Four Winns H9 OB

A wide variety of marine industry companies have been launched in the Great Lakes region, including some of the biggest names in the pleasure boating industry.

Founded in 1975 by brothers Bill, Charlie and John Winn and their father, Bill Sr., the Four Winns Boat Company has been building high-quality pleasure boats in Cadillac, Michigan, for nearly 50 years. If you know anything about the company, you might also know that John Winn still lives in Northern Michigan, where he maintains a legendary boathouse filled with marine industry history. The structure is home to a collection of classic craft, including cruisers, hydroplanes, runabouts and outboard engines. The boathouse also contains a huge inventory of memorabilia that pays homage to the marine industry and the companies that made it what it is today.

When I received an invitation to test drive the all-new 2024 Four Winns H9, I was excited to see what the company had created for the new year. However, when I saw the invitation also included a tour of Mr. Winn’s boathouse, I was nearly giddy.

After the tour, I thought about John Winn’s boathouse and the beautiful collection it contains.

It’s easy to appreciate the tangible items like the gorgeous woodwork on the boats housed inside or the leaps in innovation represented by many of the outboard engines, but what stood out to me was not something you could touch.

It was the passion for the boating industry that the boathouse and its collection represent.

After 50 years, it’s easy to see that passion for quality, innovation and performance still shines through in every one of Four Winns’ products, and the 2024 H9 is no exception.

From the bottom up

Coming in just under 30 feet, the H9 is the newest and biggest member of the Four Winns H-series family. The series is populated with outboard- or sterndrive-powered bowriders ranging from 20 to 29 feet in length. Now topping the H-series chart, the H9 is not just a new model built on an existing foundation. It has been freshly designed from the bottom up, although it still incorporates Four Winns’ patented Stable Vee hull technology.

Four Winns built the new H9 to meet several buyer wants and needs, such as the still-growing desire for more outboard-powered options. Rather than hanging some outboards on the back of a boat built for sterndrives, the H9 was designed to carry twin outboard engines while maintaining the boat’s perfect balance and beautiful lines.

Although the 2024 Four Winns H9 is available with several outboard or sterndrive packages, our test boat was outfitted with twin Mercury Verado 300-hp outboard engines.

Sitting at the dock, the test boat had an elegant, classy appearance thanks to its clean white hull and gray accents. The white Verados perched at the transom were perfectly matched to the boat.

Like some other builders, Four Winns has begun incorporating a more vertical stem design in many of its models, and the H9 is no exception. I’ve had mixed feelings about the overall trend, but the angle is less severe on the H9 than other manufacturers include and only adds to the boat’s elegance.

The 2024 H9 test boat was outfitted with gray marine matting on the aft deck and gray snap-in mats covering the main. Along with the gray accents, the darker-colored flooring beautifully offset the white upholstery.

The deck throughout the boat is also notably absent of any steps. From bow to stern, there are no rises or drops in the deck to trip over.

Standard features

The H9 includes some very attractive standard features, such as the twin terraces on the port and starboard sides. Folded down, the twin platforms increase the boat’s overall deck space by 85% and create lots of additional room for entertaining, lounging or just climbing in and out of the water.

Aft seating can be reconfigured to take advantage of the terrace positions with a flip of a backrest or by lifting the center of the seats. Flip the backrest to face aft, lift the hidden backrests to create more individual seats, or leave things closed to take advantage of the huge sunpad with its own flip-up headrest.

Midships, the starboard galley’s counter space and sink are nicely usable without eliminating a bunch of seating and can include an optional fridge. All of the seating throughout the boat hides extensive storage, while more is accessible beneath the deck.

On the sterndrive version of the H9, the aft seating hides the boat’s engine and mechanical features, while the outboard version leaves that huge space nearly empty. Push a button and lift the aft seats to discover enough storage for all the water toys you might desire.

When powered by twin Mercury engines, the helm has standard twin 12-inch Simrad touchscreens that provide access to all of the ship’s systems, gauges and navigation. With twin outboards, the H9 also includes a standard joystick control placed on the portside of the helm to make docking effortless while standing and facing aft.

Ahead of the port seat, a console door opens to access a comfortable head big enough to change out of wet clothes that includes vacuflush controls and a sink.

From bow to stern, USB charging ports make it easy to stay connected, while wireless charging pads for phones are placed at both the helm and passenger sides. Lighting colors throughout the boat are adjustable, while audio can be controlled from the helm, passenger seat or transom.

The 2024 Four Winns H9 test boat was equipped with another unexpected and innovative optional feature. At first glance, the hardtop looks like any other, but with the touch of a button, the entire assembly can be electrically lowered to clear a bridge or overhead garage door.

Comfortable cruising

The H9 looked great at the dock, but the real test was a good run across the open water. It was a little cool, but the late spring fog that greeted us in the morning had lifted and there was almost no wind as we slid across the harbor.

Once out on Michigan’s Lake Charlevoix, the big Merc Verados came to life and pushed the H9 quickly up on plane. The boat has no trouble getting out of the water with minimal bow rise and a quick transition to cruising speeds.

At 3500 RPM, the H9 cruised nicely around 23 mph, while both engine and wind noise were quiet enough to carry on a normal conversation. Whether crossing another boat’s wake or just a ripple on the surface, the ride was comfortable and controlled with no skipping in tight turns.

Throwing the throttles all the way open easily pushed the boat up to the 50 mph mark. With the twin 300s, the boat will easily tow wakeboards or smoothly shuttle a boat full of people out for a sunset cruise. The 2024 Four Winns H9 is beautiful, nicely equipped, and can fulfill a variety of boater desires and expectations. However, the boat’s defining feature might be the passion that has made the Four Winns brand a 50-year success story.

Above photos: Chuck Warren