Four Winns HD 220 OB

I wish airlines would pay as much attention to seating as Four Winns has on its new HD 220 Outboard model.

Four Winns makes quite the claim, boasting, “The comfort-ride seat may be the most comfortable marine seat ever.” After another grueling flight to sea trial this boat (and I happen to have more than a million miles with Delta alone), I was eager for just about any seat other than a plane’s.

Four Winns spent the winter layup experimenting with a new formula of Aquaflex vinyl upholstery, foam thickness and ultraviolet-resistant threads for secure and tight stitches. After numerous prototypes, Four Winns put all its research and findings together to create comfort-ride seating. The secret? A distinctive density foam with an integrated suspension system is built to absorb the impact of crossing wakes and lake chop, while side air vents dissipate heat, keeping things cool. Soft, forgiving and greatly improved upon over previous years, these seats live up to their claim for a sportboat of this size and price.

Get comfortable

With room for 10, nearly every seat on-board adds comfort and back support thanks to plush bolsters made from the same comfort-ride material. What’s remarkable is how Four Winns managed to engineer the motion-absorbing seating without giving up their clever under-seat storage. As experienced boaters know, you can never have enough hidden storage, especially with today’s Noah’s Ark trend, where “plus ones” are no longer exclusive to wedding receptions.

The HD 220 OB has a trunk where a sterndrive motor normally resides. We’re talking about a huge, 5-foot by 3-foot-plus storage area for hiding just about anything.

The U-shaped cockpit includes under- seating room for a built-in cooler and dedicated space for a carry-on. Seating in the bow and cockpit swings up to reveal fiberglass-molded storage cubbies. Along the centerline is an in-floor ski locker with a thoughtful gas-assisted strut for easy access. At the bow, a flip-up access locker conceals a telescoping deep-reach swim ladder. Both the forward and stern ladders use the deep-reach concept, which means you get an extra rung. For those of us whose joints and bellies are out of alignment, that extra rung makes boarding a pleasure, not an oxygen-deprived chore.

A major focal point and coveted seating area is the luxurious swim platform lounge. Accessed via a walk-through transom, an aft-facing bench seat overlooks the non-skid surface swim platform. Life is sweet during coving moments or while watching the sunset thanks to two armrests offering built-in stainless steel cup holders, a stereo with smartphone connectivity and four speakers throughout the boat. Be sure to ask your dealer about the option to upgrade to JL audio speakers and subwoofers, which come with a remote and a transom display.

Other luxury options include underwater lights and a porta-potti — a “must-have” if your boating destinations are void of on-land facilities. Located across from the helm seat, the enclosed head option includes a generous size mirror and a sink.

Bells and whistles

Taking a cue from Detroit’s automakers, the dash on the HD 220 OB has that luxury car feel with a hand-fitted, top-stitched upholstery wheel. Polished and easy to read gauges for fuel, oil pressure, temperature, speed, volts and more all fit nicely into the console with plenty of breathing room. With this ample space, you may consider adding the optional Raymarine A77 GPS/fishfinder with Navionics cartography. For those who boat on smaller inland lakes, the Four Winns HD 220 OB includes a standard custom-matched trailer. Exploring new bodies of water is part of discovering boating.

Besides, you’ll need to store the boat during the winter, and many boaters today have the engine maintenance handled right at a dealership.

Our test boat came with an optional wakeboard tower and colored Bimini top. The Turbo Swing Ski Tow is ideal for outboard-powered boats since it pivots the towline and swings across the wake; it’s a feature that tubers and skiers will appreciate.

From a performance perspective, the number of passengers, amount of fuel and outboard size affects actual top-end speed. Our test boat was rigged with a 250-hp Mercury Verado XL. Depending on your dealer, the HD 220 OB can be ordered with a range of Mercury, Yamaha or Evinrude E-Tec G2 engines. We were up on plane in less than 4 seconds, and with the hammer down, we hit 50-plus mph rather quickly. This is a very stable boat, thanks to an 8-foot, 5-inch beam and the Four Winns Stable Vee-Hull, which grips the water in a turn. This feature alone is very convincing for family members new to boating who are still finding their sea legs.