(upbeat music)
-: Hi I'm Randy Vance
for Boating magazine.
Chaparral is known for building luxury sport boats,
but they don't forget the middle-class buyer.
Now they've expanded their SSi series.
This is the 21.
In a stern drive model
to appeal to the brand new boater.
Now this boat has plenty of room on board
for a crew of 12.
And it happens to be powered by
a 240 horse power Volvo Penta marine engine,
which gave us exciting performance.
Between the power steering
and the ultra smooth throttle and shift lever,
we had good handling,
and speeds of nearly 50 miles an hour.
Now the nice thing about the SSi series
is that there are plenty of standard features on board.
I like the fact that you have three boarding points.
You have a porch side step over transom
with the wing chair that lifts up,
and you have one on the starboard side as well.
Lift out the center cushion at the bow
and you've got a forward boarding step.
Now,
tilt those cushions up,
and the sun pad becomes a lounge facing to the port
or to the starboard.
When you step over on the transom platform,
you can see this one's covered with sea deck.
There's a three-step stainless steel ladder
that's ideal for water sports,
re-boarding,
and a safety feature as well.
Now the extended platform on the transom is an option.
And mother's like it because it's a great place
to sit and watch their children swim
while the boat is beached up or at anchor.
Inside the cockpit,
you'll find plenty of seating
and it's luxury,
comfortable,
and beautiful.
All the upholstery is made in the Chaparral factory.
There's multi colors of vinyl,
multi textures,
super straight stitching,
and the vinyl won't plank.
It's a great feature on a boat
that's gonna make it look good for a long time.
Now like the 21 SSi Outboard,
the forward seating here is expansive
and there's plenty of comfort as well.
The cushions are thick.
Underneath there's plenty of storage.
The bolsters wrap around,
so that you can sit facing any direction you'd like
and be comfortable.
There's stainless steel cup holders,
and you even have your own stereo speakers up front.
Stainless steel grab rails are easy to reach
and help make the ride more fun and secure.
Now as we said,
the SSi 21 is built for 12 passengers.
That takes plenty of storage
to keep everything organized.
I like the storage compartments and the combings
on either side of the boat.
Underneath the transom seating,
you'll find a port locker and a starboard locker,
and in the center,
you've got a large cooler.
Underneath the engine hatch,
you've got storage on either side,
and there's a large locker in the floor
for skis and big gear.
There's plenty in the consoles,
and in the forward seating area,
lift up the cushions there and you've got some more.
Now the options available are many.
This boat has the optional wake board tower.
It's built to raise and lower easily
so that you can store the boat,
or get under low bridges.
The flip up bolsters on the captain's chair
and the passenger chair are options,
as is the snap-in sea deck flooring.
And again,
the extended swim platform is an option,
so is the Garmin display on the helm station.
Now the SSi series also has available a fishing package.
With it,
you get the bow trolling motor,
you get an 18 gallon live well,
pedestal bucket seats to fish from,
and a fish finder.
Now this 21 SSi is stern drive powered.
There's an outboard option too,
and to be honest,
it's kind of a toss up.
You're gonna go for the outboard
if you're a coastal boater in saltwater.
Maybe the stern drive inland.
I'm Randy Vance for Boating magazine,
and this is the Chaparral 21 SSi.