Boat Review - Jupiter 25 Bay

Occasionally you see a boat that on looks alone, offers a one hundred percent chance that you'd love running it if given the opportunity. This was the impression I was left with upon seeing the Jupiter 25 Bay at the Fort Lauderdale Boat Show for the first time and one year later when I finally found myself at the helm, I was exactly right. A summer day cruising the oceanfront shoreline in search of Tarpon was enough to confirm my suspicion that not only was this boat long on looks, it was a beach assassin. Later in the morning she proved equally confident working a nearshore jetty and took things a step further sight fishing to mangroves in two feet of water. This boat was more than just a pretty face, she was versatile.

Jupiter Marine, already having a faithful following in the large center console market, set out to design and build a scaled down version of their more traditional offshore boats that would provide their customer an option to fish effectively inshore in shallow water while maintaining the ability to tackle the blue water alike. For the offshore enthusiast who wants a boat with big water capability that is equally at home prowling the beach or along a bay flat, that will sit comfortably flying a kite for sailfish in the morning and get you into knee deep water for snook in the afternoon, the 25 Bay is certainly hitting the mark in all of the above.

An ultra-clean deck layout features easy 360-degree fishability without any unnecessary corners or gadgets to distract you on a trip around the deck while fighting a fish. An abundance of storage is available below deck starting forward with a 330-quart insulated compartment. Behind this hold is a larger 705-quart storage locker. In the cockpit aft, there are matching 220-quart insulated fish boxes in the outboard corners. A wide open access hatch is located at the center cockpit deck enabling easy reach to all bilge systems. The forward console seat is home to a very large insulated drink cooler and behind the helm seating above deck is a pressurized 40-gallon live well which may be upgraded to a larger 55-gallon option.

A beautifully designed tower on the model we tested was mounted above the deck on the console sides to add walking space around the boat and was very easy to climb into, offering an elevated vantage point that would be difficult to give up after spending the day on her. Despite wanting to see the Jupiter 25 Bay as more of an offshore boat from a style perspective, I found her shallow water capabilities to be very solid in as little water as I dared to take her. With some help from the Porta-Bracket mounted 300-horsepower Yamaha, 15-18 inches of water presented no issues with a boat full of people.

It took a while for me to get my chance to finally sea trial this boat and I looked forward to it with great anticipation. Between the elegant looking surgically clean interior and graceful sweeping exterior lines and the clean layout with easy fishability the Jupiter 25 Bay was worth the wait.

Jupiter 25 Bay specifications:

Length: 26 feet 1 inch

Beam: 8 feet 6 inches

Draft: 15 inches

Deadrise: 60-degree entry/ 15-degree at transom

Dry weight: 3900 pounds

Fresh water: 18-gallons

Fuel: 90-gallons

Maximum horsepower: 300

Base price: $136,900.00 (w/o tower)