This is a boat we've been looking forward to for a long time, it's the smallest and most affordable of
the Nimbus outboard-powered range of sportsboats and in some ways the most exciting.
It's obviously lighter so it should be a bit sportier, it's more affordable, and crucially it's also
trailable. A couple of quick facts and figures - first we know it's just over 8.1 metres long,
that means it's a fraction under 27 foot, it's also 2.6 metres wide and weighs about
2.5 tonnes ex-engine, now those figures are important because it means that you can just about
legally tow this on a road trailer, you'll need a fairly sizeable vehicle to make sure that it
comes within the load, the overall load, but it is possible to get a trailer and tow it on UK roads.
Now 2.5 tonnes is quite heavy, that's substantially heavier than for example the
Axopar 28, one of its close rivals, and that's because it's so solidly built, let's take a look at this,
you can see just the quality of the moldings here, really nice, smoothly moulded, you've got a couple of
lockers at the stern here, again all nicely moulded out and really sturdy fixtures and fittings, you
can see the gauge of this ski arch, really chunky, nice big cleats, thick rubber fenders all round,
just feels instantly like a quality boat, you've got a good bathing ladder at the back, making it
easy to get on and off, and then this rather nice layout in the stern area, so you've got
a full walkaround on the engine, quite big bathing platform, both sides, and then an aft bench, which is
a lovely place to sit when you're at anchor, or of course if you're using it as a water sports boat,
it means someone can actually keep an eye on what's going on behind, but it's not just an
aft-facing seat, this whole seating area here is rather clever, so you've got the forward seats here,
nice hip support, so you're nice and securely locked in there when you are bouncing along at speed,
and then this whole section here actually folds over, so just pull out these little lugs,
lock them into place, and you can then have that in a position like here, they pop back in, do the same
to the other side and then you've got a slightly more handy aft-facing seat, those actually pop
down at that cushion, I've just got it unpopped because I want to go the whole hog, which means
you take this cushion out, pop that over there, then lower this into that section, pop that back
and then you've got a really nice sun pad.
When you want it in a more sociable anchor mode you put this back, whilst we're here I'm just going
to show you this, there's a big locker in there, again nicely moulded out, really nice and dry, you've got
all the breaker switches, electrics in there, good size locker for storing kit,
so we'll put that cushion back, actually we'll lift this up first, I think, there we go, put that back in,
pop those little lugs, oh they're already in place, and then you've got the table here,
that swings up, it's a little latch, locks in place, and then the two helm seats
swivel round, lever there and then you've got a really nice sociable seating area around the table
itself, so it's not just an outright sportsboat, you have got somewhere you can chill out at anchor
and enjoy a meal in the cockpit, in fact under here there is a very nice little fridge
in the drawer, so you can keep your drinks to hand, exactly where you need them, slides back,
in this particular case you've got the T-top, which I think is a really nice addition to the
boat, you've got this, I think it's called a Lexan solid roof, so it takes some of the sun off it,
and it also provides a mounting point for canopy covers, so you can enclose this whole cockpit area
and use it at times when other more open sportsboats wouldn't really be viable. Now the T version
has a center console, but it also has these lovely deep walkaround side decks, so you can see just
how tall that is here, grab rails everywhere for hanging your fenders, somewhere to hang on to, and
of course the T-top provides another safe grab hold here, then there's a little step up the side deck
to this foredeck area, and again you've got a nice seating area here, just chill out at anchor here,
cup holders, proper windscreen wipers, again rare on a boat this size, and under this cushion here
there is a hatch through into the cabin below, it's not really meant as the entrance, it's really just
a way to throw your bags down below without having to work your way through the boat, but it
also means you can get a bit of air when you're in the cabin itself, and of course if you really
need to clamber in and out you can do, but again look at that, everywhere you look, proper grab holds.
