There is a point where a center console stops being a big boat and starts being a small yacht, and you can usually find it by looking for the generator. The Scout 400 LXF has one — 8 kilowatts, with its own 18-gallon diesel tank — plus a 12,000 BTU air conditioner, a galley with a cooktop and a microwave, an enclosed shower, and 6 feet 4 inches of standing headroom below. It is 39 feet 7 inches long and it is still a center console. That combination is the whole proposition.
The platform
The 400 LXF is the top of Scout's LXF center console line as an S-Class model, the yard's designation for its luxury boats 33 feet and up. Length overall is 39 feet 7 inches on a 12-foot-1 beam, drawing approximately 27 inches. Transom deadrise is 22 degrees.
The hull is Carbon Epoxy Construction — carbon fiber and E-glass as the main reinforcements in Scout's epoxy infusion process — over the dual stepped bottom the yard uses across the S-Class. Dry weight without engines is 14,940 pounds. Rigged with twin Mercury 600s, Scout publishes 17,460 pounds dry, which is one of the few places in the range where the yard gives you a with-engines number rather than making you guess.
Fuel is where this boat separates itself. The standard tank holds 395 gallons. Optional saddle tanks add 57 gallons a side, taking maximum capacity to 509 gallons. Scout's published estimated range moves accordingly: 355 miles on the standard tank with quad Mercury 400s and the Seakeeper running, 458 miles with the saddle tanks fitted. For an owner whose season includes long single-day runs or an island crossing, those 103 extra gallons are the option to think hardest about.
Quad 400s or twin 600s
Scout publishes a performance bulletin for each package, and unlike the 377 LXF, the two are not close.
Quad Mercury 400 V10s
Top speed of 71.5 mph at 6,357 rpm. Zero to 20 mph in 4.77 seconds, zero to 30 in 7.31 seconds. Scout marks best cruise at 4,000 rpm: 41.1 mph at 0.88 miles per gallon. This is the configuration behind the published 355-mile estimated range.
Twin Mercury 600 V12s
Top speed of 62.6 mph at 6,406 rpm. Zero to 20 mph in 5.14 seconds, zero to 30 in 7.88 seconds. Best cruise at 4,000 rpm is 32.6 mph at 0.90 miles per gallon.
Nearly nine miles per hour separates them at the top, and the quads are meaningfully quicker off the mark. What the twins give back is two engines instead of four to service, rig and re-prop, a cleaner transom to fish around, and a slightly better number at the efficiency peak. Scout rates the boat at 1,700 horsepower maximum, so both packages leave the hull short of its ceiling. If your buying decision is being made on top speed, take the quads. If it is being made on how the boat behaves at the dock, in the shop and at the transom with four people fishing, look hard at the twins.
The cabin is the point
Most 40-foot center consoles give you somewhere to change and a head you tolerate. The 400 LXF gives you 6 feet 4 inches of standing room in the cabin and 6 feet 3 inches in the head, an enclosed shower and head area with a glass vessel sink, a convertible queen berth with a 6-foot-5 sleeping length, a galley sink, a single-burner glass cooktop, a microwave, a 32-inch television and vertical rod storage for five rods. Fresh water is 51 gallons, waste is 16 gallons, and the 12,000 BTU air conditioner runs off the standard 8 kW generator.
There is a midship mechanical room, the detail that tells you Scout expects the boat to be serviced rather than admired, and the port side beach platform is hydraulic with synthetic teak decking — what makes a 40-footer usable on a sandbar with kids aboard.
Fishing it
The 400 LXF fishes at the scale you would expect. Aft fish boxes hold 92.5 gallons port and starboard. The baitwell arrangement is two 33-gallon wells for 66 gallons total. Ten stainless flush-mount gunnel rod holders and under-gunnel rod storage to starboard come as standard. Hardtop rocket launchers are an option, and Scout offers them four ways — four-launcher, six-launcher, kingfish and retractable.
Two options stand out. The articulating rocket launchers raise and lower electronically, and drop automatically when the retractable aft awning deploys — which settles the awning-versus-rods conflict. The patent-pending convertible hideaway entertainment station folds the aft-facing mezzanine seat up to reveal a sink, cutting board, grill and tackle drawer.
Seakeeper 3 is standard; Scout offers upgrades to Seakeeper 5 and Seakeeper 6. The generator can be specified up to 12 kW or down to 5 kW.
Specifications
| Specification | Scout 400 LXF |
|---|---|
| Length overall | 39' 7" (12.0 m) |
| Beam | 12' 1" (3.7 m) |
| Draft (approx) | 27" |
| Transom deadrise | 22 degrees |
| Dry weight without engines (approx) | 14,940 lbs |
| Dry weight with twin Mercury 600s (approx) | 17,460 lbs |
| Fuel capacity | 395 gal standard; 509 gal with optional saddle tanks |
| Diesel tank (generator) | 18 gal |
| Fresh water tank | 51 gal |
| Waste tank | 16 gal |
| Baitwell capacity | 66 gal (2 x 33 gal) |
| Aft fish box, port and starboard | 92.5 gal |
| Cabin standing room height | 6' 4" |
| Head standing room height | 6' 3" |
| Berth sleeping length | 6' 5" |
| Maximum horsepower | 1,700 hp |
| Published engine packages | Quad Mercury 400 V10; twin Mercury 600 V12 |
| Top speed (quad 400 V10s) | 71.5 mph at 6,357 rpm |
| Top speed (twin 600 V12s) | 62.6 mph at 6,406 rpm |
| Estimated range (Scout, quad 400s with Seakeeper) | 355 miles; 458 miles with saddle tanks |
| Generator | 8 kW standard |
| Certification | NMMA Certified / Yacht Certified |
Where it sits against the alternatives
At just under 40 feet the 400 LXF shops against the Boston Whaler 405 Conquest, the Boston Whaler 420 Outrage and the Grady-White 345 Freedom. The Conquest answers the same question with an express-cruiser cabin rather than a walkaround console; the 420 Outrage matches it for open-water intent at a larger size; the Grady comes in from below on volume. Scout's case is the laminate, the stepped bottom, and a cabin you can stand up in with a generator and air conditioning as delivered.
One published conflict, on the record
Scout's older performance bulletins for the 400 LXF list fuel capacity as 430 gallons and maximum horsepower as 1,600. The current model page and the current model flyer both list 395 gallons standard, 509 with saddle tanks, and 1,700 horsepower maximum. We have used the current figures throughout and are noting the discrepancy rather than quietly picking one — if the tank size is load-bearing for your decision, confirm it against the build sheet for your model year.
Talk it through
Four engines or two is the biggest single decision on this boat, and the saddle tanks are the second. If you want to work through both against how you actually use a 40-footer, email TS@MintedYachts.com or call +1 (404) 805-9819.