28 ft glacier bay catamaran

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Glacier Bay 3470 Boat Review

• By Dean Travis Clarke
• Updated: August 26, 2005

Glacier Bay 3470 Main

Several years ago, I served as navigator for a pair of 26-foot Glacier Bay catamarans crossing 1,350 miles of remote, open ocean from Hawaii to Midway Island. Leaving Hawaii, we headed down-sea in 15- to 18-foot seas. I honestly can’t think of a 26-foot monohull that I would readily agree to sail on such a trip.

Performance This new 34 runs every bit as well as Glacier Bay’s intrepid 26-footers. But the 3470 has 78 percent more roll stability than a 26-foot Glacier Bay.

Seas outside Miami’s Government Cut ran 4 feet out of the southeast – really not much of a contest. The twin Cummins MerCruiser QSB 5.9 common-rail diesels churning out a quiet 380 hp each were hardly as loud as the wind past my ears as I stood in the cockpit. Glacier Bay installs considerable sound-insulation material on the lids and bulkheads surrounding the engines, making for an exceptionally quiet ride.

The 34 series comes in both inboard and outboard versions. I found it amazing that the difference in the weight and balance ratios of the two versions is only 1 percent. Also interesting, the ratios match those of the 26-footer. Good genes, I guess. Of course, displacement-wise, the inboard tips the scale at 1,800 pounds more than the outboard version.

Don’t expect this boat to feel anything like what you’re used to in a monohull. It tends to remain flat in a hard turn or to even lean outboard slightly. Or it may roll slightly and unexpectedly even in flat water. But remember that this is a high-speed displacement hull, not a planing hull. Translating to layman’s terms: Launch the 3470 off a 4-foot wave at 30 mph and I guarantee you it will be a nonevent. You hardly need to bend your knees.

According to the Mercury SmartCraft engine gauges, idle speed of 600 rpm produced a speed of 5.8 mph, using 1 gallon of diesel per hour total. In flat water, I hit a top speed of 34 mph at 2,900 rpm – pretty respectable for any displacement hull – using 39 gph total. For cruising, 1,900 rpm burned a more conservative 16 gph providing a range of more than 350 miles.

In a drift, the 3470 settles directly abeam of the seas, with the fairly abrupt catamaran-style roll moment.

Fishing Glacier Bay engineered an excellent rigging and tackle station in the portside cockpit module. When you open the station up, tackle trays fold down automatically. You also get a 47-gallon lighted livewell with an aquarium window.

The cockpit – as you’d expect on a cat – offers tons of fishing space with removable coaming pads all around that met me at the upper thigh. About the only shortcoming from a fishing standpoint is the height of the freeboard around the cockpit. If you want to revive a stressed fish prior to releasing it, it’s a bit of a stretch to the water’s surface when leaning over the rail. However, I have an answer to this. The transom door is large enough to lie down in, and with the tunnel right there, well you can easily see that holding a fish on centerline while idling forward is easier than on a standard monohull.

Glacier Bay provides four rod holders in the gunwales. More can be mounted across the stern and in the side gunwales. One other change: I’d prefer to add removable rod holders in the wide dry-storage box in the transom so that it could double as rod storage. Hard-core anglers will probably eschew the optional swim step that would degrade backing performance. With props so far apart and a tunnel in the center, this boat backs down and spins on a fish better than most.

Design and Construction Thanks to the transom at the aft extreme rather than outboard brackets, the 3470 provides 21 more inches of cockpit length than the two outboard versions of this boat – a fact serious fisherman should particularly appreciate.

Conceived in the harsh reality of the Pacific Northwest, Glacier Bay bows needed to withstand collisions with submerged logs. Consequently, the company reinforces all its boats’ stems with Kevlar and six to 10 layers of premium E-glass 24-ounce woven roving. The Kevlar runs the full length of the stem and wraps around to the keel. A foam-filled double bottom creates a virtually impregnable, watertight compartment in the bow. Stretching aft are more foam-filled compartments separated by watertight bulkheads. The rest of the hull is solid fiberglass almost an inch thick.

You’ll find quite elegant accommodations below deck with an interesting new feature: A retractable bulkhead affords the master stateroom access to the guest stateroom – in case you want to check up on your offspring.

