2020 NauticStar 243 DC Sport Deck review

But there are “bowriders”, and the wannabe bowriders. Some modern-day bowriders are probably better classed as crossover boats, building in family-friendly creature comforts to woo those that really want something like a fishing boat, but are told the buying decision comes down to settling on something the whole family can enjoy.

But sometimes a traditional bowrider is everything a family needs. That’s where the US-built NauticStar 243 DC Sport Deck, optimised for tow sports, swings into focus.

The NauticStar 243 DC Sport Deck uses a very traditional bowrider layout of front and rear lounges, and a split centre console. The boat is big enough to have an on-board toilet and changeroom, and focuses on just being a bowrider; there’s no pretending here.

Why a NauticStar? A big point of difference is that its DC range of boats is built to be outboard-powered, and is not developed as an outboard-powered version of a boat adapted from a sterndrive model.

That means they are optimised to work with the engine hanging off the transom.

At 7.4 metres long, the NauticStar 243 DC Sport Deck is the largest of the brand’s five Sport Deck bowrider models.

NauticStar Boats is based in the southern US state of Mississippi. It’s fairly new to the boat-making game, having established itself in 2002. The brand has since been bought out by larger tow sports boatmaking rival Mastercraft.

As a point of difference, the NauticStar 243 DC Sport Deck uses a stepped hull. The notched “air assist chine” hull, which runs the full 2.58-metre beam amidships, mixes air with the water passing under the boat’s running surface, ultimately reducing drag.

The hull’s shallow design also features an acutely angled bow stem that allows you to run the boat up on a beach – a landing ladder integrated into the bow encourages you to do it.

The NauticStar 243 DC Sports Deck is built in three separate layers consisting of a hand-laid outer hull, a box frame fibreglass stringer system – no wood is used – and a one-piece hand-laid moulded self-draining deck that is first bonded in place and then attached to the hull with stainless steel fasteners.

NauticStar hulls are coated in marine-grade vinyl ester before being finished off with a “precision sprayed” gelcoat. Voids are foam-filled to provide positive flotation, and each hull is tank-tested before it leaves NauticStar’s factory to ensure it is watertight.

Sydney-based Marine Partners has the NauticStar 243 DC Sport Deck priced form $129,000. Adding a Boeing galvanised dual-axle trailer for hauling it out of the water – at 2.59 metres wide, the boat isn’t tow-legal straight out of the showroom – will cost another $14,990.

The NauticStar 243 DC Sport Deck looks and feels as though it belongs at the premium end of the market. Fittings are all stainless steel, the hull comes with a contrasting colour scheme to offset the white of the interior, the seat coverings use stain-proof Syntec marine fabrics, the Gussi Italia steering wheel is hand-crafted in Italy, and the galley benchtop is finished in quality marble-look Corian.

The base boat comes ready to go out on the water complete with all the contrast-panelled seat cushions, a small icebox recessed into the console in front of the helm, forward ski locker, four-speaker Infinity audio system with four speakers and a Bluetooth connection,
Pressurised freshwater system for the galley and head, LED lights around the cockpit and in the change room, and a toilet – head in boat-speak – with freshwater tap and sink.

The enclosed toilet is doubly important for families wanting to maximise the amount of fun they plan on extracting from the NauticStar 243 DC Sport Deck – it’s large enough to be a practical change room, and the need to make toilet stops become a thing of the past.

Our test boat comes with the default non-slip moulded flooring in high traffic areas, and optional carpet in other spaces.

The NauticStar 243 DC Sport Deck features what you’d call a traditional bowrider layout, with deep internal freeboard, and a front and a rear lounge area separated from each other by a walk-through console.

The more streamlined shape of the hull means the lounge area in the bow is not as generous as some blunt-nosed or pickle fork-shaped rivals, but unless your idea of fun is cramming as many people on the boat at the same time as possible then that’s not really an issue. Instead, it’s probably optimised for around six people, and eight at a pinch.

The bow features a traditional U-shaped seating area that’s squared off by a sizable forepeak that houses the lidded anchor well. Access to the anchor well is via a divot in the seatback running along the forepeak.

The seats are made from hard-wearing but pleasantly textured vinyl with highlight stitching and contrasting panels. They’re very comfortable to sit on and the seatbacks contain recesses for four stainless steel drink holders and two of the four speakers for the Infinity audio system.

The two outboard seats can also be used as forward-facing lounges, with backrest cushions built onto the face of the console.

The space has plenty of storage, via side seat tops that lift backwards (so you don’t want to open them while moving lest the wind catches them and flips them back) and a large side-hinged, lined floor locker that’s big enough to store skis, kneeboards, wakeboards and the like. There’s enough foot room beside the underfloor locker to stand out of the way and open it.

The console is accessed via a central swinging panel of the low wrap-around windscreen, and a lower bi-fold windbreaker that stores neatly out of the way when not needed.

The port side of the console houses a large enclosed space that on our test boat is also equipped with an electrically flushing toilet. It’s big enough that you can change in and out of swimwear, although headroom is tight. The space features a thin, oval porthole that lets in natural light.

The helm seat is mounted on a pod that has space for a cooler box beneath it and is integrated into a bench with sink and a freshwater wash system, so you can’t spin it around to face aft. The same goes for the first mate’s seat, which is set back further than the helm seat to provide enough room for the large swinging door for the changeroom. The aft lounge backs onto this seat.

Like the bow, the aft cockpit is dominated by a large U-shaped lounge area. There’s a mounting point for a surprisingly small oval table that converts it into a more social space.

Like the bow, the side seatbacks feature recesses for another couple of Infinity speakers and cup holders.

