Captain's Report

Mission Statement

The 375 Center Console was designed to be a natural evolution of the 370 that she replaces. Several features in the design have been improved over the previous model but most importantly, the hull has been reconfigured to accommodate the larger four-stroke engines that many offshore fisherman demand.

Distinguishing Features

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Highly customizable.

Short of modifying the hull, there's not much that's off the table when it comes to customizing an Intrepid 375. Take the head compartment for example. Want granite countertops and a tile deck? How about teak decking and cherry veneer bulkheads? Let's talk about that hardtop… What sort of equipment do you want on it? Want an electrically-actuating skylight? Fancy an electrically-actuated chaise lounge in your bow seats? Odds are that whatever you ask for has already been done, and if it hasn't, Intrepid will fabricate it and more than likely add it to the existing options list.•

Redesigned hull.

This 375 is a natural evolution of a redesigned 370 Center Console hull. The main goal of the new hull design was to take advantage of the more powerful four-strokes on the market. In order to accommodate the increased weight, Intrepid added a larger wetted surface area that increases flotation in the stern of the new hull design. In this manner, Intrepid tells us that they were able to maintain the speed and performance of their previous 370 series without adding significantly to the hull’s dry weight. This new hull can accommodate twin V8 350s, or triple V6 300s. •

Curves and shapes.

On the Intrepid 375 there are lots of curves, radiused edges, and molded-in contour lines, even though it's easier and cheaper to mold and fabricate a flat or square piece than it is to make one with curves. Add to that an even higher level of difficulty since these molded-in reliefs and reverse curves cannot come out of a single mold.

Take the console for example. No builder can make a console like the 375 has in a single mold. In fact, this console is made of eight separate parts that then have to be bonded together and then finished off to the exacting detail that Intrepid requires. Something as complicated and as well-finished off as this can't be done easier and cheaper. It is, in fact, a reputable sculpture in fiberglass. People who don't appreciate fine art in boats and exquisite detail, should save their money and buy something else.

Handling

To say that the 375 Center Console is a joy to operate would be an understatement. She's actually thrilling. Upon acceleration the bow only comes up 12-degrees so there's no loss of visibility to the horizon. Once on plane she stays at a fairly level 4-degree bow high attitude. She carved through waves very cleanly with her sharp entry, and her wide flare keeps spray down low and out to the sides.She turns around very smartly, but her 20-degree bank angle, and slight slide keep you planted in the boat rather than being thrown to the outside in a turn. She also has a very solid feel to her handling and was obviously built to accommodate offshore conditions.

Performance

Our Intrepid 375 Center Console had a LOA of 37'9" (11.5 m) and a beam of 10'6" (3.2 m). With an empty weight of 10,823 lbs. (4,909 kgs.) full fuel and two people on board we had a test weight of 14,948 lbs. (6780 kgs.).With a triple set of 300-hp Mercury Verados turning 21” (53.3 cm) Mercury Mirage Plus propellers we reached top speed at 6000 rpm and 62 mph. At that speed we had a fuel burn of 89.4 gph giving us a range of 187 miles. Best cruise came in at 3500 rpm and 35.3 mph. That reduced the fuel burn to 26.4 gph and increased the range to 361 miles. Time to plane was only 3.3 seconds, we reached 20 mph in 5.4 seconds, 30 mph in 8.3 seconds, 40 in 10.7 seconds and we continued accelerating through 50 mph in 14.6 seconds.

Features Walkthrough

Starting at the stern

there's a new feature that is sure to be an instant hit. External storage compartments, running 28 ½” (72.4 cm) deep, are located to both port and starboard. This takes advantage of what would otherwise be wasted space. At first glance one would wonder why there are storage compartments accessed by doors that open outside the hull. But after looking at it for only a couple of seconds, I realized the utility of being able to take simple things like a mask, snorkel and fins and put them into storage before getting out of the water. Such is the creativity of Intrepid Powerboats.

