FOUR WINNS H180
By Capt. Ron Svoboda
Small in size, big on features
At a very modest 17 feet, 7 inches long and a mere 7 feet, 7 inches wide the Horizon 180 comes surprisingly well equipped. Not so much in sheer number of features, but in the attention to details in upholstery and the high quality hardware. For example, on the companion side of the helm, a locking glove box houses a Sony CD stereo equipped with an MP3 hook-up and Sirius satellite radio.
More importantly, a jumbo sized swim platform is at the back and comes with a heavy duty boarding ladder. (One of the best ladders I’ve seen on a pocket boat). There is also a tubular aluminum wakeboard tower and a set of racks, one on each side. Of course these items are not standard on the boat, but the upgrade will be well worth it.
Other item that you don’t usually see on a 17-footer is sporty and well-equipped helm. The 180’s helm shows clean, simple styling with a centralized pod displaying white faced gauges with polished bezels. A deluxe, tilt wheel and swivel bucket seat are comfortably slung low behind a three-piece, and wraparound windshield give you protected driving position. Between the two front seats, in the sole of the cockpit, is a carpet lined ski locker. There is also a generous windshield pass through door, which really helps to ease movement about the cockpit.
Some Choices Available
The bow and aft cockpit seating are typical for a boat of this size. Nothing too fancy, but you can get the transom seating two different ways. The Standard version comes with a molded engine box and two opposing seats but no sun pad. I preferred the Sunsport format, which is an aft bench (one more seat.) Plus, it has a beam width transom sun pad that, you guessed it, can handle people over seven feet.
The manually operated engine hatch/sun pad is supported by gas struts for ease of operation. Lifting it you’ll find two, organized storage areas. One port, one starboard. You can stash tons of gear in these compartments and still have adequate room to check on the engine and drive fluids. Up front, bow seating is V-shaped with room for two adults or three kids. Three vertical pads are situated between a pair of grab handles offering safety and some comfort.
190 Horsepower soup mixer
As for how the 180 performed, I can’t judge. Our test day was rough. Thirty -plus winds made for soupy waters, which just isn’t right, especially for the short stunted Horizon. Despite that, we clocked in a top speed of 42 mph and calculated a cruise speed of 28.6 mph. Not bad for a little boat to run in the slop, not to mention we had the smaller of the two engine available. We tested with the 135 horsepower unit, but you can order the boat with a 190 horsepower version. Cool.
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