Jarrett Bay 46

One would think that a man who makes a living driving racecars in excess of 200 mph — oftentimes touching the bumpers and doors of those around him — would choose a boat with blazing speed and dramatic, modern styling. Not so in this case. Jeff Burton, who has 21 career wins, 128 top-five finishes and 237 top-10 finishes, chose classic styling, coupled of course with an advanced propulsion system that delivers superb fuel economy and driver-of-the-year handling!

Performance
Our sea-trial day found the winds southeast at about 5 knots, but with confused seas and the wind-against-tide conditions in the inlet, it was still ugly. Running through the inlet at a modest speed, the 46 ran dry and smooth. One of the things that Jeff Burton dislikes with a passion is noise — he’s around loud cars every day, so he enjoys his quiet times. Consequently, at cruising speed, the noise level on the bridge is a churchlike 82 dB, thanks to the Caterpillar engines coupled to ZF pods with integral underwater exhaust.

This Jarrett Bay turns more sharply than any pod-driven vessel I’ve run, with few apparent speed-related rotation limits. The boat backs down at 8 knots like an arrow, without a drop coming over the transom. With pods, you can also use the steering wheel to steer in reverse just like a car, or switch to using the throttles and gears like any standard propulsion rig. And finally, there’s that incredible joystick that can move the boat in any direction — and I do mean any direction.

Captains needing to wait for bridge openings as well as those who like to bottomfish will particularly appreciate the Skyhook function that comes with the pods. Just press a button, and the GPS and propulsion system keep the boat hovering on station just feet from where you engaged Skyhook and on the same heading you set it on!

Trolling at 9 knots, I witnessed considerable subsurface turbulence on centerline that dissipated by about the fifth wave back. Interestingly, there was only moderate surface white water.

The integral trim tab in each pod offers a good range of trim as well as a programmable auto-trim function.

As I said, I would have thought that Jeff Burton would have wanted an oceanic rocket ship (like many other Jarrett Bays). But top speed on Persistence hit a stately (but still very respectable) 34.9 knots at 2,400 rpm. But note that at that speed, it burned only 58.3 gph! Optimum cruise registered at 24.5 knots (1,900 rpm), burning 36.4 gph.
   
Running back toward the inlet, I found that the 46 tracked straight and true down-sea.

Flybridge
Jarrett Bay’s signature barrel-style armchairs forward of the flybridge (with a molded-in, insulated chest between them) serve a couple of purposes: They offer terrific comfort with lateral support while a guest rides on the upper deck, and they set Jarrett Bay apart from other custom builders who don’t include similar design elements. Other bridge seating includes a portside straight settee.

Cockpit
Burton stipulated that this would be a family boat — not just a hard-core fishing machine, but not just a cruiser either. Fishing features include a fish box in the transom, a lovely sailfish pod, insulated boxes and a tuna door (without bridge) in the cockpit. Jarrett Bay installed three rod holders in each gunwale and six more across the flybridge rail.

You often lose much of your underdeck cockpit storage on boats with pod propulsion; however, the mezzanine on this Jarrett Bay offers plenty for extended cruises and tackle storage as well as quick-release connectors under the port gunwale for the water fill, fresh and saltwater washdowns, etc. The shorepower plugs in under the starboard covering board.

Engine Room
As you’ll discover with all pod-propulsion boats, most of the power is housed farther aft, under the cockpit deck. This 46 provides centerline engine-room access, but the engine compartment doesn’t extend as far forward as you expect it to when you first open the hatch. In fact, you enter the forward compartment via metal-plate steps attached directly to the fronts of the engines. You can access the power plants via this “day hatch,” or the entire cockpit area above them rises on rams. Either way, you’ll have no problem working on all the standard maintenance points or getting outboard to service equipment mounted on bulkheads.