 |
| The Grady White 360 Express |
|
Grady-White 360: That’s a lot of Oomph!
Is Grady-White’s 360 Express the king of all outboard boats? Many anglers will say yes – this bodacious beast carries 750 Yamaha ponies on the transom in the form of a triple of F-250’s, which gives it the performance to out-shine inboard boats of this size, plus offer awesome fishability.
Cruising at about 30-mph, the big four strokes burn 39 gallons per hour to get about 0.8 miles to the gallon. Crank it up, and the Grady hits 43.5. Or you can opt to put triple F-350’s on the 360 Express, and you’ll come dang close to hitting 55-mph and will cruise at 38-mph while getting about the same fuel economy. How many inboard-powered expresses can do that? None.
Fishability, meanwhile, is enhanced by the Grady’s wide-open ninety-six square foot cockpit. How does that compare to competitors in this size range? Most can offer from 70 to 90 square feet of cockpit space. And when I spent a day trolling out of Morehead City on this boat, I found every one of those square feet was pure fish-fighting nirvana. Sure, you have a long reach around those outboards – the main down-side to virtually every outboard-powered fishboat on the water. But other than that, the cockpit is ideal. In fact, it’s rigged out with perks like a 55-quart integrated cooler/freezer with a digitally-controlled thermostat, a fighting chair deck reinforcement, a 48-gallon livewell with a full column water inlet, a rigging station with a freshwater sink, an insulated bait box, knife/pliers/rig holders, four locking tackle drawers, and four gunwale rodholders.
One final outboard advantage: it allows for a larger-than-expected cabin. Nah, this isn’t the most important feature to you hard-core fishers, but it’s still worth noting (and will get Mom plenty excited) with a forward and mid-cabin berths, a full galley, and a stand-up head with shower.
Of course, every boat has down-sides. In the case of the Grady-White 360 Express, it’s easy to put your finger on it: price. The boat is a first-class ride with first-class performance and first-class fishability, and you’ll discover its price reflects these facts. In fact, rigged out and fully equipped it’ll cost you a cool half-mil. Ouch. Then again, it’s the same old story we see time and time again – you get what you pay for.
Check it out at www.gradywhite.com.
LOA – 36’7”
Beam – 13’3”
Draft – 2’9”
Dry weight – 14,550
Fuel capacity - 370
Max. HP – 1,050
Price – About a half mil.
Observed performance notes w/4 people and 1/2 load fuel, triple 250-hp Yamaha F250 outboards swinging 15” x 21” three bladed ss props:
|
Cruise RPM
|
Speed in MPH
|
Gallons per hour
|
Miles per gallon
|
|
Slow cruise/3500
|
15.7
|
25.2
|
0.6
|
|
Fast cruise/4500
|
30.3
|
39.0
|
0.8
|
|
Wide open throttle/6000
|
43.5
|
59.4
|
0.7
|
|