Despite two individual hulls obviously narrower than a single monohull, living space aboard the Glacier Bay 3470 is most comfortable, even for people of well above average size – like yours truly.

LOA 34 ft. BEAM 13 ft. 3 in. DEADRISE Displacement cat DRAFT 2 ft. 2 in. WEIGHT 18,700 lb. FUEL 300 gal. MAX POWER (2) 380-hp diesels MSRP $322,350 (base boat)

Glacier Bay Catamarans Monroe, Washington 360-794-0444 www.glacierbaycats.com

Volvo penta D-6 370-hp Diesel TYPE In-line 6 DISPL. 359 cid MAX RPM 3,000 HP/LB RATIO 0.29 FUEL SYSTEM Common rail GEAR RATIO 1.64:1 WEIGHT 1,296 lb. ALT. OUTPUT 115 amps MSRP Price on request

Notable Standard Equipment * Foam-filled, double-bottom hulls * Bait-prep center * 47-gallon baitwell * Molded swim platform w/integral ladder * Six watertight compartments w/pumps * Two 1,350-cubic-foot fish boxes

Impressions There’s some talk of taking one of these 34s from Ecuador out to the Galapagos. I am impressed enough with this boat to jump at the chance.

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The Busy Boater

Exploring boating from a renter's perspective

Boat Review: Glacier Bay 2240sx Renegade

The Glacier Bay 2240sx Renegade is a HUGE 22-foot bow rider with a catamaran hull that offers safety and versatility for fishing in open waters or cruising in comfort with a group of friends or family. This catamaran is a very different animal than the Lagoon 380 we recently reviewed, but they both share a roomy layout and twin-engine performance. Is the Glacier Bay 2240 SX Renegade a rental boat worthy of the Busy Boater seal of approval? We rented one on the lee shore of Maui from Aloha Outdoors to find out.

• Smooth, quiet ride
• Plenty of power and speed to get you there fast and muscle your way through rough conditions
• Twin engines offer redundancy and maneuverability
• Incredibly roomy
• Capacity rating of eight passengers is low for this size of boat
• No forward-facing seat at windshield for lookout
• Side to side rolling motion contributes to sea sickness

Piloting the Glacier Bay 2240sx Renegade

Glacier bay 2240 engines.

Our test boat was equipped with twin 115hp fuel injected Yamaha outboard engines with close to 3,000 hours on them. Many would consider this a very high number of hours, especially in a salt-water rental fleet. However, these engines shifted smoothly, started easily, and cruised cleanly and quietly. I consider this a testament to Yamaha, which is an expensive engine option, as well as the strong maintenance program the rental company must be managing.

It is important to have an engine that starts, idles and shifts confidently when you are docking. A stalled engine just as you need to reverse to stop the boat can result in bruised fiberglass and a bruised ego. Fuel injection has helped exponentially in this area. Higher end outboards, like this Yamaha, tend to have a more compliant shift whereas entry level Mercury units grind when shifting in and out of neutral. I’ve been told many times that this is normal and acceptable, but it does not inspire confidence.

The twin engine configuration also inspires confidence with redundancy. Each engine has a separate 75 gallon fuel tanks and its own electrical system. This isolation ensures that mechanical failure, whether it be related to fuel, battery, or the motor, is isolated to one side of the boat. The engines are close enough to the centerline that the boat is fully capable of running under one engine in the event of a failure.

At the Helm of the 2240

The helm was well positioned and comfortable for all three Busy Boaters, ranging from 5 feet to 6 feet tall. All of the instruments were easy to see without obstructing the view of the water ahead. The stereo was exposed to the sun and very difficult to read, requiring me to lean in and cover it with my hand to confirm settings. Luckily we didn’t need to view it much since we could set the music on our phone with the Bluetooth. I’ll also note that our test boat, equipped with four 6.5″ speakers and a budget marine head unit was more than adequate at filling the boat with tunes under way.

The twin throttles located to the right of the wheel were very easy to see and operate from the helm seat. All of the electrical switches were also visible and easy to access, just below the throttles. The VHF was mounted below the wheel, but we could hear it fine from there and it was easy to adjust volume and squelch knobs in that location.

The ladder back helm seat was surprisingly comfortable. It looks less comfy than some of the swoopy bucket seats you often see in bowriders. However, the padding was adequate and the armrest was a welcome addition that made it easier to position yourself without being able to move the chair from its fixed post. We were also able to get a bit more height on the seat by sitting on the throwable life preserver.

