I’ve always had a bit of a soft spot for Rinker. Here in the UK, they’ve never been the lowest priced boats but they’ve always been pretty close – and they’ve generally managed to achieve their resounding affordability despite offering an armoury of standard features few entry-level builders can match.

See for yourself with Alex Smith's Rinker Captiva 236 CC: First Look Video.

Rinker Captiva 236 CC

The CC model is the cuddy version of last year's very successful 236 BR.



This value for money was plainly in evidence on the Bow Rider version of the 236, so it is no surprise to see the prolific Rinker yard follow up that successful launch with a keenly anticipated cuddy.

 

Design delights


Step into the cockpit and it is very striking that, despite the use of a large portion of the boat’s length for the forward cabin, a broad beam of 2.59 metres is enough to generate some very useable cockpit space - and Rinker has used every inch of it to the utmost.

Cockpit

With its fold-down jump seats and infill cushions, the cockpit is much more versatile than it looks.



Starting aft, the sun pad over the engine hatch features a fold-up backrest to create an adjustable, aft-facing bench, ideal for watching a skier or for reclining in comfort without feeling constrained by the boat’s internal dimensions. If you lift the hinged starboard section of the sunpad, a moulded walkway (common throughout the Captiva line) takes you from the swim platform into the main body of the cockpit itself and again, there is far more ingenuity on show than the fairly conventional ‘bolster-seat-and-aft-bench’ layout suggests.

For instance, the centre of the bench features a rectangular panel that lifts out to reveal a sliding hatch on top of the cooler. Known as the ICE System, it means you can access cold drinks without having to heave the box free of its housing or unnecessarily expose its contents to the warm air. On the port side of the sun lounger, there is another similarly concealed cushion section that hides an integrated bin system. However, this boat’s really outstanding party trick centres around the seating...

Bench seating

The bench can become an L or U shaped seating section or a full sun lounger.



On either side of the bench, a pair of lateral jump seats is neatly concealed within the coaming. To deploy them, you simply fold them down, hinge the steel legs forward and within a few seconds, your simple bench has become either an L-shaped seating section or a full U-shaped arc, encompassing the whole aft perimeter of the cockpit. Install the table and rotate the helm seats and this becomes a dining area as vast and inclusive as any 24-footer could reasonably be expected to achieve. And if you remove the table and install the optional infill cushions instead, you can create an enormous two-tier sun lounger that extends all the way from the back of the helm seats to the forward edge of the swim platform.

Cabin

With sunken inward-facing seats and neatly concealed loo the designers have done well in the cabin.



Down below, the design team’s hard work continues. At the aft end of the cabin, a pair of inward facing seats employ backrests that can be folded down to generate extra length in the double berth. Of course, on the face of it, this seems quite similar to the static infill systems on most small V-berths, but here, the folding mechanism means the seat base is positioned lower down, generating much more head height for seated occupants. In combination with the portable loo, which is again smartly concealed within a hinged, cushion-topped box, it all makes for a very serviceable cabin indeed.

As regards the downsides of this hard-working internal arrangement, the fat, stiff cushions with their thick hinges do make some of the new features quite clunky and awkward to use. And the wholesale mission to crowbar big family versatility into a tapered planing hull means that with everything fully deployed, there is virtually no standing room beyond the narrow deck hatch between the helm seats. However, there is no doubting the diligence of the designers, the clarity of their thought processes or the value of their results – and Rinker deserves enormous credit for that.

 

Features, features, features...


In traditional Rinker style, the standard features list is extremely comprehensive. In addition to a snap-in carpet, bolstered bucket seats and a portable cooler, you also get a cockpit table plus an anchor locker with a proper cradleto hold the stocks firmly in place. Up at the helm, you are treated to a curved, wraparound, step-through screen made of tinted safety glass, plus a fully adjustable five-position steering wheel, a digital depth gauge and a Bluetooth-equipped Sony stereo. This is tucked safely away in the lockable port glovebox and operated from the helm with a waterproof remote.

Look elsewhere and the good news keeps coming. In addition to LED lighting in the engine space, you get stainless steel pop-up cleats, an integrated swim platform with stainless steel ladder, a portable toilet and a colour-coded bimini top. In short, this is one of those rare instances when the individual parts seem to add up to far more than you would pay for the finished boat. As a man who continually haemorrhages vast wedges of cash to smiling chandlers for even minor fixtures and fittings, it seems implausible that so much can be offered for so little. And yet here it is, dripping with features, for a retail price of just 61,000 Euros.

Now I have obviously only seen the 236 CC at its premiere in Dusseldorf, so it is impossible for me to lavish similarly glowing reports on its dynamic abilities. But given that it adds just 150 kg to the weight of the perfectly well-behaved 236 BR (and given that Rinker has been building approachable, novice-friendly leisure boats since the 70s), it would seem highly unlikely that this latest model will allow uncharacteristic handling quirks to spoil an excellent package.

 

Verdict


Rinker’s Captiva range comprises bow riders and cuddies in a broad range of hull lengths from less than 19 feet to more than 30 - and yet few make a more persuasive case than the 236 CC. Rarely will you see a small cuddy that combines so affordable a price with so generous a range of standard features and such compelling versatility in the arrangement of space. If you add the optional wakeboard tower, transom stereo remote, foredeck sunpad and fold-down jump seats with filler cushions, this is not just a cuddy at the top of its game - it’s proof that a modest budget doesn’t always have to mean a shackling of aspirations.

 

Rinker Captiva 236 CC: Specifications


LOA: 7.16m

Beam: 2.59m

Dry weight: 2,134kg

Fuel capacity: 155 litres

Person capacity: eight

Retail price: 61,000 Euros (£50,200)

www.rinkerboats.com

 

Related links


Search all Cuddy Cabin reviews and videos on www.boats.com

Search all Rinker boats for sale in UK on www.boats.com

If you dream of getting something bigger, read: Buying a sports cruiser - on boats.com. it always pays to be prepared.

Written by: Alex Smith
Alex Smith is a journalist, copywriter and magazine editor with a long history in boating and a happy addiction to the water. He’s worked on boats, lived on boats, bought boats, sold boats and – when he’s not actually on board a boat – he can generally be found in his Folkestone office, tapping away at the computer and gazing out to sea.