A reengineered Barletta pontoon boat with integrated Seakeeper Ride stabilization delivers dramatically more responsive handling and comfortably dampened pitch and roll.
Pontoon boats are inherently stable platforms by design, so when BoatU.S. Magazine was offered a chance to sea trial one rigged with an automatic vessel stabilization system, we jumped at the chance to see how high-tech can improve an already smooth ride.
Seakeeper Ride is what the manufacturer calls a “vessel attitude-control system” controlled by a computer brain that takes up to 1,000 measurements per second, then directs transom-mounted rotary blades to make up to 100 adjustments per second to constantly correct your boat’s pitch, roll, and yaw as it cuts across the water.
We’ve sea trialed monohulls equipped with Seakeeper Ride and found the consistent, even-keeled plane while underway to be game-changing technology for powerboats. But what effect would Seakeeper Ride have on pontoon boats, which run level by design? We found out when Seakeeper and partner Barletta Boats served up sea trials aboard a Barletta 25EU rigged with a Ride 450 system.
Unlike trim tabs, this patented cupped rotary blade system can make 100 adjustments per second.
The boat ran great and, according to Seakeeper’s testing, enjoyed a roll reduction of 57% and a pitch reduction of 40%; we experienced this steadiness as we blasted through a busy inlet and out into the open Atlantic. But what impressed us about our pontoon boat ride with Ride came when we took the wheel and started carving out turns – and the Barletta reacted as though there was a V-hull beneath the deck. The Ride system can be programmed to adjust the heeling angle, so that sliding-sideways feeling common to pontoons can be eliminated. It was more comfortable for both passengers and at the wheel, and we pushed the system by carving out doughnuts and making S-turns, with good control at the helm. Take a closer look with this slick video.
Barletta Boats offers Seakeeper Ride on the 23 Lusso and 25 Lusso models, with plans to integrate into additional models in the future. Our experience was relatively short and didn’t encompass the many situations involved with regular usage, reminding us that the operator’s ability to instantly handle the boat should the system fail is always very important.
Barletta Lusso L23U with Mercury 300 Verado outboard and Seakeeper Ride $179,500 | ride.seakeeper.com