At less than $25,000, Baja's 20 Outlaw gets you in the go-fast game without suffering a sticker-shock coronary. And it doesn't skimp on the essentials to do it. This boat has the familiar low-profile deck, flat transom, and many of the same components you'll find on larger Outlaws. Racing-style bucket seats, power steering, and a brushed aluminum Dino wheel complete with leathery grip are all here. What's more, it shares construction features with the big dogs. The marine plywood in the transom is the same thickness as what you'd find in the 40 Outlaw.

The 20 Outlaw is built for running at top speed—it seems to come alive when it's up and going on its keelpad. Powered by a standard 260-hp 5.0L MerCruiser MPI, our test boat hit 59.7 mph as it danced across a windswept Sarasota Bay. Go ahead, fling the wheel—this boat corners precisely. But don't worry: It's exciting enough on the high end to give you that running-the-racecourse feel.

CERTIFIED TEST RESULTS Baja 20 Outlaw

Advertised fuel capacity 47 gallons. Range based on 90 percent of that figure. Performance measured with two persons aboard, half fuel. Sound levels taken at helm, in dB-A.

To be honest, you simply have to drive the 20 Outlaw at top speed to appreciate it. Don't expect a skiboat's holeshot, though. Like most high-performance boats, this baby climbs, rather than leaps, to plane. It took us seven seconds to hit 30 mph. Chicks dig speed (or so we keep telling ourselves), so just keep it moving.

Baja opted to incorporate a slightly shallower 21-degree transom deadrise on the 20 Outlaw, a nod to boaters' desire to go at top speed. Still, it slices through chop admirably, and the hull's end-grain balsa core construction provides a solid feel upon reentry. Although Baja has made a name for itself with its interlocking plywood stringer grid, the 20 Outlaw's backbone is an integrated fiberglass floor and stringer matrix. This departure is designed to trim weight while maintaining structural integrity.