If I had to sum up the Cobalt 293 in just a few words, I’d put it like this: A Jaguar on the water with high-end overnighting accommodations. Why a Jaguar? Many reasons. Like a Jaguar, the 293 stands out from the crowd of cuddy-cabin sportboats with distinctive, European-styled lines and an exquisite finish on her Kevlar reinforced hull. She is, in a word, a head-turner. She is also the kind of cuddy cabin designed for those who are used to elegance—in their homes, their automobiles, and in their boats.

The 293 also handles like a Jaguar on the water. Our test boat had a pair of MerCruiser MX 6.2 sterndrives hitched to Bravo Three drives with counter-rotating props. Of the thirty-or-so combinations of single- vs. twin, MerCruiser vs. Volvo Penta sterndrives, this package is the top of the line, coming in with a suggested retail price of just over $124,000. But as you’ll see, the price is justified.

The fact that you have four blades in the water equates to four-wheel drive in terms of backing in to tricky slips and experiencing very fast hole shots—just 4.4 seconds from idle to plane in this case. In addition, the twin Kiekhaefer Zero-Effort racing controls at the starboard side helm give you a hint of the performance, and out on the test track we found the 293 carved beautiful, tight turns at high-speed with no tendency to slip, skid, or cavitate the props. In short, she has thoroughbred performance with this power package.

In the cockpit there are three seating areas—a U-shaped lounge area that can be converted to fore/aft benchseats or a full-size sunpad by dropping the cockpit table down and adding filler cushions; a helm benchseat for two; and an aft-facing lounge next to the companionway door that leads to the cabin below. Unlike some sportboats of this type, the 293 lets you walk easily aft to the swim platform through a transom door. Way aft, a built-in trunk is designed for easy storage of docklines, fenders, and shorepower cords. As you’d expect, a transom shower is standard equipment here, but so is a portable, 12-volt air compressor for pumping up all your tow tubes and toys. Nice touch.

Just inside the transom door to port is a handy wetbar with hot/cold-water sink, refrigerator, and stowage so you don’t have to miss a minute of tan time to get refreshments. And its just as easy to get to the powerplants, since the aft benchseat module raises at the push of a button for full access to the engines. In a neat touch as well, the hydraulic ram is NOT bolted into the bottom of the hatch. Rather, it has a rubber pad on top that pushes the hatch up mechanically for you. Why do it this way? In the event you get down to the boat and find dead batteries, you can always lift the hatch manually with one hand and get those batteries charged up again.

Fully forward, the cabin offers good overnighting accommodations for two, with a V-berth that converts to a double berth (a little tricky to add the filler cushions), a galley complete with sink, single-burner electric cooktop, refrigertator, and microwave oven, and of course, a fully enclosed head compartment. A Porta Potti is standard, but my guess is everyone who buys this boat also goes for the optional electric porcelain head with macerator since there’s really no skimping here.

However, Cobalt doesn’t force you into getting the boat fully loaded, as there is a good selection of options. That’s because you may only use the 293 as a high-end limo to get from one end of the lake to the other, or you may run her coastwise down to the Florida Keys and stay aboard for a few nights. Any way you want her, you can get her to your specifications from Cobalt.

While the thru-windshield foredeck access wasn’t the easiest I’ve ever seen on a cuddy cabin sportboat, that’s a minor point given the major plusses, performance, and high-end construction we found here. As I say, if you’re used to exquisite automobiles, you’ll be right at home with the performance and the quality touches you’ll find here on Cobalt’s 293.

By Capt. Chris Kelly

Test Captain

• Top speed for the Cobalt 293 (Not a Current Model) is 58.1 mph (93.5 kph), burning 47.90 gallons per hour (gph) or 181.3 liters per hour (lph).


• Best cruise for the Cobalt 293 (Not a Current Model) is 29.1 mph (46.8 kph), and the boat gets 1.89 miles per gallon (mpg) or 0.8 kilometers per liter (kpl), giving the boat a cruising range of 189 miles (304.17 kilometers).


• Tested power is 2 x 320-hp MerCruiser MX 6.2 MPI.