Velocity

Velocity chose to bring us a boat the way most people would outfit it, with a MerCruiser 496 Mag HO and a Bravo One drive. It also came with Zeiger single-ram hydraulic steering and a Mercury Bravo One 15 1/4" x 28" propeller modified by Hall's Propeller in Christmas, Fla.

Like all Velocity models, the 290 featured a pad-bottom design. In fact, it's the same hull mold as the APBA kilo-record-holding VR-1 introduced in 2002. The hull featured four full-length strakes and a neutral 2 1/2-inch radiused chine. The inside strakes terminated at the outer edges of the 5-inch-deep notch.

The combination was good for 70 mph at 5,000 rpm. The manufacturer estimated it would run 75 mph and we suspect there may have been more in it. On test day, conditions weren't the best. Lots of big, sloppy wakes coming from everywhere and a nasty wind chop knocked off at least a couple of mph as far as we could tell.

From a dead stop, the 290 SC hit 41 mph in 10 seconds and 59 mph in twice that time. Midrange numbers included a 6.9-second time from 30 to 50 mph and a 9.2-second time from 40 to 60 mph.

During slalom maneuvers, the boat was predictable and stable. Because it was slightly heavier and a bit taller than the VR-1, handling wasn't as crisp as the smaller and lighter model we tested in February 2008

Velocity installs the good ones at the factory: 280S K-Planes. Even without tabs, the boat felt solid in some nasty 4- and 6-foot swells and with just drive trim it was easy enough to get the boat to fly level.