Now the other thing about these Nimbus outboard boats is the squared off bow, just means you've
got a really good sized platform, you can in fact nose this up to the beach and hop off onto the
beach, I think there is the option for a little bow ladder if you want, it tends to be something
they do a lot in Scandinavia, they nudge up to rocks, put the anchor out there, in the UK more
likely to be used for a beach, but you've got a nice big platform, solid cleats both sides, and a
really big anchor locker with an electric winch and plenty of space for your ropes and chain,
and just nice little details like these hangers so you can hang your lines or fenders off there,
and it means they don't all get mixed up about with the dirty chain.
So the helm station itself - really nice and clean and modern, uncluttered, we talked about this T-top,
that gives you a nice surround and you've got this wraparound windscreen that will hopefully
take the wind off when we get out there, but we'll see how that works on the sea trial.
Nice three-spoke steering wheel, simple screen, all the information there, no actual
physical dials as such, it's all electronic, electronic throttle for the Mercury V8 engine, and
Simrad kit, you've got the chartplotter, the VHF radio and a Fusion entertainment system,
you've also got the Zipwake tabs, now these are automatic trim tabs, that just means
they take care of the side to side, if there's a side wind, keep the boat nice and flat, and of
course you can use them manually if you want to press the bow down to cut through the waves better,
so everything you need here, the helm itself, the seats, you've got nice bolsters so that
you can stand or sit, they should provide a nice bit of bracing there,
and then on the helm itself you've got a built-in footrest, but the navigator also has a rather nice
little teak footrest that folds out, look at that, really solid cantilevered hinges, again
it all just makes the boat feel really solid, there's a little storage area here,
and this whole helm area actually lifts up, see if I can do it, you get hold of these two
latches, and then this whole thing lifts up, in fact it's on gas rams, it's not as heavy
as you might think, but that just gives access to the fuel tank, the senders, there's not a lot
of storage here, but it's really nice just to have access to the bilge area, a lot of boats
you'll find that they actually screw the seats in place and then it's a real pain to get to, so just
proper thoughtful design, that makes a bit of a difference when you actually own a boat like this,
and then the other big thing about this design, particularly compared to boats like the Axopar 28,
is that there is a proper cabin area down here.
On the Axopar you can get a half cabin, but that's separate
to the actual loo, which is tucked around the front in a separate area here, here it's all together in
one place with a proper separate bathroom, so let's go down below and take a look at that.
So down in the cabin there is a reasonable amount of space, it's not a huge cabin, but you've got
a really good sized bed, it's quite nice and wide across here, your feet tuck down towards
the bow of the boat down there, and you've got a bit of natural light, there's a window here,
got a bit of storage here, you've got a sink out here with some storage underneath,
there's that hatch that allows a bit more light and fresh air in there if you want to overnight,
on a nice day it's all very nicely finished, nothing too fancy, but just nice clean surfaces,
nothing too rough or unfinished, got some LED lights above, but most importantly of all
you've got a separate heads compartment. Now if you open that up, it's not huge, but there's this
sort of opaque door that allows some light through to actually get in there, you have to pop
up here first, because there's not a lot of room to move around, but crucially you can get in there
and there's plenty of, it's obviously sitting head room only, you can't stand in here,
but it is a proper private heads compartment, that's all part of this one inside cabin space,
so rather than having to make your way outside and either use an outside head compartment or,
worse still, a bucket, you've got a proper usable electric toilet in here with your own sink,
and it just means that you've got the overnighting capability, possibly even for a weekend, to sleep
comfortably, have your own bathroom and not have to worry about marina facilities or anything else.
