Baja 242

The American Baja 242 Islander is a pocket rocket that's made for poker runs. What's a poker run, you ask? It is not so much a boat race as a game of chance that attracts some of the hottest, fastest and most exotic performance craft to both coasts of America.

The idea behind poker runs is that thrill-seeking boatowners get to unleash great amounts of horsepower on offshore circuits and rub fenders with like-minded drivers.

Each participating boat navigates a carefully charted course offshore, stopping at five checkpoints along the route to pick up a sealed envelope containing a single playing card. At the final checkpoint, the envelopes are opened and the crew holding the best poker hand is declared the winner.

Poker runs are events the whole family can enjoy. At each checkpoint, host communities provide unique and entertaining activities, sometimes linked with waterfront festivals.

And while the Baja 242 is the kind of boat to charge across a big bay in a blow - top speed is in excess of 100km/h - it is still very much a family boat with a classic bowrider layout.

PUSHING THE LIMITS
In Australian waters the Baja 242 is likely to live at a marina berth or, better still, a dry-stack such as the new one earmarked to be built on Sydney Harbour. You see, the beamy 24-footer exceeds trailerable limits, unless you carry a permit. In fact, the boat pushes the limits on a number of other fronts.

While most bowriders have a single inboard engine of modest capacity, the all-American Baja boasts a big-block V8 that produces a whopping 425hp.

The two-tonne, deep-vee hull has 24 degrees of deadrise, hand-laid glass over end-grain balsa, stiffening from a grid stringer system, and through-bolted fittings. These are signs of a boat that has been built for speed.

Dual through-hull chrome exhausts, a go-fast graphics package, and rakish lines announce this intention at first sight. And the fuel capacity of 295lt should cater for leadfoots.

But the Baja 242 is more than a one-trick pony, and is fitted with amenities to cater for a crowd on the water. It has been conceived as a comfortable dayboat for up to seven adults. There are ergonomically-shaped and very generously sized bow seats, two hip-hugging helm chairs, and a sculptured rear lounge.

A deep cockpit, high freeboard and solid grab rails where you need them help keep you within the boat when the skipper feels the need for speed. The boat's wide beam helps stability at rest and under way, and even at high speed the boat doesn't have a tendency to chine walk.

DECKED OUT
You can come aboard via the bow and offset opening windscreen, or across the non-skid moulded boarding platform and walkways flanking the engine box.

Pop-up mooring cleats are dotted about the sculptured decks, which are traced by a solid stainless-steel rub rail.

The boat has a dedicated anchor well up front.

Add the optional filler cushions and you can create a forward sunpad.

There is room up front for four people to have lunch or drinks around the optional table. The lounges are long enough to allow two adults to kick back and sunbake. Big storage pockets and jumbo drinkholders are alongside.

The main sunlounge over the engine has raised headrests that suggest you can lay out a towel and recline. You can also sit on a separate aft section of the lounge, reach the freshwater transom shower and wash the sand or salt away after your swim.

There is a swim ladder, ski tow eye and wet locker for the mask and snorkel, ski ropes and togs. (You can wakeboard just fine behind the 242, too). Press a button and the sunlounge raises on a hydraulic ram.

A surfeit of servicing room exists around the 425hp MerCruiser motor. Stainless steel exhaust elbows add to the boat's racy look, while ceramic manifolds help cut down on weight.

The 496 MAG can be fitted with Mercury's SmartCraft engine-monitoring system and its new digital throttle and gearshift. While the fly-by-wire throttle is said to leave cable for dead, the Gaffrig race-type controls on this boat are the current favourites for sportsboating poker players.

I also spied twin batteries in the engine bay and an automatic fire-fighting system. Three separate moulded storage compartments, one of which could be used as an icebox, and the isolating switches are under the lounge base.

Drinkholders, waterproof speakers, courtesy lights, sidepockets for storing personals and optional clip-out carpet line the cockpit. The co-pilot also gets a moulded footrest and a 12V outlet for the mobile phone or video camera.

Built around solid stainless steel frames bolted to the floor, the helm chairs are adjustable fore-and-aft. A Clarion CD player was mounted beside the dash, with a remote volume control by the rear lounge.

Unusually, the opening section of the windscreen and companionway are offset to port. The lack of a big dash panel ahead of the co-pilot's seat means you need to really grasp the grab handle in tight turns. You can also find yourself standing almost side-saddle as you attempt to get a grip on the windscreen.

But the positive aspect of the offset walk-through is an extra big area behind the dash, with a self-contained compartment designed to house a marine toilet. For whatever reason, it wasn't fitted. Hopefully there is also scope to fit a holding tank.

V8 MUMBLE
I turned the key and the engine announced its presence like only a big-block V8 can. Noise levels are kept in check by the supplied Corsa Quick and Quiet muffler system. But to attain maximum horsepower you need to switch off the baffles using the button alongside the throttle.

The cool chrome honeycomb dash panels were fitted with racing-style chrome gauges. The steering wheel was adjustable.

Baffles off, the Baja 242 was content to cruise at 38.7kt at 3500rpm, and 46.2kt at 4000rpm without chattering or pounding. Top speed was 56.4kt on the GPS, which equates to 104km/h. That's fast, yet the ride remained beautifully in control.

With that kind of speed at your disposal you should be able to claim the best anchorage before the weekend fleet has packed its fenders away.

But as any poker runner will tell you, the really good thing about a boat like this is that you can maintain a fast clip at sea. Sure beats battling Sunday traffic.

And a full house.

Highs

Lows