Throwback Good Looks and Exceptional Performance Pair Up in This Package

In Italian, "cherubini" means "baby cherub," a little angel. It's also the name of a piano-building family turned boat builder. And if you tried to find a more perfect name for Cherubini's Classic 20, you'd never find it

This boat is, in fact, an angel. An angel of what – of mercy or love? Maybe. But after running one for an afternoon, I think the Cherubini Classic 20 is more like an angel of thrills.

It's not a boat for fishing or cruising. And the noise without the optional exhaust and muffler system can be daunting, to say nothing of maintaining the boat's world-class finish every season. But the Cherubini Classic 20, at a base price of about $100,000, offers an amazing ride in exquisite style.

SPRINTING SPRITE

When we putted down the creek in the Classic 20, the first thing that I noticed was how well the boat tracked. Given the single 250-horsepower Mercury Optimax two-stroke coupled to a jet drive, I expected it to wander all over the place. It didn't.

Cherubini uses an incredible steering system featuring a mere half turn from lock to lock. With your hand on top of the wheel, you can spin it from full port to full starboard in a fraction of a second. Do so, and the boat will spin around like a ballet dancer – nifty, but not what you're looking for while passing through a tight channel. Of more practical benefit is the fact that jogging the wheel an inch or two to either side has the same effect as a full turn of the wheel on most boats. So the natural low-speed wandering of the jet drive is more than countered by a boost in control at the helm, and putting along at slow speeds in a straight line is a piece of cake.

Though the boat's handling at slow speeds is an asset, it's surely not a "thrill." Handling at full throttle, however, is. Jam down the single-lever control, and let the Optimax punch in with its head-snapping, two-stroke acceleration. Give the wheel a full half turn, and carve out a hairpin. It takes a wider area than a prop-driven boat would, but the instantaneous response to changes at the wheel more than makes up for it when you consider the fun factor.

Now throw the boat into reverse – don't bother slowing down first, since this is a jet drive – and you can essentially apply the "brakes" without damaging the transmission. Once you've stopped, turn the wheel in one direction and give it a shot of juice, then go the other way and give it a shot of reverse. Jockeying back and forth, you can get the boat to spin in its own length. Keep it up, and soon you'll be rotating faster than a seat on the carnival's Tilt-A-Wheel ride.

One performance complaint: The boat I tested had sound levels that went clear through the roof. At anything beyond idle, the un-muffled two-stroke Merc screamed like a banshee, and at wide-open throttle, sound levels exceed 110 dB-A – as loud as some motorcycles. Guys with especially hairy chests and lots of gold chains around their neck may groove on the powerful sounds, but most normal human beings will find it mighty annoying. Fortunately, the Cherubini can be fitted with an optional exhaust system and muffler that brings sound levels in line with other modern boats. Although I didn't get aboard the muffled version, a friend who was along on my test rode the same boat a few weeks later with the mufflers installed, and said it made a world of difference.

Other than sound levels, the Mercury Optimax powerplant performs pretty much as you'd expect from a modern jet. You'll have to rev up the rpm quite a bit before breaking a plane, and once up and running, the boat gets fuel economy that's comparable to other high-tech two-stroke powerplants. Yes, there's a slight power loss with all jet drives when compared to propped drive units. If the handling and draft benefits of the jet don't make it worth your while, of course, you can order the boat with a stern drive. Just in case you're still on the fence, here's one more advantage for you: The jet drive requires minimal maintenance, including just an annual lube change in the pump gearbox.

COULD YOU, WOOD YOU?

After glancing at the retro-sporty Cherubini, you probably have expectations of fast speeds and sports car-like handling. I know I did. But hit a few waves, and you'll find a few things you didn't expect. It was almost glassy calm during our sea trial, but when we ran down-river to the main channel, we found some boat traffic and the resulting wakes we needed to give the hull a workout. The Cherubini chopped through them easily, without pounding and without getting us wet. The boat's relatively steep, 20-degree transom deadrise, combined with a narrow 6-foot, 10 inch beam, is the main reason why. Lifting strakes and a full chine with a slight downward angle forward, running flat as they move aft, boost speed and help deflect spray as well.

