2005 Cobalt 272
INTRODUCTION
Poundings of the heart come infrequently enough these days. No fault of the new Cobalt 272, as accommodating, as welcoming, as exciting a craft as ever a boater might wish. Here`s a boat designed for expanse, comfort, easy accessibility, and the best of times. Walk-around room is everywhere. The elegant simplicity of Cobalt design is everywhere too.
AT THE DOCK
The first look of most boats must get you excited otherwise we would probably never purchase. The 272 is one of those models that get you going and keep you looking as a serious buyer. The smooth yet simplistic lines of the hull, the forward stainless steel arch and the expanse of space and usable storage all make you realize the pedigree of a beautiful boat such as this. When you look at the sculptured integrated platform and the flat floor entry that Cobalt has almost invented it just makes you want to turn the key and
go.
BOARDING
Getting into or onto a boat safely and simply is always a major consideration when looking to buy. The Cobalt 272 is as easy as it gets. The extended swim platform is flat and has a well articulated non-skid pattern. An easy step up onto the hull-integrated swim platform then allows you to enter this boat through the starboard side entry door, and you are in the cockpit of the 272.
Although it may seem rather obvious to some, when you are getting onto your boat with provisions for the day or a change of clothes or maybe helping someone less able to be mobile, then you start to realize why this is such an important part of the review. Boating
is intended to be fun and safe so a fall while boarding could really ruin the whole experience. Cobalt has really taken care to make boarding be simple and safe.
THE COCKPIT
While probably, it’s the 272`s exterior advantages that define its ability to raise pulses all around, it is the cockpit that produces the creature comforts we really think about. These are the features that contribute directly to happy hours on big water even though the hull design and the quality of construction have a big part to play.
As you board, there is a comfortable and large settee immediately in front of you along the starboard side of the boat. To your left or to port, there is a large L-shaped lounge that runs across the stern of the boat and up the port side to the rear of the companion swivel
bucket seat. On the very back of the boat behind the lounge is a comfortable upholstered sunpad that can get a lot of use while at anchor or at the dock on sunny days. It provides sunning and extra seating capabilities.
The Cobalt 272 is a dual console style boat. Simply state, there is a walk through windshield to give you easy access to the open bow rider area. In the extreme fore section or bow of the boat there is seating easily for four, with full lounges on each side and comfortable back rests against each of the consoles.
Mid-ship is the helm to starboard with a great captain`s swivel chair and to port is the companion seat which has a private head area immediately in front of it in the port console. A great feature for a boat on which a family and or friends might spend a complete day on the water having fun. But there is more… so much more on this 272.
An air compressor for inflatable fun, for example, or the extended swim platform with a wet locker and ladder. Both standard. Options outside include stainless steel docking lights, a flagpole, a stainless steel arch, a transom shower, and eye-popping three-color
custom graphics.
Interior options reach from a cockpit heater to carpet upgrades, from a pump-out porta potti to a dinette table, from a 10-disc CD changer to a starboard windshield wiper. A basic porta potti is standard, as are high-back captain’s chairs and filler cushions for the bow lounge. But there is still more.
There is storage. There are storage areas under all of the lounge seats. There are storage areas built into the cockpit liner along the hull. And there is storage in the easily lifted motor cover. Finally, there is storage in both the aft cockpit and the bow rider area floors. These are extremely large spaces allowing you to keep out of sight and harms way those various water sport items that could be a problem if you are moving and get into larger waves unexpectedly.
AT THE HELM
Since a boat never leaves the dock without someone at the helm, it is important that the space is carefully designed so it is functional and ergonomically well designed. Cobalt engineers have certainly done their magic here.
All switches and toggles are easily reached. The radio and stereo controls are well placed so as not to be a problem to use. The gauges are properly placed to give the driver a clear view from all possible seating positions and wheel locations. The complete area is nicely
moulded for simple maintenance and cleaning and the colours all fit or complement the choice made for the hull and interior.
ENGINE
At the marina, the 272 is a study in boating classicism. At cruise, it’s something else again, and multiple choices wait with the powerplants. New 272 owners can match the horsepower to their usual on-water activities, picking MercCruiser blocks from 260 horsepower to a windswept 425 horsepower. Volvo Penta motors bring along horsepower ratings stretching from 270 to 420 horsepower. Altogether, a powertrain is available for everyone to suit their choices of use on the water.
UNDERWAY
Although never having been renowned for their blinding speed, the Cobalt boats are quality and the careful fit and finish provided, more then compensate for the lack of bone chilling speed. Quick to plane and always having a clear view of the path ahead is very
important when captaining the boat.
Often we are operating bow riders in crowded locations while we share limited shore space with many others as we begin our rides or finish a water sports run. The Cobalt 272 is great in all cases. It is a straight smooth move to cruising speed or even top end. The boat
responds quickly to the wheel and turns are carved with no hull sliding or slippage. Utilizing the wake of our own boat or those from others in the area gives us a chance to try things in rougher water. The boat is absolutely solid and the feel as we leave and re-enter the water is one of confidence and total control. Stated simply, this boat is solid and will handle in simple and in emergency turns without you the driver ever feeling any concern.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Each year, with the introduction of one new Cobalt after another, the basics may seem to slip away, the fundamental strengths of construction that have underpinned every Cobalt ever built. Even as Cobalt engineers sought to extend the horizon of what is possible in a runabout that acts like a deck boat, they knew that traditional Cobalt standards of safety, performance, and structural integrity would never, ever be compromised. And so the 272 cruises with all the perfections of Cobalt manufacturing process onboard.
The transom is all-composite. The stringers, rigged for maximized strength and flexibility, are all-fiberglass, as is the cockpit liner deck. Kevlar reinforces the hull. Stainless steel remains the metal of choice – in the windshield braces, in the scuffplates and cleats, in the ladders and backing plates, wherever style and studliness matter.
Always, across decades of models and new product introduction, the core of a Cobalt has never changed. It has always been the technology of the moment. It has always been the individual craftspeople demonstrating day after day that, together, they are the best boat
builders in the world. The very reason that for year after year, J. D. Power and Associates have named the Cobalt Boats the best production boats in the world.
The 272 is the logical and sequential product of this enviable legacy. Spacious and athletic, its amenities integrated in a functional package of comfort and convenience, the 272 is establishing new direction in the bowrider market that all others in the marine and boat manufacturing sector will use as the benchmark to reach if they want to be considered contenders.
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