Regal 35 Sport Coupe

It’s a feeling that all Great Lakes boaters are familiar with: you’d love a couple extra feet of interior space, but you’re hesitant to take on a bigger boat and give up your prime slip

It’s a feeling that all Great Lakes boaters are familiar with: you’d love a couple extra feet of interior space, but you’re hesitant to take on a bigger boat and give up your prime slip. Regal solves that problem with its new 35 Sport Coupe, a delightful yacht that’s somehow bigger inside than out.

Packing the amenities of a 50-foot yacht into its 36-foot LOA, the 35 Sport Coupe features a single-level enclosed cockpit and attractive European-inspired styling. The expansive swim platform and enormous rear sun lounge speak to the 35 SC’s playful side. An adjustable back on the transom seat allows it to be set forward-facing, rear-facing or flat to expand the sun lounge enough to accommodate four people.

An L-shaped lounge seat to port can also be adjusted to be rear- or forward-facing. The seat conceals ample storage space in its base. A refreshment center, located opposite the table, is the ideal spot to prepare an afternoon snack. The bow sunpad that converts to a chaise lounge is easily accessed through the walk-through windshield.

The helm is neatly laid out, with space left of the steering wheel for a large multi-function display, such as the available Garmin 7612 GPS plotter. Overhead, the convertible hardtop opens at the touch of a button to let the sun shine in. An available 16,000 BTU air conditioner keeps things cool. The Regal 35 Sport Coupe offers a range of power choices from Mercury and Volvo Penta, including available joystick docking controls.

The main salon features an open floor plan, again making the boat appear larger than it really is, with an L-shaped settee to starboard and the galley to port. When it’s time to turn in for the night, the seat back on the L section of the settee raises at the push of a switch to extend the abbreviated forward berth into a full queen-sized bed. A foldout sleeper in the salon couch converts to an additional berth, while the aft cabin features a queen sleeper. A full-sized head completes the cabin.

“For its size, the Regal 35 Sport Coupe offers plenty of interior space and excellent fuel economy for extended cruising,” says Rich Gotlund at Basa’s Marine (basasmarine.com; 630-739-2272). “It has that nice big swim platform and aft cockpit sundeck; plus the ability to open the boat up to let the nice weather in, or close it up to be protected from the elements, make it perfect for the Great Lakes.”