Can a 28-footer really bring multi-purpose flexibility to the family boater? Alex Smith gets behind the wheel of the Finnmaster Pilot 8 to find out
Most of us would dearly love to own a fleet of four or five boats. Just imagine it. One for watersports; one for day parties; one for weekending; one for liveaboard cruising; maybe another bristling with toys and tenders for expeditions in remote and hostile corners of the globe.
Back on planet earth, meanwhile, most modern boaters need the boat they buy to crowbar the talents of a multi-faceted fleet into a single platform – and in that context, a modern pilothouse cruiser is often a great place to look.
Sense-driven deck layouts
The P8 is the larger of the two Finnmaster cabin boats and, while it only adds a metre in length, it’s actually a platform of an entirely different order. An extraordinarily generous beam of 9ft 10in (around 36% of the overall length) enables the inclusion of a proper starboard side deck with a skipper’s door, plus a narrower raised port side deck.
It also provides a pair of proper cabins, while still offering sufficient breadth for an internal saloon capable of seating four people at the raised port dinette. The fact that the skipper’s seat can be rotated means that you could add a fifth guest at the dinner table in the shelter of the pilothouse – and while it’s a shade distant from the table itself, you can shunt yourself forward and enjoy a very natural place to brace your feet on the edge of the dinette’s base.
The bow is for work rather than play
When you step outside, the test boat’s cockpit doesn’t appear to add much of any note beyond a simple linear transom bench, offset to port to make space for a starboard transom gate. That’s fine for fishermen but less so for the rest of us. Even so, don’t be put off.
You can spec this boat with extra bench seats to port and at the aft end of the pilothouse structure, creating a much more sociable C-shaped outdoor lounge. That adds some useful extra storage, as well as seating, and it does so without the need to clog up your lockers with freestanding furniture.
It’s practical in other ways too. The big beam and single outboard rig leave lots of space for a pair of generous swim platforms. There’s also a towing arch for watersports, plus a set of railings behind the transom bench so you’re never short of tying off and grabbing points. Zips around the periphery of the roof enable you to cordon off the cockpit under canvas, and just as there are four fender slots recessed into the starboard bulwark, so there is a dedicated slot for the cockpit table beneath the central deck hatch.
Driver aids include Seakeeper Ride and a Mercury joystick on a dedicated plinth
Up four steps along the starboard side deck, the lofty foredeck adds to these cockpit features with a raised island sunbed, offset to port in tandem with the wheelhouse. There are stylish black rails here, plus a step-through forepeak, as you would expect of a Nordic boat. That does good (and necessary) things for volume down below but there’s still a moderately fine entry and a decent bow flare beneath the thick rubbing strake – and with its low-profile roofline and reverse screen, the dynamism of the styling feels pretty satisfying too.
Internal space management
This basic layout means that the integration between the saloon and cockpit is not especially natural. However, when you shunt the three-part sliding doors over to port, a two-third aperture does a decent job of connecting the starboard galley with the external deck. That galley uses a fridge beneath the skipper’s seat to free up storage space beneath the worktop and it also comes with a decent sink.
It’s well worth linking up the benches with the extra port seating module
There’s no stove on the test boat but there’s space for either a diesel or electric solution – and there’s plenty of ventilation on hand to cope with that too. A huge manual sunroof slides aft, opening up the entire space above the helm and co-pilot seats. Supplement that with the port window and the skipper’s side door and, if you open up the aft doors too, you get a lovely cool through-draught, even at rest on a still day.
Step down below, via the open steps, and you’re greeted by a fore-and-aft double bed beneath the port dinette with a big window and some basic storage, plus a changing seat at the entry point. There’s also a wetroom-style heads compartment to starboard, which uses an angled vanity unit to create extra space for your knees when you sit on the loo. A moulding in the bulkhead above the toilet does threaten to dig you in the back but it’s a decent effort given the space on offer.
In the bow cabin, the space constraints ease off in precisely the way the external mouldings suggest they will. But the volume itself is cleverly managed. A large double bed is arranged on the diagonal, opening up some space to port for a changing seat and a step.
The skipper’s seat rotates to face the dinette, creating a fifth dining place under cover of the pilothouse
The fabric bulkhead linings reduce reverberation and make things feel a touch cosier. And although a six-footer doesn’t quite get standing headroom at the entry point, there’s a decent bit of elevation to prop yourself up in bed at the head end, plus really well-sized hull windows so you can commune with the horizon from bed level.