One of the things I like about this Nimbus is the helm position, it's very neatly laid out, you've got
just the right amount of adjustment in the seats, you've got a nice little bolster, good grips, I do
find that you tend to want to sort of slouch here and at this level, this top of the windscreen is
just about where you want to be seeing, so you're either better off standing all the way up or
sitting right down, and it's very nicely protected, you've got a good wraparound screen here, this
obviously the T-top provides a bit more protection and certainly gives you that feeling of security,
the relationship between the wheel and the throttles and the seat is very good indeed,
there's this nice console you can rest your hand on, and it's wonderfully quiet, these new
Mercury V8s, this is the 300hp and at idle you can frankly hardly hear it, and the electronic
throttle, so neat, it's just very smooth, you can barely feel or hear it engaging, in fact you need
to keep an eye on that little neutral button to know when you're actually there, because there's
almost nothing to tell, and that's something that's a tiny bit annoying as you when you're standing up
that little green neutral button is under the handle, so you can't see it, but then when you
engage, beautifully smooth, and then lovely smooth throttle action, just picks up nicely,
and the steering has a really nice weight to it, it's not too light, sometimes if it's too
light it just feels a little bit artificial and remote, but this has a nice weight to it,
and it's sensitive without being overly quick. So if we get it nice and level now,
see how many turns, one, two, there's about two turns lock to lock, and it goes round very neatly,
certainly at this kind of speed it's a nice tight turning circle, we have been out and had a bit of a
play off the Needles where it was really messy and quite rough, and in common with the bigger Nimbuses
it's a hull that seems to work really well when it's flying absolutely flat and level, you've got
that twin-stepped hull, which gives it a nice flat ride and keeps the vee immersed, and if you can keep
it immersed and nice and level it rides very neatly, it cuts through nicely, you can actually
go quite quickly and get a nice little fly on it if the waves are consistent and it's a nice roll,
what's not so good is when it gets a bit messy and choppy, and if it lands on the side it's got
some quite big chines and you get a bit of a bang through the boat if you land on the side, so the
key is to keep it nice and flat or just keep the speed down, because it's a really comfortable boat,
cruising along at 30-ish knots, from what I've seen it uses around about 50 liters an hour at 30 knots,
but to be honest it's been so rough out here that we haven't had a chance to test it
properly flat out, so I'm going to try and find some flatter water, take it for a blast and see
what we get in terms of max speed and a few more fuel figures. It's interesting how much
happier the hull is in these kind of conditions, we've got a nice little surface chop on here,
whereas out in the Needles it was really quite big waves and lumpy and all mixed up, and it was
struggling to to keep itself level in that kind of conditions, and the chimes were bouncing around
a little bit, whereas here it stays nice and flat, and that vee cuts through the water really nicely,
and you can also corner much quicker, you know, here with a bit of speed on it the hull will
dig in very nicely, there's no sign of any slip, it goes around nice and tightly, nice and level,
whereas again, out in the rough stuff, if you try to put on too much power too quickly in the corner
it would cavitate a little bit and just struggle to get round and get those chines banging into
waves, whereas here it feels really in its element, and quick too, you know, we were up to 48 knots,
a little bit of breeze and tide behind us, in the other direction it was more like sort of 42-43,
but it feels really comfortable at that speed, it just flies across the surface, staying nice
and level, has a nice easy gait as you go, it's almost if the air gets under there a little
bit and softens it even more, feels really comfortable, and yet at a steady 30-35 knots
using 40-45 litres an hour it's a really comfortable usable boat. There's a lot to like
about the Nimbus T8, it's a really nice size of boat, it's small enough to trail behind a car but
it's big enough to give you confidence. It feels good out in the chop, certainly a light chop is
really capable, it's a very nice sociable boat, you've got this seating that all turns around to face
each other, the helm position is really good and nicely protected, and because it's small and light
it's quick too, with this 300hp engine you should get an average two-way speed of 46-47 knots,
not too expensive to run, very easy to handle, you've got these lovely walkaround decks too,
and it's just so beautifully built, it really gives you confidence - the gauge of the steel of this
T-top, these cleats, the grab handles, the ease of which you can move around, that lovely little
seat up front and the wide bow, it just works really nicely, there's a couple of tiny little
things that are a bit annoying, out in the breeze this T-top actually makes a bit of a whistling noise,
and under the seats here there are some slightly sharp edges to the runners, which can catch the
back of your legs, but these are small things that really don't detract from what is a very
usable boat. It's the kind of boat that i would have no qualms at all in recommending to someone.