When it comes to aesthetics, Jupiter Marine really gets it. You’ll find few sharp corners or hard edges aboard this or any Jupiter Marine product. The company excels at radius curves and terrific seaworthiness – an admirable combination.
I had a chance to run the new Jupiter 34 FS out of Palm Beach Inlet in late spring, and though the weather didn’t cooperate for a boat test (calm winds and seas), the sailfish bite went off like it was midwinter.
Performance
What a rush when you push the throttles forward on the Yamaha 350 V-8s; they sound like no other outboards. In fact, they sound like an old 389 big-block in a DeLorean-vintage GTO winding out. Also like that original muscle car, the Jupiter exhibits a highly acceptable turn of speed – topping out at 60.4 mph at 6,100 rpm, while using 68.6 gph after taking just over four seconds to plane. The most economical speed turned out to be 32.6 mph, turning 3,500 rpm. At that, we used 21.1 gph or just a tad more than 1.5 mpg. That offers a cruising range of almost 439 miles with a 10 percent cushion.
Turn the wheel hard-over at cruising speed (I love power-assist steering) and the props don’t blow out; the boat carves a turn in under two boat lengths and bleeds off enough speed to keep your passengers safely in the boat. Running in a straight line, however, I did notice that the Jupiter 34 doesn’t offer a dramatic range of trim. It likes the engines trimmed under and some tab – how much depends upon conditions.
Jupiter’s in-house designer Tim Chalfant collaborated with Don Blount and Associates to pen the unventilated running surface. One interesting facet that sets this hull apart from others is what the company calls a “posi-stern pad,” a flat keel section aft that provides additional lift under way and improved lateral stability at rest.
Fishing Boat companies populated with owners and line personnel who live to fish always seem to pay more attention to the fishing details. Jupiter certainly fits this profile, offering plenty of tackle storage in the helm-seat module, loads of rod storage consisting of four holders across the back of the helm seat, six on the hardtop, two in each gunwale and two more under each rail. The livewell uses a larger-than-average intake pump combined with new high-speed hull intakes to both pressurize the well and assure a phenomenal flow of fresh, oxygenated water to your baits. And I love the magnet to hold the lid open. It’s much easier than having to snap and unsnap latches or hooks.
Jupiter’s corporate ownership also has plenty of small children in its numbers, so they pay close attention to security around the cockpit. For example, the gunwale meets your leg at exactly the right height to combine security for you and your wee ones, with an easy reach to the water’s surface to release fish. Yet, despite the huge Yamaha V-8s on the transom, I had no problem getting the rod tips out past the power plants.
The captain of our test boat also showed me a cool trick for dealing with the outrigger lines. He attaches them to the freeboard via a suction cup. Quick, clean and easy.
Design and Construction
Security comes in numerous forms, and Jupiter provides superb handholds throughout the boat – especially in places where people stand when under way. Additionally, you’ll find a Garelick swim-ladder-in-a-tube in the transom – readily deployed from the water or the Euro-bracket.
This 34 also looks really cool at night, thanks to under-gunwale LED rope lighting (standard) and underwater LED lights (optional). Pop-up cleats rule from amidships forward, and a pop-up bow light keeps the foredeck clean.
Jupiter also mounted the newest Clarion stereo system – so powerful that when you crank it up under way, the entire North Atlantic submarine fleet knows about it.
The 34 FS provides storage galore under the forward seats, though I’d like to see snaps attach to the hatch lid instead of surrounding flat surfaces so you can open the hatch without unsnapping the cushion. The seemingly obligatory foldaway transom seat is a clean and functional design too.
Jupiter is one of the only companies that goes so far as to use schedule 80 (extra beefy) polished stainless pipe to support the hardtop. You have no idea what incredible stress the momentum, seas and high speeds put on such a structure, so the heftier the support, the better.
Jupiter builds each hull with a uni-grid stringer system surrounded by a hand-laid biaxial and triaxial fiberglass hull with closed-cell PVC foam coring above the waterline and solid glass in the bottom. The entire hull gets infused with 100 percent vinylester resin for virtual impregnability to osmotic blistering for the life of the hull. The resin-infusion process also affords the most ideal resin-to-glass ratio possible while simultaneously eliminating any air voids.
LOA……33 ft. 9 in.
BEAM……10 ft. 5 in.
HULL DRAFT……2 ft.
DEADRISE……23 deg.
WEIGHT……11,750 lb. (approx. as tested)
FUEL……325 gal.
**MAX HP……Twin 350 hp OB
MSRP……$214,890
Jupiter Marine / Palmetto, Florida / 941-729-5000 / www.jupitermarine.com