The starboard side of the cockpit lounge features a cutaway section that provides access to the duckboards to either side of the outboard engine pod, with foot traffic using the seat cushion as a step – not the best solution. You can step over the outboard engine pod to move from one side of the transom to the other.

This is a boat made for tow sports, so the standard transom features a ski pole mounted in its centre. The pole is quite low and looks as though it just clears the outboard engine. A better option is the folding tow/wake tower – complete with canvas shade cloth – fitted to our test boat.

The helm position on the NauticStar 243 DC Sport Deck is very comfortable. You face a deep dash with a wrap-around windscreen, the deep freeboard has you sitting in the boat rather than on it, and the skipper’s chair hugs the lower body comfortably. A SeaDek-lined footrest is recessed into the console.

All-around vision is good, even while seated and up on the plane. If you prefer to stand, the seat includes a flip-up bolster to make more room.

The dash in front of the skipper is fitted with an array of analogue gauges, a visibly old-school touch in an era when more modern systems are moving to fully digital displays. The throttle, built into a binnacle with a leather-look wrap is mounted quite high – you have to lift your arm to about shoulder height to use it, and there is no natural armrest.

Our test boat has the controls for the Infinity audio system sitting low and to the left so they’re accessible by anyone standing around the helm station. To the right is a bank of metallic silver switches that light up with a blue glow when switched on, and control all the onboard electrical systems.

A USB port is mounted low on the side of the console. Surprisingly, there’s nowhere flat to place your phone once it is plugged in – the solution is likely to be the blank spot on the right side of the console that looks ideal for mounting a mobile phone holder.

The first mate’s chair on the opposite side of the console is set back so far from the skipper’s chair that it can feel as though you’re driving the boat alone.

Look at the size of the NauticStar 243 DC Sport Deck, and you’d think the 250hp Yamaha F250 Vmax SHO fitted to it is going to face an uphill battle to push all that bulk. You’re wrong.

Despite its size, the NauticStar 243 DC Sport Deck is deceptively light thanks to its foam-filled construction, coming in at around 1500kg. That means you don’t need as big an engine to get its groove on.

And let’s be honest, tapping all the potential of that 250hp Yammie and its lightweight air-stepped hull is part of the attraction of this boat. It easily jumps up onto the plane at very low revs, and is surprisingly economical, officially sipping only 18.5L/h at 3000rpm. Scheduling in refuelling stops on a day out won’t be an issue.

Conditions on our run out from Rozelle on Sydney Harbour to The Spit were pretty good, allowing us to open the taps and log a top speed of 37.8 knots without hitting wide-open throttle.

The hull is quite good through the chop, with its fine entry helping to cut through waves and wash comfortably and predictably, although the front does tend to bounce a bit in rougher water, likely because of the hull’s relatively light weight compared with a boat using solid fibreglass construction.

The boat corners very flat when you tip it in at speed, and hard turns feel more like a controlled slide than a surgical carve.

That said, the NauticStar 243 DC Sport Deck is an incredibly easy boat to drive. The one small criticism is that the SeaStar hydraulic steering is rather slow for a sports boat, making slow-speed maneuvers such as retrieving a skier from the water or docking something of an arm-twirling affair.

Performance

Maximum range based on 95% reserve for 235L fuel tank: 234nm @ 3000rpm

The NauticStar 243 DC Sport Deck is priced as a premium product, and the real-life experience backs that up.

The boat is comfortable, family-friendly, very well made and offers a level of safety – should the worst ever happen – that adds an extra layer of confidence in the boat’s all-round ability.

The NauticStar 243 DC Sport Deck’s more conventional hull shape in a world of slab-sided and blunt-nosed rivals is also a welcome point of difference if cramming as many people on the boat as possible isn’t that high a priority.

What makes this boat, though, is that fine lump of Yamaha donk hanging off the transom. Yes, you could step up to a 300hp as the maximum-rated powerplant, but the lithe, responsive 250 Vmax SHO appears perfectly suited to this boat, both in terms of its performance and hit to the hip pocket each time you visit the fuel bowser.

Specifications
Model: NauticStar 243 DC Sport Deck
Length: 7.39m
Beam: 2.59m
Draft: 0.41m
Transom height: 0.64m
Deadrise: 40 degrees (bow)/15 degrees (transom)
Outboard engines: 200hp (rec)/250hp/300hp (max)
Engine as tested: 250hp Yamaha VF250XA V Max SHO longshaft (25-inch) four-stroke
Weight: 1530kg (est)
Fuel: 235L
Cooler/livewell option: 83L
Flotation standard: Level
Passengers: 12

Priced from: $129,000 including stainless steel gunwales, rub rail, pull-up cleats and drain plugs; bow and transom boarding ladders; 16 stainless steel drink holders; enclosed head with sink, mirror, SeaDek flooring, porthole and LED light; Italian-made sports steering wheel; 20-litre cooler box; Infinity audio system with Bluetooth and four speakers; LED navigation/docking/courtesy lights; rubbish bin; ski locker; Corian galley benchtop; 35L pressurised freshwater system to head and galley; SeaStar Pro hydraulic steering; 2800L/h automatic bilge pump; 250hp Yamaha VF250XA V Max SHO outboard engine. Dual-axle electrically braked galvanised Boeing trailer adds $14,990

Price as tested: $143,990 including fold-down ski/wake tower; tonneau and cockpit cover; Saratoga weave floor covers; Vacuflush toilet with holding tank and overboard discharge; transom shower; dual batteries and isolator switch; stainless steel props

Supplied by: Marine Partners, Sydney