Jarrett Bay 46

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One would think that a man who makes a living driving race cars in excess of 200 miles per hour — 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. NASCAR’s 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 (see the complete photo gallery).

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 stayed dry and smooth. At cruising speed, the noise level on the bridge was a respectable 82 decibels, 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 in a car, or switch to using the throttles and gears like a standard propulsion rig. And finally, there’s that incredible joystick that can move the boat in any direction — and I do mean any direction.



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 imagined that Jeff Burton would want 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 2400 rpm and burned only 58.3 gallons per hour. Optimum cruise registered at 24.5 knots (1900 rpm), burning 36.4 gallons per hour. Running back toward the inlet, I found that the 46 tracked straight and true down-sea.