March 26, 2026
Pursuit D 286 Denali: Big-Boat Confidence in a Manageable Package
At 30-foot with twin Yamaha F300s (600 hp), the Pursuit D 286 Denali delivers big-boat confidence in a manageable package—full-width hardtop…
Read the articleThe Pursuit Denali Series
The dual consoles — D286 and D326, 30'0" to 34'6", walkthrough layout under a full-width hardtop
The problem the Denali line solves is the one that stops a lot of boat purchases: you want a fishing boat and someone else in the house wants a windshield. A dual console gives you both — a walkway down the centre with accommodation either side of it, and a tall wraparound windscreen under a full-width hardtop that keeps weather off everybody rather than just off the person driving.
Pursuit calls this the Denali series, and the name is not new marketing. It ran Denali models through the 1990s and 2000s — a Denali 2460 in 1994, a 2860 Denali in 1996, Denali LS models into the late 2000s — and brought the name back for the range that until recently carried the DC prefix. The boats are the same dual consoles; the badge on the hull now reads D 286 and D 326.
We review two in depth: the D286 at 30'0" and the D326 at 34'6". Pursuit builds the Denali range from the D 246 up to the D 365, which the yard describes as spanning 24 to 36 feet.
The Denali Lineup, Smallest to Largest
Every Pursuit Denali model we review in depth, in the order owners step up through the series.
Photo credit Pursuit.
The Pursuit D286 Denali is a 30-foot dual console built to fish hard and cruise comfortably — twin Yamaha F300s to 55 mph, 217 gallons of fuel for a 330-mile range, and an enclosed head with a holding tank for full-day trips.
The Pursuit D326 Denali pairs a 34-foot dual console with twin Yamaha F350s, 300 gallons of fuel and a 394-mile range at cruise, plus a convertible berth and an enclosed head with a 10-gallon holding tank.
Don't see the Denali model you're after — or a brand-new launch? Request specs through Yacht Specs Direct.
Moving Up the Denali Series
The D286 is the smaller boat and, on Pursuit's own numbers, the more efficient one by a distance. Thirty feet on a 9'6" beam, 21 degrees of deadrise, 9,340 lbs dry, 217 gallons, and a 600-horsepower ceiling filled by twin Yamaha F300s or twin Mercury 300 Verados. Pursuit's test sheet has it at 55.0 mph flat out and marks best cruise at 30.3 mph at 3,500 RPM — 16.5 gallons an hour, 1.83 miles per gallon and 330 miles of range, with nought to thirty in 7.8 seconds. There is an enclosed head with an electric marine head, a Corian vanity and a 9-gallon holding tank, a 22-gallon lighted recirculating livewell and a 36-gallon insulated transom fish box. What there is not is a berth: this is a day boat with a head, not an overnighter.
The D326 is where the line gains somewhere to sleep. It runs 34'6" on a 10'10" beam with 20 degrees of deadrise, weighs 12,900 lbs dry, carries 300 gallons and takes twin Yamaha F300s or F350s to a 700-horsepower ceiling. On the F350s Pursuit records 55.1 mph flat out and best cruise at 34.4 mph at 4,000 RPM, burning 24.6 gallons an hour at 1.40 miles per gallon for 394 miles — the longest range of any boat we review from this yard. The port console holds convertible berthing with rod storage and a hanging locker; the starboard console is a fully enclosed head with a vacuum-flush porcelain toilet and a 10-gallon holding tank. A bow thruster is standard, which is rare in the class.
The step between them is unusually clean. Moving up buys 83 gallons of fuel, 64 more miles of range at cruise, a foot of beam, a berth and a bow thruster. It costs 3,560 lbs, a degree of deadrise, and about half a mile per gallon. If nobody is ever going to sleep aboard, the D286 does the same job on less fuel.
Our Take
I have watched more people talk themselves out of a center console and into one of these than any other category on the site, and the reason is always the same: the windshield. A T-top keeps the sun off whoever is driving. A full-width hardtop over a tempered-glass windscreen keeps the weather off everybody, and it is the difference between a boat that gets used nine months a year and one that gets used four.
The D286 is the one that gets underrated. On Pursuit's own figures it does 1.83 miles per gallon at cruise, which is a genuinely efficient 30-footer, and 330 miles of range out of 217 gallons means a crossing is a planning exercise rather than a gamble. Nought to thirty in 7.8 seconds is quicker than the boat looks, too.
The honest counter-argument is that the D326 is simply the better boat and everybody knows it — 394 miles of range, a berth, an enclosed head with a proper vacuum-flush toilet, and a bow thruster as standard so one person can put it away in a crosswind. If you will genuinely use the berth, buy it. If you will not, you are paying 3,500 lbs and half a mile per gallon for a bed nobody sleeps in.
Pursuit Denali Articles & Guides
Watch Our Pursuit Denali Reviews
Official Pursuit Premieres
Videos courtesy of Pursuit.
Frequently Asked Questions
How big is the Pursuit Denali range?
Pursuit describes the Denali series as spanning 24 to 36 feet, across six models: the D 246, D 266, D 286, D 306, D 326 and D 365. We review two of them in depth, the D286 at 30 feet and the D326 at 34 feet 6 inches, which is where most owner-operators land. Every Denali model is a dual console with a walkway down the centre of the boat and accommodation either side of it.
Why is the Pursuit dual console range called Denali?
Because Pursuit revived a name from its own history. The range used to carry a DC prefix, for dual console, and Pursuit replaced it with a D for Denali — a name the yard used on models including the Denali 2460 shown at the New York Boat Show in 1994, the 2860 Denali of 1996 and a run of Denali LS models through the 2000s. Pursuit describes the name as having returned. The boats are unchanged; older listings and reviews still use DC 286 and DC 326.
Which Denali Fits Your Life?
Tell us how you plan to use the boat — guests, range, crew or no crew — and we'll give you the straight story on where in the Denali series you belong, new or brokerage.
Explore All Pursuit ModelsOr reach Tony directly: TS@MintedYachts.com · +1 (404) 805-9819