The boat did not have a rudder indicator, water speed indicator, or depth sounder. This lack of instruments was not a show-stopper on this boat.  It was easy to determine the wheel position by looking behind the helm to see the direction the outboards were pointed. The boat was equipped with a GPS chart plotter that indicated the charted water depth as well as GPS speed. Additionally, the shoreline drops off quickly where we were in Maui. So there wasn’t a lot of concern over water depth.

The boat was not equipped with hydraulic steering. While the steering wheel still turned with little effort, it took quite a few turns of the wheel to turn the motors from lock to lock.  However, the wheel did have a spinner knob to make it easier to quickly make a hard turn. The twin engines also make tight turns easier because you can throttle up one engine with the other in neutral, or even put one in forward and one in reverse to rotate the boat in place.

Under Way in the Catamaran

The boat cruised nicely with the engines at 3,900 RPMs, making about 19 knots. At this speed in swells of 1-2 feet, the boat got some lift over the waves, but came down very softly without ever crashing. This was true when we were running into the waves, with the waves, or quartered to the waves (waves coming at a 45-degree angle to the bow or stern). It was a very remarkable ride that allowed me to sit back and relax whereas in so many monohull boats, I would have been watching the bow and the waves and throttling up and down to keep from crashing over a poorly timed wave. My only complaint here is taking the waves from the side caused an exaggerated side to side rolling motion. Though this was less of an issue at higher speeds than at idle.

Cruising at 3,900 rpms, the boat was incredibly quiet at the helm, with more noise coming from the water than the twin engines.  In addition to being Yamahas (known for quiet performance) the outboards were mounted below the boat’s tall transom, which helped to block sound from entering the boat. I don’t like to explore the limits of an unfamiliar boat in unfamiliar water, but this boat can probably break 30 knots given the motors are rated to run around 6,000 RPMs at wide open throttle.

We spent quite a bit of time running at slower speeds as well:

• The boat idled at 800 RPMs and 3 knots.
• When cruising along the coastline looking for whales, or eating lunch, we ran the boat at 1,000 RPMs and 5 knots.
• We also found a very comfortable speed around 3,000 RPMs and 12 knots that was fast enough to smooth out the ride but slow enough to settle the lift over waves. I suspect this is a relatively inefficient way to travel given that the bow was riding a bit high and 3,900 RPMs offered 60% more speed for 30% more RPMs. However, the ride was much more compliant than a traditional monohull running below its planing speed.
• Note that the boat planed very easily, and the bow rise was never an impediment to visibility.

Glacier Bay 2240sx Storage

An abundance of cupholders is always handy on a boat. They can be used to secure sunglasses, keys, cell phones and other small items, in addition to beverages, which themselves are important on a sunny day to keep the crew hydrated. This boat was equipped with ten cup holders:

• One at each end of the two benches in the bow
• Two at each end of the lounge seat (two of them accessible from the fishing cockpit).
• One just to the right of the helm seat and one behind the helm seat that can be accessed from the helm or the live well seat.

While some of the cupholders were mounted precariously high, the two forward cupholders in the bow and the two at the helm were down low, allowing for relatively secure storage.

The dash area below the windshield also offered a convenient place to secure charts, binoculars, phones and the like without obstructing the forward view.

There were three spacious storage compartments throughout the boat:

• A set of double doors in the cockpit allow easy access to the long wide storage area under the lounge seat.
• A large hatch slides open between the lounge seat and the windshield to reveal a tall, deep compartment with standing room. This can be used for changing into a swimsuit or going potty (if you brought a bucket or cassette toilet). It also runs the full length of the port (left) bench seat in the bow. Fishing poles and other large items can be stored here. This is more secure than many boats that only have room for poles under the gunwales in the cockpit.
• The starboard (right) bench seat in the bow lifts to reveal storage that runs back underneath the helm. On our boat, life jackets were stored under the bench. Other safety equipment was stored under the helm where it could be accessed through a small hatch.

A live well is located behind the helm seat that doubles as an additional seat. We used it as a cooler for our lunch. It could have easily swallowed three more 12″x8″ tote bags like the one we brought.

