Regulator’s known for building serious fishing machines—center consoles, of course. So imagine my surprise when I showed up to test their new 30 and discovered an express boat tied up to the dock. You’ve loved Regulators for years, but yearned for a cabin? Then this is the boat you’ve been waiting for.
First off, let’s make one thing perfectly clear: the 30 Express is still focused on fishing. It has a sizable tackle locker, a 30-gallon livewell, a bait prep center, and a 340-qt. transom fishbox. It also has an extended bracket, which shoves the powerplants far aft. Read: good for performance, seaworthiness, and cockpit space, but you’ll have a long reach to work fish around those propellers. In fact, you’ll have to bring everything up on the sides of the boat, and the captain will have to pay close attention to keep fish from dodging into the lower units. That means you’ll usually want to gaff fish while under power, not adrift. Good thing the 30 Express is set up as a troller; no surprise, for a North Carolina built and designed bluewater boat.
There’s a double-sized aft-facing seat where bait-watchers can perch to view the spread. It’ll be one fat spread, too, thanks to triple rocket launchers running down each side of the hard top’s pipework, four gunwale rodholders, and a pair of 18’ Lee Sidewinder outriggers. Note that all the pipework is oversized, as is the boat’s hardware like the transom door latch and transom box hinges. One beef: I found a spring strut on the anchor locker hatch, and in my experience, these things rarely last more then a season or two before crapping out. A gas-assist strut would be better.
Performance-wise, when we ran through Biscayne Bay (with half a load of fuel and three people onboard) I observed a cruising speed of 38.2 MPH at 4500 RPM, while getting 1.1 miles to the gallon. Nice speed, but you’ll pay for it at the pumps. Wide-open we hit 55.1 MPH which is pretty dang fast for 11,600 pounds of fiberglass. Handling was good and as you expect from a Regulator, it squished a two foot chop like an elephant stepping on an ant.
What about the cabin? Can a center console-centric builder come up with a winner belowdecks, too? You bet. The cabin sports a full galley, an aft bunk to compliment the drop-down dinette/forward berth, and a standard Amtico sole. There’s also a standard-issue 7,000 btu air conditioning system—a feature most boats in this class charge you extra for. Since this boat has a whopping 10’7” beam there’s a lot more room down there then you might have expected, too.
In the transom, you’ll discover another unexpected little goodie: a freshwater flush system that eliminates the usual day’s end chore of flushing the outboards. A hatch in the center of the transom flips up, allowing access to levers that are plumbed to the boat’s freshwater system. Give them a turn, and fire up the twin 350-hp Yamaha powerplants. Now the wild horses on your transom are sucking their cooling water from the freshwater tanks. That’ll give them the rinse they deserve, without the extra hose work. We’ve been waiting for a system this smart for years—almost as long as we’ve waited for a Regulator with a cabin.
Contact: www.regulatormarine.com
LOA - 30’5””
Beam - 10’7”
Draft - 3’3”
Dry Weight – 11,600
Fuel capacity - 300
Max. HP - 700
Price – Base Boat is well under $300,000, but add on a full list of options and it gets close.
Observed performance notes w/ 3 people and half load fuel, twin 350-hp Yamaha F350 outboards swinging 15 1/2” x 21” three bladed ss props:
| Cruise RPM |
Speed in MPH |
Gallons per hour |
Miles per gallon |
| Slow cruise/3500 |
25.4 |
23.0 |
1.1 |
| Fast cruise/4500 |
38.2 |
35.3 |
1.1 |
| Wide open throttle/6000 |
55.1 |
69.2 |
0.8 |
BONUS NOTES: Kills waves dead - no thumps or bumps in a two foot chop.
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| A regulator with a cabin? Welcome, 30 Express. |
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