Wooldridge 29 Pilot 6

I received a call from Glen Wooldridge of Wooldridge Boats a few weeks ago inviting me for a ride aboard the new Wooldridge 29ft Pilot.  Having never had the opportunity to get on board one of these new offshore boats by Wooldridge I jumped at the chance to get something on the calendar.  Glen promised me a great handling and fuel efficient boat and let me just say that he delivered.

 The plan was for Glen to pick me up at my house on Lake Washington.   The first thing that I noticed about the boat as it came around the south end of Mercer Island was how fast it got to me.  This boat was obviously built for speed and I couldn't wait to test it out.  As Glen approached the dock I noticed they had included a hatch in the design that easily allowed me to step from the bow to the house without having to hold the grab rail and walk around. 

 After seeing how fast the boat was on it's approach and then boarding the boat I was surprised to see that it was only powered by twin 150 Yamaha 4-strokes.  I knew that this boat was gong to be every bit as fuel efficient as Glen had promised and to prove it we hooked up a flow meter and did some testing.  To me the highlight was seeing the boat cruise to 32 mph at 4800 rpm on 1 engine while using only 14.1 gph.  With both engines we reached a top speed of 48.2 mph with a comfrtable cruise of 37.8 mph at 4500 rpm.  At this speed we only burned 17.3 mpg for an incredible 2.18 mpg gallon.  This boat will get you out to the tuna grounds in a hurry and not break the bank at the fuel pump.

After the testing was all done it was my turn to get behing the wheel and really test this boat out.  As I eased the throttle down I colud see out of the corner of my eye that Glen was a little disappointed, he really wanted me to put this boat to the test.  I decided to take him up on it and when I did I found myself with the feeling of driving a formula one race car around the track.  Not only was this boat fast but it handled and turned like it was on rails.  I can honestly say that I have never been on a boat that was as responsive as this one. 

I was also very impressed with the layout on this boat.  The pilot house was roomy and had everything that you would need to live aboard for the weekend while chasing salmon in the San Juans or wherever you might want to go.  The deck had all kinds of room and huge fish boxes as well as plenty of rod storage.  Glen also mentioned that he would customize a boat to meet anyone's needs.  If you are looking for a fast, fuel efficient, trailerable boat that is still big enough for the entire crew then you need to take a look at Wooldridge's 29 Pilot.