Glacier Bay 2240sx Renegade Layout

While the boat is very roomy with ten cupholders and comfortable seating for at least that many, the capacity plate shows a limit of eight passengers. This is a surprisingly low rating for a boat this large with this much freeboard (height above the waterline). However, its intended use in rough open waters may have something to do with this. Regardless of the capacity rating, our rental company limits capacity to six passengers. In rough conditions, you’ll want to have everyone behind the windshield. More than six without the bow seating would start to be tight.

This boat has a rather unique layout, with the forward 3/4 of the length equipped like a typical side console deck boat with wide, comfortable lounge seating, and a wrap-around windshield. The final few feet of the boat has an open cockpit area for fishing. Being a catamaran, the Glacier Bay 2240 is very wide for its length, and the outboards eliminate the need for engine space within the hull. With these space improving advantages, you really get as much room as you’d expect in a typical 22-footer just in the front 3/4 of the boat. So you can look at the rear cockpit as gravy for easier fishing or additional storage.

Glacier Bay 2240 Cockpit

The open cockpit is a great spot for working your fish without seats getting in the way. It can also be used to stash a cooler, towels, or other equipment.  Rod holders are integrated into each of the side rails. A cutting board is mounted on the starboard (right) stern rail. The cutting board is in a perfect spot to wipe and wash fish guts back into the water and out of the boat. It also has a hole to secure a dirty knife on the outside of the hull. This keeps your sharp bloody blade from falling overboard or making a mess inside the boat.

The center of the cockpit has a cutout to allow easy access to the swim platform.  The swim platform has a long ladder with four rungs. Tall railings extend the full length of the platform. This allows you to easily board the boat both from the water and when it is on a trailer.

Helm and Lounge Area in the 2240 Catamaran

The center area of the boat can seat five comfortably behind the windshield. In addition to the helm seat, there is a seat on the live well behind the helm. An L shaped lounge seat large enough for three people sits opposite the helm. Personally, I prefer a front facing seat next to the helm for a lookout/navigation companion. On this boat I found myself standing behind the helm seat when Busy Boater Jr was running the boat.

The boat had a very generous bimini top with a sturdy frame. It ran from the dash to the end of the lounge seat providing good protection from the sun. It was also quite tall, allowing me, at six feet tall, to stand up straight without hitting my head.

My biggest beef with the design of the Glacier Bay 2240sx Renegade was a small step that ran the width of the boat near the helm. If you don’t notice it while moving quickly through the boat, you can trip.

Glacier Bay 2240sx Renegade Bow

The catamaran advantage is most evident in the bow area where the boat carries its full 8.5 foot beam all the way forward. A wide bench on each side of the Glacier Bay 2240sx Renegade bow area with deep backs and heavy bow rails provides a sense of security while under way.

How Much Does a Glacier Bay 2240sx Renegade Cost to Rent and Where Can I Find One?

Aloha Outdoors has three Glacier Bay 2240sx Renegade’s available for rent in Maui, Hawaii from a boat ramp just North of Wailea in Kihei. As of this writing, you can rent for 5 hours for $695 or 6 hours for $795. On water instruction is available if you aren’t ready to take the boat out on your own. They normally have shorter rental options as well, but they don’t currently have enough staff to support multiple turns per day. #BlameCovid #GreatResignation

Boatsetter has a Glacier Bay 2270 listed for rent on Oahu, north of Honolulu, Hawaii. The 2270 offers the same hull with a cuddy cabin: the bow is enclosed ahead of the windshield. This design is better for rough seas as it will quickly shed water that comes over the bow, but it comes at the expense of seating. I won’t mention the price because of Boatsetter’s lack of transparency in its fee structure.

Club Nautico just South of Miami, Florida on Key Biscayne rents a 27 foot Glacier Bay for $900 4hrs/$1,300 8 hrs. It has the same great layout as the 2240, just a bit more of everything.

What Kind of Experience Do I Need to Rent a Glacier Bay 2240 Catamaran?

The Glacier Bay 2240sx Renegade itself is very easy to run. It would be reasonable for an inexperienced boater to take one out on a calm lake with help coming and going from the dock. However, this is a big water boat. You’ll need a lot of (well placed) confidence to take this boat out in the cruising grounds it was designed for. Such as the unprotected waters and high surf of Hawaii, or the incredible tidal currents and shallow waters of the Florida Keys.

