SYLVAN MANDALAY 8525

When we first saw this pontoon, our eyes immediately went to the three bar stools in the stern. The safety police might change them to “rotating, nonbacked seating appliances”but without saying it, we know what they are there for … snacking, right?

This clever option features a huge table with plenty of room for laying out a Superbowl-worthy spread. One request to Sylvan: Give it a nonskid surface and cupholders unless you want us to play hands-free air hockey with our comestibles. Entertainers will love the optional cockpit ‘fridge and although the table takes up some sunning space, there’s still some room left over for solo tanners.

The cockpit features an L-lounge in the stern and twin couches up front with ergonomically correct chaise lounge seating. The helm console is compact, but has oversized gauges for easy reading. Deck track lighting gives it a nice mood-enhancing glow, and has clever features like the corner bow cushion that flips over to reveal a table with cupholders.

But the real fun didn’t start until we left the dock. Being a twin-tube pontoon – even one powered with Suzuki’s DF200 four-stroke – performance expectations were modest. You really need triple tubes to go fast enough for skiing, or so we thought. But when we put the Mandalay 8525 on plane in 2.7 seconds with practically no bowrise and buzzed to 30 mph in just 6.5 seconds, we had to stop and peer over the bow to make sure we counted correctly. Yep, two tubes … so what gives?

Something called Revolutionary Planing Technology (RPT), which is like having a pair of mini, variable deadrise V-hulls on the bottom that gives it plenty of lift to get it on plane quickly and allowed us to reach an impressive top speed of 40.8 mph. Handling was equally noteworthy not only with its straight-line tracking ability but also its cornering. The only shortcoming is a small, 24-gallon fuel tank that seriously restricts your range. A cockpit table and a movable cooler table give you plenty of refreshment parking space.