Every financial wizard, from the household budget-keeper to the CFO of a major corporation, knows how important the bottom line is to the fiscal health of a family or a business. If you're a naval architect or a boatbuilder, though, the bottom line assumes a value far beyond the last entry of a profit-and-loss statement.

We're actually talking about a bunch of lines; buttock lines, waterlines, and cross-sectional lines. Buttock lines run fore-and-aft and show the degree of rocker in the bottom (imagine a breadslicer cutting the hull along its length). Waterlines run fore-and-aft and show the footprint a boat makes in the water at various depths. Cross-sectional lines give us the shape of the hull at the building stations (imagine slicing the hull athwartships). How the designer arranges these lines determines the speed, handling characteristics, and motion of every boat.

The story of Holby Marine's Pilot 24 begins with these lines and the way designer Mark Ellis applied them to the bottom. Ellis combined the best features of a deep-V (as practiced in its purest form by C. Raymond Hunt Associates) amidships with the load-carrying ability of a fairly shallow deadrise at the transom. The shallow- V (18 degrees) back aft is one of the main characteristics of the so-called modified-V.

Big for her length, the Pilot 24 encourages fun.

Okay, where are the lifting strakes? Ellis said that the bottom on the Pilot 24 doesn?Ĵt need them. Instead, the boat gets its lift from the chine flats. These start narrow near the bow and grow quite wide by the time they reach the planing area in the after half of the hull.They angle downward slightly toward their outboard edges and incorporate a subtle lip at the after terminus. This hull doesn't need trim tabs to help it onto a plane. The entire boat simply rises (no hump) from displacement mode to planing mode at about 12 knots, and it will stay on plane at 10 knots as you slow. The boat's ability to hold a 10-knot plane gives it a cushy ride in gross sea states, plus extraordinary fuel economy. "The bottom will lift a huge load with low power," Ellis said. The running angle really never exceeds four degrees, so you always have an unobstructed view over the bow. What's more, the chine flats damp roll in beam seas and reduce the degree of heel in tight turns. That's the theory, and I'm pleased to report that it works in the real world.

Chris Pyne, Holby Marine's marketing guy, and I met on a sunny but cold day early in December for a last run aboard Bullfrog. At the end of the day, we'd haul her for storage and the long wait until spring. The ever-cooperative Pat, Holby's engine guy, joined us for the fun of it and to help get the boat onto its trailer.

A fresh breeze blew out of the northwest, washing New England with a Canadian chill.The sun warmed our shoulders, as long as we stayed out of the wind, so we were grateful for the Pilot's full canvas shelter. We cast off as the 320-hp MerCruiser V-8 whispered its authority from below the cockpit sole. This torquey V-8, working through the Bravo Three's contra-rotating props, accelerates the Pilot 24 from rest to full plane in a jiffy. "Jiffy" is the best I can do, because I tried to time the acceleration with my wristwatch, and because the boat doesn't point its bow skyward in the quest to reach planing mode. Could I tell when we planed off? No, but I can say that anyone who is seated during full-throttle acceleration will feel a satisfying pressure on their back, and anyone who's standing had better hold onto something.

We sped into the square waves (2-3 feet) on the open river. At about 4000 rpm, we eased the throttle. Although we could have pushed her to top speed in those conditions, the g-loads on our bodies had become unpleasant. The boat, though, didn't mind a bit. It didn't pound and didn't  misbehave in any other way. In smoother water, the boat maxed out at 4800 rpm and 34 knots. The 320 MerCruiser seems to be an ideal compromise of fuel economy and speed. The next 24 off the line will have the Volvo Penta D4-260/DP diesel. This package weighs about 400 pounds more than the MerCruiser, and I'd like to feel how it compares in performance.According to Holby's data, the 320 Merc burns 13 gallons per hour at a cruising speed of 25 mph, and the diesel burns about 6 gallons at the same speed. Top speed is the same for both power packages.

Light, but communicative, steering made driving a pure pleasure.The boat responded quickly to all my steering inputs and protested only when I tried to force her through a very tight turn at high speed.That maneuver robbed her prop of solid water. The engine revved, the boat slowed, and I apologized to her for exceeding her limit. Back at the dock, Pat and the Pilot played tag with the wind and current, backing and filling to ease the pilot into a slip.Thank the heavens for steerable thrust. Pat made the maneuvers look like child's play. I watched, because the first rule of testing boats says, "Thou shall't not scratch an owner's boat." Fun with the family, fishing or simply messing around for the day, describes the Pilot 24's purpose as well as a paragraph. The cuddy cabin has an enclosed head, a small galley,V-berth and enough headroom for short folks. It's a pleasant place to spend a night or a weekend.The large cockpit and exemplary payload encourage folks to take the kids and their friends for daylong adventures to remote anchorages. Add to that her classical good looks, and you have an irresistible big little boat.
Holby Marine, (401) 253-1711; www.holbymarine.com