The 59 SC majors on style, but is there substance beneath the swagger of Finnmaster’s latest open boat? Boat Mart sent Alex Smith to find out.

There’s something gratifyingly simple about an open sports boat. In this boat there’s none of the bulk or weight of a cabin. There’s no hard top to catch the wind, clutter the deck, wallow in the turns or trap the engine noise. With boats like these there are no tubes to inhibit internal space, drag on the surface or elevate the price. And there is far less in the way of GRP structure to separate you from the water. These boats are just a hull with a deck, a console, a couple of seats and an engine on the back and, quite apart from enabling you to feel that bit more involved with the environment, there are at least three very desirable benefits to be gained from that . . .

The first obvious benefit is space. This Finnmaster is only 5.85 metres in length and yet you could easily seat nine people in here. You’re not allowed to of course, as the CE rating permits only six, but the fact of the matter remains that, from engine well to step-through forepeak, the space on hand is extremely generous. The use of an outboard engine also helps translate that into some fairly generous storage, particularly beneath the aft bench and the twin two-man bow seats. And while this openness allows ease of passage forward to the bow space, it also allows all on board a proper view of the water, ahead, behind and to the side, plus a proper uninhibited experience of the pace as the wind and the spray rush past.

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