Aloha Outdoors requires 100 hours of experience on a boat >20 feet with 10 hours at the helm. Preferably on the Ocean. That’s a good barometer. Although its probably most important to have experience on a powerboat smaller than 30 feet with console steering. In fact a smaller planing dinghy with console steering will give you a lot of experience handling in chop, even in a lake. However, sail boats, pontoon boats, trawlers, and tiller controlled fishing boats don’t lend the appropriate experience to take on this challenge. If you don’t have the requisite experience, taking an instructor out with you in rough waters will prep you for your next rental opportunity.

If you want to get out on the water in Maui, but aren’t ready to rent the Glacier Bay 2240, we explore a few other options in our Maui Boat Rental Article.

Similar Boats

Like many other boats, the Great Recession killed the Glacier Bay 2240sx Renegade. 2008 was the last model year for the 2240 series as Glacier Bay focused on a smaller number of larger catamarans until consolidating with Carolina Cat, World Cat, and Livingston over the following decade. The company has recently reintroduced a similar model called the World Cat 230SD.

A deck boat or pontoon boat will give you the roomy lounginess of this boat with a higher capacity rating. The tradeoff being less ability to handle rough water. This could fit the bill on a calm lake, river, or even more protected ocean passages. Examples of deck boats include Hurricane and the Bayliner Element series.

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Glacier Bay 2640 Renegade

• By John Brownlee
• Updated: September 21, 2007

Glacier Bay’s latest version of its popular 26-foot catamaran is a split console, walk-through design. This layout should prove versatile enough to suit everyone from hard-core tournament types to weekend family fishermen and cruisers. There’s something for everyone!

Consider the bow area; it has lots of room, and serves equally well as a casting platform or a sun lounge. A large, deep anchor locker at the bow holds all ground tackle, and the shallow tray aft of that is ideal for dock lines. Farther aft, in front of the twin consoles, you’ll find a large transverse fishbox to hold the day’s catch.

The stylish, swept-back, tempered-glass windshield opens in the middle for bow access, but provides great protection and visibility when closed. The seating around the bridgedeck consists of a lounge seat that wraps around aft. The aft portion of this seat on our test boat housed the optional 18-gallon live well.

The spacious head compartment is accessed through the portside console. Inside, you’ll find a true 12-volt marine head attached to a 15-gallon holding tank. Aft of the head is a huge, wide-open storage area.

Helm and Cockpit Amenities

Back on deck, the helm area boasts a clever use of space. The helm seat sits atop another insulated box that can be used for fish or dry storage, and there’s also an optional refrigerator that fits in here. The helm itself tilts aft for rigging and wiring access.

The 2640 has a very spacious cockpit that serious fishermen are sure to appreciate. There’s a rigging station at the aft end of the bridgedeck, complete with a fresh water sink and a large flat surface on which to rig baits. The molded unit contains plenty of shelves, too.

A diamond non-skid pattern is molded into the cockpit sole to provide sure footing, and there is lots of room for fighting fish. Four rod racks are located beneath each gunwale, and there are four Lee rod holders in the covering boards. At the transom bulkhead, corner boxes hold the boat’s batteries on one side, tackle drawers on the other. A walk-through area on the centerline lets you easily access the engine platform, and this space is just the right size to accommodate a 94-quart Igloo cooler.

We tested the boat off South Florida, courtesy of Len Renn¿ of Seven Seas Yacht Sales, Glacier Bay’s Ft. Lauderdale dealer. The test boat sported twin 130-hp Hondas, and the ride was exemplary. Glacier Bay has cat hulls down to a science, and we spent an hour running the boat hard into the short offshore chop. No matter what we did, we couldn’t make it pound, and we didn’t get wet. What more do you need? The big Hondas pushed us along at 25 mph at 4000 rpm, and hit 34.3 mph wide-open at 5600 rpm.

The 2640 exhibited Glacier Bay’s usual excellent level of fit and finish, and its solid construction will provide years of reliable service. Glacier Bay also piles on the standard equipment, including goodies like cockpit coaming pads, the head, a fresh water system, tilt helm with hydraulic steering, rod holders and a Bimini top. The cherry on top is that this is a good-looking boat. It appears that the days of bulky, boxy cats are over!

Glacier Bay Catamarans, Monroe, WA; (360) 794-0444; www.glacierbaycats.com .

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