Construction techniques also deserve some recognition for contributing to ride quality. The Cherubini's cockpit, with a fiberglass liner, is bonded to both the solid-glass hull and the cored deck with 3M 5200 adhesive/sealant and mechanical fasteners, tying the major sections of the boat together. Glass stringers stiffen the hull, and bulkheads are tabbed in with fiberglass cloth. The mahogany deck also adds some beef to this 2,100-pound sportster, because it is made of real wood planking.

Yes, you read that right. It's real wood, not a veneer. When's the last time you saw that mentioned in a boat review – somewhere back around 1975? The mahogany-planked deck of this boat is what gives it character, and uniqueness. Sure, the Classic 20 is built to look retro – lots of boats are. And it performs like a thoroughbred – lots of boats do. But few have the real deal under top-coated varnish.

And this is no regular varnish finish, either. Each Cherubini has 10 coats glossing the woodwork. Layers are roll-and-tip applied one at a time, over a month-long period. Before a new one is applied, each coat is hand-sanded, for fairness. Time consuming? You bet, and that's a major reason why these boats are so pricey. But you just can't fake this kind of finish.

The Classic 20 is actually available with optional gelcoated- or painted-glass decks, and Cherubini also has a faux-wood finish. In fact, when I was at the factory in New Jersey, there was a boat with faux wood on the lot. It looked nice, but in my opinion, as thoroughly artificial as plastic flowers.

Real wood may be visually appealing, but it dissuades some people because of the hours of seasonal maintenance and the potential for fading and cracking when exposed to sunlight. Those may not be problems with the Classic 20, because Cherubini includes a full cover as standard equipment. And even without it, the finish holds up well. Our test boat had been exposed to the sun and salt air for several months without a cover, and it still looked like new.

SIMPLE PLEASURES

Inside the cockpit and at the helm, the Classic 20 is amazingly simple. Gauges are analog, and switches are the old-fashioned push-pull type – retro all the way. If you prefer modern digitals and toggles (you savage) Cherubini can put them in for you. Hardware, windshield supports, grabrails, cleats, and lights are all polished stainless steel.

The rest of the layout is pretty straightforward, too. The bow is enclosed with stowage underneath. There's more stowage for your gear in compartments on either side of the cockpit, which separate the forward and aft seats. Three passengers can sit on the aft bench, and a fourth passenger can sit across from the captain.

That doesn't leave much space for things like waterskis and tubes, though you can order the Classic 20 with a ski pylon. In its most basic form, however, this isn't a ski boat or a runabout; it's closer to what we once called speedboats. The Cherubini is perfect for running across the bay to your favorite restaurant for dinner, commuting in style on good weather days or just zipping across the waves for thrills. Don't even dream of long-distance cruising, weekending or bringing a fishing rod aboard.

If you do plan to use the boat for more diverse applications, the stern-drive option may be a better bet than the jet drive. Although the jet has plenty of zip, it doesn't have much torque, whereas the 220- or 260-horsepower Yanmar diesel/Bravo One drive option and the Mercury 260-horsepower 5.0L MPI V8/Alpha One drives have gobs of torque to yank a skier out of the hole.

The flip side to this equation is draft. If you have a private dock with low water, the jet drive simply can't be beat. Hull draft is a mere 13 inches, and the jet doesn't add to it, while the stern drives require another 1 foot, 8 inches of draft. They make it handle like a boat with a stern drive, too – and that may be a bit disappointing, when you're looking for the heavenly thrills a Cherubini Classic 20 is capable of providing.

Lenny Rudow was senior technical editor for Boating magazine for more than 10 years, and is currently the electronics editor for Marlin and GoBoating magazines.

Boat Sales | Market Sales