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Regal 2565 Window Express
by Tom Thompson
Let there be light
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Regal’s 2565 Window Express is more than a boat. You could call her a portable palace. For a trailerable cruiser, there’s an impressive amount of interior room inside her overall length of 27 feet, 6 inches and her 8-foot, 6-inch beam. The feeling of space is made even more impressive by the amount of light an array of windows lets in — a feature you won’t find in any comparable express cruiser. A large window panel comes up from the foredeck and stretches nearly full beam to flood the salon with light. It’s similar to a windshield you’d find on a larger cabin cruiser. Light comes in through elongated oval side windows, as well as the opaque door from the cockpit to the cabin and an overhead hatch forward. Dark spaces in small boats are now a thing of the past.
The 2565 Window Express sleeps four adults. A V-berth forward can be closed off with a curtain for privacy. During the day, it doubles as a dinette. No part of the 2565 can be called a “cave” — not even the mid-cabin berth. You can even order an optional innerspring mattress for it. There’s also a privacy curtain here.
What’s Cooking
The galley, located along the starboard side, is compact but full-featured. All appliances are standard and include a molded fiberglass sink with hot and cold pressurized water, a single-burner electric stove, a microwave oven and a dual-voltage, under-counter refrigerator. The Corian countertop is standard, too.
The removable dinette table in the V-berth area serves double duty as a cockpit table. It has a dedicated storage niche in the cabin. The standard tabletop is molded fiberglass. Our test boat also had the interior upgrade package Regal offers, which includes cherry and holly cabin decking, a solid cherry step at the companionway and a cherry tabletop done in a high-gloss finish.
Hang Your Hat
For a boat this size, you’ll be surprised to find not one, but two hanging lockers. There’s a storage compartment in the deck and several smaller lockers around the cabin, not to mention the cabinet space above and below the galley countertop. For entertainment, a Kenwood AM/FM stereo radio with CD player is standard and a 15-inch LCD TV with DVD player is an option.
For cabin ventilation, the large oval side windows are screened, as are smaller ones in the mid-cabin and the head compartment. There’s also screening on the overhead hatch forward and the entryway from the cockpit. For those hot summer days, you can order the optional air conditioning.
There’s more than 6 feet of headroom at the highest point in the cabin and almost as much in the head compartment, something you don’t normally see aboard vessels in this class. The fiberglass-lined space has a vanity sink with a mirror above it and a full-length dressing mirror on the door. In addition to the opening portlight I mentioned, there’s a window at eye level to let in light. A VacuFlush toilet is standard.
Out and About
As inviting as the cabin is, you won’t be spending all your time belowdecks. The 2565’s layout above is as accommodating as the cabin. What’s nice about the seating is its versatility. There is a pair of two-person bench seats on the port side. The backrest of the one opposite the helm flips, so passengers can either face forward while under way or aft when using the removable table that mounts between the two benches. The forward bench has an L-shaped extension that runs along the port gunwale and ends at a backrest cushion on the dash. This stretch-your-legs perch is prime real estate when it comes to seating on board.
The 2565 comes with not only a standard Bimini top, but also four side curtains that completely protect the cockpit from weather. Regal offers a camper back to cover the aft cockpit as an option. With an additional section added to the Bimini top, there’s standup headroom from the helm to the transom.
The helm is compact, but nicely arranged, with all controls within easy sight and reach. The standard flip-up bolster, footrest and adjustable seat are very comfortable. Our test boat had an optional Raymarine 435i GPS chart plotter on a panel to the left of the instruments. I liked the sound system’s remote-control head built into the hub of the Dino steering wheel. It’s another standard feature.
The molded fiberglass console directly behind the helm has a sink, a storage locker and dedicated space for a 25-quart cooler. The 2565’s wide swim platform has a hot and cold transom shower and a rack for holding fenders or dive tanks.
The 2565 uses Regal’s patented OceanTrac hull. She is very stable in turns, handles chop well and is dry-riding. Power choices range from a Volvo Penta 190 hp D3 diesel to a 300 hp MerCruiser 350M MPI with a Bravo III drive. Our test boat had a single Volvo Penta 5.0L OSi gas engine rated at 270 hp — a good match for the hull.
She topped out at 40 mph with two people and a half tank of fuel on board. Time to plane measured an average of 6.4 seconds. According to Volvo Penta’s numbers, the cruising range is around 135 miles on a tank of fuel with a 10 percent reserve.
Call her your floating palace, if you like. The Regal 2565 Window Express is a comfortable, roomy and — let’s not forget — bright home away from home, no matter where you set sail.
CONTACT: Regal Marine Industries, Orlando, FL; (800) U.S.REGAL; www.regalboats.com
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This article first appeared in the November 2006 issue of Sea Magazine. All or parts of the information contained in this article might be outdated. |
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