Grady-White has introduced a new boat that looks nothing like its other models: the 251-CE (Coastal Explorer), the builder’s first inshore/offshore hybrid center console.

With its lower gunwales, 14-inch draft, and fore and aft casting platforms, the boat will function well as a shallow-water fishing boat, but it rides the SeaV2 variable deadrise hull with proven offshore capabilities, according to Shelley Tubaugh, vice president of marketing. “We made sure it had a shallow draft, but you still have the capability to run offshore a few miles comfortably, too,” Tubaugh says.

Grady-White has delivered a boat with clever, functional seating and storage solutions. The bow can be set up in several configurations — for fishing, sitting, sunbathing or eating — and there are two built-in 74-quart insulated fishboxes with drains under the forward platform lids. The stern layout offers the same kind of fish-and-cruise functionality.

Standard equipment includes a bow ladder for beaching (a first for Grady-White), an aft ladder for swimming, hydraulic steering, three insulated fishboxes, a recessed stainless steel bow rail and a step-down head in the console. A T-top (hard or soft), the platform/table insert, trim tabs and a live well are among the options.

A single Yamaha F250 or F300 powers the 251-CE, which carries 78 gallons of fuel. With the F250, she gets 3.3 mpg at 26.5 mph, with a top end of 45.5 mph. The F300 powers her to nearly 50 mph at full throttle, and you’ll get about 3.5 mpg at 27 to 30 mph.

Pricing is $95,110 with an F250 and $96,720 with an F300. Grady-White Boats, Greenville, N.C. (252) 752-2111. www.gradywhite.com

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July 2014 issue