After putting the Regal 3860 on plane and making a few maneuvers, you quickly realize that something weird is afoot. If you didn't know any better, you'd think you were driving one of Regal's smaller sport boats that are well known for their agile and precise handling, rather than a 10-ton cruiser that sleeps six. Throwing the 3860 hard into a 180-degree turn, you accomplish the about-face in what feels like nearly half the usual radius, and the reality sinks home that you're entering a new world of performance and maneuverability. This 40-footer is powered by Volvo Penta's IPS 400 system, which mates two 310-hp diesel engines to a pair of revolutionary new outdrives that feature forward-facing props. Unique to this design is that the outdrive "pods" are mounted via a through-hull aperture in the bottom of the boat.

Aviation designers have long known the benefits of having a propeller-forward configuration. Aside from the early years of World War I, before they figured out how to fire a machine gun through a propeller arc, there have been precious few aircraft like the Cessna Skymaster and Dick Rutan's experimental planes that have had the propeller in a "pusher" configuration. Larger vessels like tankers, ice breakers and cruise ships, starting with the Elation in 1998, have been on the prop-forward bandwagon, although they vary from Volvo Penta's IPS system in that they have an electric motor in the "pod" that uses power from diesel engines to turn at a constant RPM.

Probably the coolest feature of the IPS system is the availability of Volvo Penta's new joystick docking system, which allows you to make formerly impossible maneuvers, such as going sideways without the use of bow thrusters. Just point the joystick the direction you want to go, and the computer articulates each drive independently. During a test of the IPS system aboard Doral's new 40-footer, the joystick docking system proves impressive, with slight joystick movements resulting in parallel boat movements. Push the joystick sideways, and - wow! - the boat moves directly sideways, soliciting some "oohs" and "aahs" from the rest of the crew. In short, the system should make moving up to a larger boat an easier decision for those feeling intimidated by the handling or docking challenges that a bigger cruiser brings with it. Even without the joystick, IPS allows for unparalleled control for precise docking.

Another one of the benefits of the IPS configuration is that the boat's propellers are biting into undisturbed water, unlike straight inboards or sterndrives, which have some form of structure in front of the prop that creates turbulence. But when comparing the Volvo IPS to a straight inboard system - which is really what it's designed to replace - one of the main reasons for its superiority is that the angle of the props are parallel to the boat's hull, unlike the seven degrees or more of angle of an inboard system's propshaft. To illustrate the superiority of this system, imagine yourself trying to push a stalled car. You wouldn't push it from the side at a 45-degree angle, but rather, you would push it from directly behind for maximum efficiency.

Another advantage of the IPS system is that engines can be moved farther back, creating more room for storage or even another amidships berth. On the Regal, the compact design of the system makes for an uncluttered engine with plenty of room for routine maintenance.   

Volvo Penta claims that the IPS system gives cruisers a whopping 20-percent increase in top speed and a 30-percent increase in fuel economy over traditional inboard technology. A good deal of this superiority is due to reduced drag. Although you wouldn't think a round 1.5-inch propshaft would cause much drag, to illustrate its water-grabbing effect, take a 10-foot length of 1-inch diameter PVC pipe out on your kayak, and use it for a paddle; you'll find it will propel you along quite nicely. The supporting struts also slow you down, unlike the hydrodynamic IPS gear case, which is made from bronze and stainless steel for superior anti-corroding properties. Volvo Penta uses its proven Duoprop system with a pair of counter-rotating props made of a nickel/aluminum/bronze alloy to give this system plenty of bite with no prop torque to skew you to the side.

The Regal 3860 test boat is equipped with a pair of the six-cylinder, 310-hp IPS 400 diesel power plants (all IPS systems are diesels), which is the only IPS engine not to feature a belt-driven supercharger compressor to go along with its intercooled turbocharger. In addition, there's also a 3.7-liter, four-cylinder 350 version that puts out 260 hp, as well as two other models, the IPS 500 and IPS 600, which produce 370 and 435 propshaft horsepower, respectively, from the same 5.5-liter block as the IPS 400 version. Some may be puzzled by the engine model numbers, since they usually represent either the horsepower rating or the displacement, but with the IPS system being so efficient, these model numbers represent the horsepower equivalency of  a standard inboard drive system. So in effect, the Regal 3860's 310-hp IPS engines give you approximately the same kick as a pair of 400-hp inboards.

Despite the lack of a supercharger, the IPS 400s perform brilliantly. Time to plane on the test boat that's carrying 140 gallons of fuel and 40 gallons of water is 7.2 seconds, and it only takes 12 seconds to reach a cruise speed of 25 mph. Jamming the excellent fly-by-wire electronic throttles to the stops pushes (er ... pulls) the Regal to a top speed of 37.3 mph. The Volvo multifunction display is part of a new generation of plug 'n' play, NMEA 2000 compatible systems that delivers a wealth of information to the skipper on all aspects of engine function, in addition to the conventional array of Faria gauges. Checking out the fuel economy on the LCD display shows that the 3860 is getting 1.26 mpg at a cruise speed of 32 mph.

Because the IPS system makes a boat so maneuverable, Volvo Penta recognized that this could present a safety problem with skippers who get too enthusiastic about spinning the wheel hard over, so it created a variable-speed steering magnetic brake to create artificial resistance. The brake makes it progressively harder to turn, and therefore acts as a warning to the captain that he's over-cooking the turn. If the skipper forgets that the wheel was turned to the stops when they shut off the engines, the IPS drives automatically recenter when you turn the key on or off - thus preventing a violent lurch to the side when getting on the throttle.

While the through-hull design seems like it could potentially cause the boat to sink if the outdrives hit an obstruction, it's designed to shear cleanly off and not leave an exposed hole in the hull. One of the real assets to this drive configuration is that it allows diesel exhaust to be vented underwater, rather than at the stern where the noxious black fumes can be sucked into the cockpit via the "station wagon" effect. Sport fishermen will greatly appreciate this when backing down on a fish, and because the propellers are level to the hull, they don't cause the stern to bury when backing up, so you can really go fast in reverse. Since the exhaust exits underwater, the IPS 400s are quiet, registering only 69 decibels at idle and 88 decibels at idle at wide-open throttle.

Recently, Lazzara Yachts unveiled a new 75-foot LSX model that features four IPS 600 units, giving it 30-knot-plus performance while burning as little as half the fuel of a similarly performing inboard yacht. And with a remote joystick station near the stern, docking this yacht is unbelievably easy. This expands the previously narrow range of IPS-compatible boats (30 to 50 feet long with top speeds between 25 and 45 knots) to a whole new level. Right now, no refits are being done, and the IPS is only available in diesel, but who knows what the future will bring. The only downside is that the system is rather expensive, as is usually the case with new technology. However, the Volvo Penta IPS system is clearly the next generation propulsion system for achieving the most performance from boats that would ordinarily run inboards. Like their props, Volvo Penta is looking forward to the future.