Chaparral 21 Ski & Fish H20

Back at the company’s in home the good ol’ US of A, the Chaparral brand has been around for decades and mention the name to anyone even remotely associated with boating and they’ll immediately know who you’re talking about.

The Chaparrals are all built at one location in Nashville, Georgia. The factory covers over 110,000 square metres and the whole site is over 60 hectares (150 acres).

Chaparral’s boat #1 was a 15-foot tri-hull that sold for $675. Now, 300,000 boats and nearly 50 years later (in fact, the company will celebrate its half-century next year), the product lineup covers some 30 models – one of the latest of which is the 21 Ski & Fish H20 we see here.

The H20 models are, as part of the name suggests designed to be a true crossover boat. One that you ski on or tow the kids around with one weekend, then strip out the carpet and cushions and take few mates out fishing next weekend. The boats carry enough standard equipment for both pastimes or simply for socialising and gadding about the bays, lake and harbours.

Standard equipment includes a big live bait tank, rod holders, central kill tank or ski storage, trolling motor, port side rod storage in the coamings, and more.
Our test boat, however, was tricked up with what looked to be as many optional extras as possible taking its price up to $70,999.

Some of the extras included the optional engine upgrade to a 5.0-litre 260hp V8 Mercruiser which importer Scott O’Hare said most customers would opt for. Also optional is the larger saltwater MotorGuide trolling motor (freshwater model is standard) and a battery charger and two batteries for the (24-volt) trolling motor, and more.

There is no cushion for this flip-over section so that you can make it into one big, flat lounge for sunbaking or an afternoon snooze, but it’d be easy to have one made up.

Obviously, the Master Guide electric motor also differentiates the Chaparral from other bowriders.

On the bow, there is an anchor well for your ground tackle, but once again, there is no bow roller. I be inclined to have one fitted pronto to protect the gelcoat and also to make life easier when anchoring.

Moving back through the opening screen, we have a pair for very comfortable helm chairs for the pilot and co-pilot. These really are nice seats with excellent lateral support, flip-up seat cushions so you can sit or stand, and they are covered in hard-wearing Syntec vinyl. Chaparral makes a big deal over this vinyl which they say is 35-ounce rather than the industry standard 30-ounce.  The top skin is 10-mil which we’re told is 25 per cent more than the industry standard which is eight mil.

Chaparral also has a top coat on the upholstery call NBT which provides better cleaning qualities so that ink, leaf, and rust stains come off with a rubbing alcohol compound and it also is said to provide three times the UV protection of normal marine-grade vinyl.

Once ensconced in the helm seat, the driver is confronted by a very appealing dash layout. The white-faced analogue gauges are well placed, comprehensive and easy to read.

Switchgear is similarly well placed and well marked.

The throttle control for the Mercruiser falls easily to hand and there is a very welcome armrest for the skipper to rest an elbow.

Chaparral, with this model, has introduced a rack-and-pinion steering setup which we found to be very precise with a nice amount of assistance. The sporty three-spoke steering wheel felt good in the hands and the adjustment for height meant we could get quickly get comfortable.

On the port side, the co-driver gets a handy lockable ‘glovebox’ for all you phones, keys, wallets and the like, and this is equipped with 12-volt socket to charging you phones and ipods etc.

In the consoles on either side, there are storage lockers for your safety gear, but out test boat had one fitted with a battery charger and a couple of spare batteries to run the bigger electric motor for longer.

The portside coaming offers storage for rods so that they’re protected and out of the way when you’re fishing mode, and there are ample stainless steel drink holders throughout the boat.

Down the back, a big lounge sits atop the engine bay and in front of this is a lounge and two separate chairs in the corners of the cockpit. Under the lounge is an insulated ice box and beneath the chairs are two more storage hatches. Whip off the cushions from the top of the engine bay and, voila! Here is our aft casting platform.

Of course if you do catch a few big ones, then there’s a substantial kill tank between the front seats. In ski mode, this would be a ski locker or water toy storage. The kill tank/ski locker features a moulded lid with a handy gas strut.

Similarly, the electrics are all neat and tidy and easily accessed for repairs, maintenance or for the addition of extra electronics.

There is plenty of room in the engine bay for access to the big 5.0-litre V8 Mercruiser. There is not much to say about these engines. They are a tried and proven marine engine that has good warranty and great access to spares if they’re needed down the track.

The 21 handled superbly with no discernible vices. The boat cornered flat and smooth with leaning and with no water on us or even the windscreen. Steering was smooth and direct and we found we could throw the boat around at will and not really catch it out. Cavitation of the prop was negligible and it all gave the feeling the feeling of having confidence in the package.

At 2000rpm we were just on the plane at 13 knots. Revs up to 3000 saw us at 23 knots, at a fast cruise of 4000rpm we were eating the miles at 36 knots and wide open, we saw 49.5 knots at 5200rpm.