors were in gray.

Another neat custom touch was a carbon-fiber coating treatment that was added to all the hardware from the gas fill and speaker covers to the bezels around the cleats. Even the bezels for the Auto Meter Pro-Comp Marine gauges had the carbon-fiber print.

Over on the port-side console there was a sink and a nozzle that pulled out so it can be used to wash down the inside of the boat. Up front, the builder created a walk-through for access to shore when the catamaran is beached.

Although our test model had large lockers on each side of the walk-through, the builder offers buyers a pair of custom options for the bow. Buyers can get a flip-up front ramp or steps on hydraulics that fold out onto the beach. No matter the options, the lockers stay in place and are great for stowing wet items.

If Richcraft keeps building boats this good, it will no longer be just a family secret.—Gregg Mansfield

Click to enlarge.