Cockpit

The cockpit measures 5'10" x 8'4" or 48.6 square feet (4.55 square meters). Along the transom is a full- beam pullout bench that easily deploys into the transom while leaving a padded bolster to lean against when fishing. With the bench folded away it also allows for copious amounts of deck space making the 375 an ideal dive platform. Other versions of this model have had a fixed bench across the stern, still others have nothing. The padded bolsters run 360-degrees around the boat and, at the cockpit, start at 17” (43.2 cm) and go up to 28” (71.1 cm) forward.

Hull Side Dive Door

Here’s a trend that was started by Intrepid and quickly became a tough act to follow, but follow they did. Only no one else seems to grasp the science as Intrepid has. It started years ago when the Hillsboro Police Department wanted to retrofit their Intrepids with an easier method for getting injured or unconscious swimmers out of the water. They went back to the Intrepid design team who came up with the concept of the hull side “dive” door.

At first, they thought "just cut out a section of the topsides and there's your door!", but it is far from being that simple. The hull would flex rendering the door inoperable. Intrepid had to create a method to strengthen that section of the hull, and then separately fabricate a door. Ultimately, Intrepid carried the stringers across the bottom and directly up to both sides of the opening making this void area what is probably the strongest section of the hull. The door was still fabricated separately and opened outward into the water forming the steps. That should have been the end of the story, but Intrepid never leaves a good idea alone.

The dive door has gone through several revisions through the years and each one is more impressive than the previous. The door that dropped into the water forming the steps was replaced with an inward opening door with a separate deployable ladder. This latest version of the door releases with a massive stainless latch and then lifts vertically so that the caprail of the door rises over the caprail of the boat allowing it to open flush against the gunwale. To close it, simply push it back down and then latch. It's a pretty slick system but Intrepid tells me they're revising yet another version that will again put previous iterations to shame.

Then there's the reboarding ladder.

I've seen two versions of the reboarding ladder. The one we had on our test boat was an incredibly beefy, and wide, ladder that deploys from a deck hatch just inside the door. It lies against the hull at a comfortable 17-degree angle, and goes so deep that reboarding with an entire complement of dive gear is easy.

Another version that I found to be pretty slick automatically extended out from the side of the hull. The ladder itself stored in a track under the deck and the lower rungs mounted flush as part of the hull side. A switch to the side of the opening extends the ladder. This also activates an LED light in the center of the helm console alerting the captain that he/she should address its retraction before advancing the throttles.

Helm

The helm seat

is double wide and on an electrically actuated slider. To the rear there are grab handles for those who like to stand while riding offshore. A storage compartment is between the grab handles, and a cooler is underneath and two storage drawers to the sides. To the front, both the helm and observer seat feature very soft padding, flip-down armrests and storage between the seats. There is a flip-out footrest as well as a molded footrest in the console. A 3” (7.6 cm) platform aids the vertically challenged captains such as me in seeing over the top of the console.

The helm itself

is mounted over to the port side of the console. The steering wheel is mounted to a tilt base and elevates almost to the horizontal, much like you would find in a larger convertible. Mercury’s Digital Throttle and Shift System (DTS), with its multiple features was mounted to the right. A quad set of SmartCraft gauges were just ahead of the wheel. Below, pushbutton switches have LED lighting around their perimeter to show when activated. The switches are not only waterproof, they are submersible to 15’ (4.6 m). The panel measures 3’3" x 13" (.9 m x 33 cm). The space between the hardtop supports and the bolsters is 20” (51 cm).

Front of the Console

Ahead of the console is a forward facing seat, and unlike the consoles we usually see, this seat is not merely a cushion on top of a cooler. It is a molded in seat with an insulated cooler underneath the seat. A button to the left electrically slides the seat to port opening up access to the head.

