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2009 Chris Craft Launch 28 Photos
2009 Chris Craft Launch 28 Test Details
| Category | Runabout |
| Length | 28ft / 8.53 m |
| Beam | 10ft 0in |
| Fuel Capacity | 150 gals |
| Weight | 7,500 lbs |
| Dealers | Contact Chris Craft Boats Dealers |
| Buyers Guides | Search For Chris Craft Boats Buyers Guides |
| Boats For Sale | Search For Chris Craft Boats For Sale |
2009 Chris Craft Launch 28 Description
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If you had to name one pleasure-boat builder that embodies the history of modern recreational boating, it would be Chris-Craft, with roots reaching back into the 19th century.
This year, five new Chris-Crafts three runabouts and two cruisers draw on that design heritage for inspiration. The results are impressive. I caught up with the Launch 25 during on-water trials at Floridas Lake Bryan last fall. With a running surface designed by Michael Peters Yacht Design, it has top performance to go along with its classic good looks.
The boats also a pas-senger-pleaser, though, with dock-level boarding from atop lockers on each side of the cockpit and walk-though to the swim platform.
A modern open-bow design, the Launch has curving forward side-decks that reflect the tumblehome in the aft deck sections. Combined with the boats deep topsides, it conjures up designs such as the barrel-back runabouts of the 1940s.
For all its backwards-looking appearance, the boat includes up-to-the-minute engineering and materials -- vinyl seats with flip-up bottoms for increased visibility, a perforated stainless-steel instrument panel with pressure-sensitive waterproof switches and a steering wheel that looks like brushed aluminum but is actually cool, comfortable polypropylene.
The boats modern sterndrive powerplant, a 350-cid 5.7 GSi, is linked to a DuoProp sterndrive; the compact installation allows spacious L-shaped cockpit seating aft to port. Spacious storage areas, including a locker big enough for wakeboards and water skis in the aft port quarter and an in-floor locker big enough for a portable cooler, are other advantages of modern fibreglass construction. Small details, such as the burgee-staff forward, the teak-covered swim platform and fold-down armrests add to the boat's overall appeal.
The chemical head in the in-floor locker forward is convenient and usable, but the framed privacy curtain would only fit a small child; it needs a re-design.
On the water, the boat has great acceleration, tight handling (the DuoProp helps) and more than respectable speeds. With a test crew of two, the through-transom exhaust option open and 80 gallons of fuel onboard, driving an F-6 prop set (average pitch of about 25 inches), the Launch tops out at 53.6 mph on radar at 5,000 rpm. The boat still exceeds 50 mph with seven people aboard, with the exhaust routed through the hub.
Power options up to a 420-hp 8.1-litre Volvo-Penta are available. I see little need for more power, although the boat could easily handle it.
The Launch cruises nicely at just under 40 mph at 4,000 rpm, at 33.1 mph at 3,500 rpm and 28.3 mph at 3,000 rpm. Quiet at top speed (88 dbA at the helm and 93 dbA in the aft cockpit area), the boat is even quieter at 3,500-rpm cruising speed, with readings of 79 dbA at the helm and 94 dbA in the back seat.
If you choose the optional exhaust switch system, you can let the boat growl. But one way or the other, the Launchs timeless styling speaks for itself.
2009 Chris Craft Launch 28 Test Specifications
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Test boat engine:
Volvo-Penta 5.7
GSi EFI, 280-hp, 5.7-litre (350-cid)
V-8 gasoline engine, electronic fuel injection,
driving a counter-rotating twin-prop F-6 prop
set through a DuoProp sterndrive.
Acceleration
mph sec.
0-20 4.93
0-30 6.91
0-40 9.85
Top speed (radar)
rpm mph
5,000 53.6
Cruising speed (radar)
rpm mph rpm mph
2,000 12.9 3,500 33.1
2,500 21.8 4,000 39.6
3,000 28.3 4,500 43.6
Sound levels at cruise (3,500 rpm)
helm aft cockpit
79 dbA 84 dbA
Sound levels at top speed
helm aft cockpit
88 dbA 93 dbA
Speed testing by Stalker radar
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