B eing the new kid is tough. If you want to fit in, you have to prove you can run with the crowd. If you’re good, you’ll push even harder so everyone will know you can hold your own. And that very much describes NauticStar, a small but growing boat company based in Amory, Mississippi, near the Alabama border. Founded in 2002, NauticStar offers bay boats from 18 to 22 feet and deck boats of 20, 21 and 23 feet. Like others in the boating ’hood, we wondered what kind of stuff the new kid had — so we hooked up our test gear to its flagship 230 Sport Deck and let ’er rip. Our evaluations took place in hot, sunny conditions at Nevada’s Lake Mead, where we ran the boat in everything from morning glass to an afternoon chop so jarringly wicked it could shake the salt off your pretzels. At the end of the session, we were pleasantly surprised. The new kid is OK. A FEW HOURS’ DIFFERENCE Mead was dead calm as we ran in from our early photo shoot. With a crew of two, minimal gear and its 63-gallon tank all but topped off, the 230 Sport Deck tracked like a semi rolling down grooved pavement. There was no shaking her. Rigged with a 350 Mag MPI and MerCruiser’s redesigned Bravo 3 drive (a $6126 upgrade over the base, 220 hp 5.0L MerCruiser/Alpha), the boat responded well to trim. The extra blade area of the twin props helped this 81/2-foot-wide hull develop plenty of bow lift, and we were able to trim aggressively without porpoising. The Bravo 3 was equally sure-footed in turns. Whether we carved ’em sharp or wide, fast, slow or medium, the counterrotating wheels kept the NauticStar glued tight. Then again, the water was nearly pure glass, when boats are on their best behavior. What else would you expect? We were able to answer that during our afternoon session when southeasterly winds of 20 to 25 mph roiled up a cauldron of nasty chop. And even though we stuck close to the south shore (to minimize the fetch in which wind waves could build), Mead was streaked with steep and whitecapping two-footers. Ahh... finally! Conditions worth testing in. HOW DID SHE DO? As any skipper will tell you, you can learn more by running a boat for a few minutes in bad weather than you could by spending an entire day with it in bluebird conditions. And so NauticStar has only been around a couple of years, but judging from its 230 Sport Deck, the new kid is OK Rising Star Story and Photos by Ron Eldridge T RAILER BOATS MARCH 2005 47

Rising Star we logged as much seat time as possible out in the slop. Topping out at 45.6 mph, our 300 hp rig — which is max power for the sterndrive version — was a tad slower than we expected for a mod-V hull with cathedral sponsons and a modest 16 degrees of deadrise. Our 0-to-30 mph sprints were also middle of the pack, as the boat averaged 10.4 seconds during holeshot trials. In fairness, besides having to buck stiff winds and relentless waves, the rig was now carrying a third man and still held three-quarters of a tank of fuel — hardly optimum conditions to put up your best numbers. The...

S P E C I F I C A T I O N S NauticStar 230 Sport Deck Rising Star Base Price Price as Tested Length Beam Deadrise at Transom Weight (w/ base 5.0L I/O) Draft (drive up) Fuel Capacity Maximum Horsepower s The NauticStar carries much of its beam all the way forward, resulting in a sizable playpen and a full-width bow swimstep. We like the built-in docking lights and wraparound stainless railing. quick-connect, stainless ball-andsocket fittings that make removing or installing the top a snap. The 230 Sport Deck also comes with four pull-up cleats — although we feel a boat this size would greatly...