Fun from the helm
The helm station on the P8 is quite narrow to make space for the twin co-pilot bench, the entry point to the cabins and the big starboard side deck, but it’s actually a very well considered part of the boat. You get an adjustable wheel and seat, great views all-round and a variety of seating positions.
The roof comes with integrated zips so you can close off the cockpit under canvas
You can perch on the chair, bolster yourself against the leading edge or use the integrated drop-down deck panel to stand at the helm with your head through the sunroof. Views from there are less ideal than they might be because of the long LED search light at the front edge of the roof. And there’s no space for a cupholder either but you do get a handy storage slot and charging point in a trough on your right-hand side.
It’s also worth noting that there are five forward-facing seats in the shelter of the pilothouse, each with an equally good view of the horizon. And as for the drive itself, well if the relatively short length, big beam, raised mouldings and single engine lead you to expect very little from the P8, you’re in for a pleasant surprise because this is a genuinely entertaining platform.
The bright, cleverly arranged forward cabin is everything you could expect of a 28ft boat
A top end of 45 knots is plenty for a boat of this size, type and application; and the handling feels really good too, thanks to its very easy and natural balance. That is of course helped a little by the rapidfire tweaks of the Seakeeper Ride scoops, keeping you flat as you rise onto the plane as well as level when you’re charging through a beam wind, but even with everything turned off, the P8 remains a good boat to drive and a really easy one, even for people who might be entirely new to boating.
The test boat’s cherrypicked options certainly help with that. In spite of the single engine rig, the Mercury Joystick integrates with the Sleipner bow thruster to bring remarkable obedience, particularly given that we’re parking this squat little boat in a Force 4 cross breeze. An initial glance suggests that the joystick itself is in a slightly absurd position, perched on a plinth a good way forward on the dash, but it’s actually very easy to reach, even when you’re straddling the threshold and parking the boat from the starboard side deck.
A diagonal vanity unit frees up extra space for the heads
As for engines, you can opt for a twin rig if you prefer, but the single Mercury 400hp V10 does a great job here, achieving fuel-flow rates of less than two litres per mile at cruising speeds of between 21 and 31 knots – and doing so with noise levels that are perfectly acceptable for lengthy passages.
As intimated, the Seakeeper Ride system also helps with that driving refinement. Instead of conventional trim tab blades, it uses long shallow scoops mounted onto a rotating actuator, enabling it to react with far greater speed as real-time conditions demand. It puts in a really effective performance in terms of keeping the boat flat as the seas and the winds change their angle of attack.
The guest cabin beneath the raised port dinette comes with a good window and a changing seat
But if you want to operate it manually, you do need to opt for the test boat’s physical interface because controlling your scoops (or your tabs) with a touchscreen MFD is near impossible when you’re underway at pace.
Finnmaster Pilot 8 specifications
LOA: 27ft 7in (8.40m)
BEAM: 9ft 10in (3.10m)
DRAFT: 2ft 7in (0.8m)
DISPLACEMENT: 3,000kg (light)
FUEL CAPACITY: 411L
WATER CAPACITY: 65L
RCD: B8 / C10
ENGINES: 1x400hp / 2x200hp outboards
Finnmaster Pilot 8 costas and options
Price: from £209,000 inc VAT.
Test boat includes the following options:
Shore power: £2,434
Sleipner bow thruster: £1,982
50L fridge: £1,023
Air-conditioning: £7,302
Electric windlass: £3,249
Seahawk LED search bar: £585
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Verdict
This is no Saxdor wannabe. It has nowhere near the tricks, the toys or the temperament for that. Neither is it a Sargo. With its beam, bulk and volume, it’s not attempting to be an offshore weapon of any kind. But where it does fit in is just as appealing. It’s a spacious and practical walkaround pilothouse boat with a broad beam, lots of poke and excellent dynamic balance, alongside a lower deck tailor-made for a couple of couples or a family of four. The boat we tested was fairly sparse but if you spec it up with some posh decking, a roof rack, some solar panels, a stove, some aft canvasses and some extra cockpit seating, you have a boat that will provide you with a year-round diet of sunny day boating, sheltered dining, comfy overnighting, easy watersports and simple straightforward driving fun. Okay, so you might still need to supplement your private fleet with a liveaboard cruiser and a transoceanic expedition vessel, but in spite of its modest size, the versatile new P8 has pretty much everything else covered.