The head

is surprisingly roomy with 6'3" (1.9 m) of overhead clearance. There's no standard toilet, and that is not surprising as Intrepid is very accommodating to it’s customer's wishes. All manner of options are available from a Porta-Potti to a ceramic Vacuflush head with dockside pump out. Having an electrically actuated access to the head had me asking what would happen if something, or someone, got in the way of the door closing. To find out I stuck my foot in the way. As the door closed, it lightly touched my foot, and then it didn't just stop, it reversed its position to open again. It can also be opened manually.

Bow

The bow features wraparound seating that is so openly spaced (the seats are 3'6" (1 m) apart) that the area screams for a pedestal table. There is a covered cooler to each side located inside small consoles with powder coated grab rails surrounding them. This makes three coolers all within close proximity to each other. The seats convert to forward-facing chaise lounges by activating electrically actuated rising seats. This also allows reclining in any position. There is storage under the seats and behind the seatbacks, and it should be noted that the seatbacks are not simply continuations of the wraparound bolsters. These form fitted seatbacks are at a comfortable and relaxing angle.

There is storage under the forward seats as well as under the forward seat back that also has an additional storage compartment inside. The height of the bolsters increases from 27”(68.6 cm) and goes up to 38 ½” (97.8 cm).

Fishing Features

Since the 375 Center Console lends itself so well to offshore fishing, there are a multitude of fishing options that can bring the 375 all the way up to the tournament level. In fact, that is exactly what was done when Intrepid Powerboats teamed up for sponsorship of the Southern Kingfish Association tournament. Here are some of the features that went into this tournament level boat --

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Livewell

Intrepid has designed a livewell in-house and the design is such that it serves to protect the bait over time and distance. The 80 gallon (302 L) livewell is under the aft facing seats behind the helm seats. The hatch, which is accessed by sliding the seats forward, creates a watertight seal so that the well is pressurized, which virtually eliminates any sloshing while underway. In addition, high-pressure pumps create an incredible volume of changeover to the water supply. These two features combined work to significantly reduce the mortality rate of the live bait. A normal livewell is rated as good quality if you have a roughly 50% mortality rate. Tournament users of this livewell version have stated that they loaded it with 250 individual specimens that have remained alive through an entire weekend of offshore pounding.

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Transfer Box

The same technology can be seen in a transfer box located in the deck just abaft the livewell. In this instance, the livewell is designed to take bait directly from the dive door to this in-deck livewell. Both livewells receive recirculated water from a sea chest located in the compartment, which I like to refer to as a pump room, just ahead of the aft flip out bench seat. The sea chest eliminates several thru-hull fittings and is unusual on this size boat.

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Tuna Tubes and Downriggers

In the two aft quarters are tuna tubes. These are designed to accommodate tuna, head first, and as the 375 travels through the water, the water in the tubes continues to circulate keeping the tuna alive until the time comes to use them as bait for billfishing.

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Rod Holders

Rod holders are virtually everywhere on this boat. Thirteen are flush-mounted across the transom alone, nine rocket launchers surrounded the aft end of the hardtop and they are also along the caprails to both port and starboard. Obviously they're not all intended to be used at the same time. With so many scattered around the boat, combined with downriggers and outriggers, this 375 CC can put out a truly impressive spread of lines.

Helm

Intrepid isn't in the electronics business and as such it doesn’t marry itself to any one brand. This decision is entirely, and quite correctly so, left to the customer. That said, there are very few limitations. The tournament version I saw had dual Simrad displays, one 14” (35.6 cm), and one 12” (30.5 cm), an array of Yamaha multifunction displays, dual VHF radios and autopilot, just to name the highlights.

Observations

One main distinction that separates Intrepid Powerboats is that they are so customizable. Virtually everything is optional, allowing each buyer to dial-in exactly the type of boat he is looking for. Based on my conversations with the design team at Intrepid, I've come to find that nothing is off the table and if a customer can come up with an idea, they'll make it better. Intrepids aren't for everyone as they are definitely "money-is-no-object" types of boats. But on the flipside, this is a niche market that Intrepid has chosen to occupy and there are very few, if any, competitors in the arena at this level. This is why people who can have anything choose to have an Intrepid.

Standard and Optional Features