The new 55 Cockpit Motor Yacht from Novatec is one of the quicker boats in its class, topping out at 29.6 mph at 2400 rpm and netting a brisk 26.8 mph cruise at 2100. It compares well with Bayliner's 5788 ($926,995 with twin 602-bhp MAN diesel inboards), which posted 29.2 mph at WOT and cruised at 26.2 mph. Most other competitive models claim slower speeds, such as Ocean Alexander's 548 ($1,093,561 with twin 660-hp CATs), which reportedly hits 25.3 mph wide open and cruises at 23 mph. Since the 548 displaces five more tons than either the Novatec or the Bayliner, I'm not surprised.

Sea Ray's new 680 Sun Sport looks great, runs fast - 40.4 mph during our test - and handles with the sprightly ease of a smaller boat. Thoroughly indulgent, its dual-salon accommodation plan boasts more hardwood than the Amazon and more granite than New Hampshire. Rugged, sound-deadening construction methods make it extremely quiet and virtually vibration-free. The 680 Sun Sport can be enjoyed as watersports central or simply as a sun chaser. It features the largest fuel capacity in its class, providing more range than you could possibly use in a single weekend.

Owning a classic boat usually means forgoing modern conveniences that make cruising more comfortable, but the Huckins Atlantic 44 belies this theory. With its enclosed pilothouse and three-level deck, the Atlantic 44 takes you back to a bygone era (remember the 20th century?), but comfort-oriented items bring you quickly up to date. Air conditioning helps you sleep on humid nights. A galley with a microwave, refrigerator, and stove facilitates meal preparation. And we hope we don't have to explain why we appreciate a head with a vacuum-flush toilet and a hot shower.

We - and the entire boating public - have come to expect good things from Sea Ray. No other name in the marine industry signals quality and innovation like Sea Ray. And each year, it continues to churn out some great new products.

This year's 215 Express Cruiser is one of them.

It's difficult to build a 21-foot boat and call it an express cruiser - so difficult that we know of no other manufacturer that builds one. At this length, boats more so resemble large cuddy cabins, but that's the case with Sea Ray's 215.

Huh? A 30' cabin cruiser that doesn't look like a stern drive-propelled bleach bottle? No multi-stepped, magic-lift hull? No rarer-than-plutonium construction materials? No double-turbo-electronically-controlled Mag engines? None of that stuff and it still cruises, runs and feels just fine using only single-prop drives?

There's an aspect of a boat, rated on a scale of one to 10, that I call "Stu's Functionality Quotient." You won't find this in Chapman's and certainly not in Webster's, but as far as I'm concerned, it's as important as the seamanship or the correct vernacular found in those two august volumes. It works this way: The first indicator is whether the boat looks like it's suited for its mission. At the dock, go-fasts for instance, appear to be straining at the leash. There's no mistaking a proper fishboat, either. It bristles with fish-battling armaments.