August 21, 2026
The Pursuit S 248: What a Single Yamaha F350 Actually Buys You
Pursuit's smallest Sport center console runs a single Yamaha F350 — the only power offered — to 50.2 mph, with a 35.9 mph best cruise return…
Read the articlePursuit S248
Expert Review, Technical Specifications & Market Analysis
The Essentials
| Feature | Specifications |
|---|---|
| Overall Length | 25' 8" |
| Beam | 8' 6" |
| Draft | 1' 10" (motors up) / 3' 0" (motors down) |
| Displacement | 6,050 lbs (with a single Yamaha F350 engine) |
| Engines | Single Yamaha F350 (the only power offered; 350 HP maximum rating) |
| Fuel Capacity | 120 US gallons |
| Water Capacity | 20 US gallons (optional) |
| Cabins / Heads | Console compartment with SaniPottie head, removable 5-gallon holding tank and storage cabinet; no sleeping accommodations |
| Max Speed | 50.2 mph @ 6,000 RPM (single Yamaha F350) |
| Cruise Speed | 35.9 mph @ 4,500 RPM (single Yamaha F350) |
Source: Spec & Photos courtesy of Pursuit. Specs verified by Tony Smith, USCG 100 Ton Master, on August 20, 2026.
Part of the Pursuit Sport series — see how owners step up through the lineup.
Quick Verdict
- A single Yamaha F350 is the only power offered — 50.2 mph flat out, 35.9 mph at 4,500 rpm on 14.9 gph.
- 2.41 mpg at that cruise puts 234 miles behind the 120-gallon tank, the best economy on Pursuit's own test sheet for this hull.
- 8 feet 6 inches of beam and 6,050 pounds dry keep it trailerable; 21 degrees of transom deadrise keep it credible offshore.
Our Take
The S 248 is the boat I point at when somebody tells me they want into Pursuit and they do not want a boat payment shaped like a mortgage. It is 25 feet 8 inches, 8 feet 6 inches of beam, 21 degrees of deadrise, and a single Yamaha F350 — which is the only engine offered, full stop. No twins, no upgrade path, no options-sheet agonising. I like that more than I expected to. When a builder engineers a hull for exactly one power package, the propeller, the running attitude and the weight distribution are all solving the same problem instead of splitting the difference across three.
The performance sheet is why I trust the boat, and Pursuit is one of the few builders that still publishes one honestly. Fifty point two mph at 6,000 rpm is the number people quote. The number that matters is 35.9 mph at 4,500 rpm on 14.9 gallons an hour — 2.41 miles to the gallon and 234 miles of range out of 120 gallons. That is a genuinely efficient 25-footer moving at a real cruise. And read the same sheet carefully, because it tells you something the brochure will not: at 3,500 rpm this boat is doing 16.3 mph at 1.54 mpg. It is not on plane. On most twins 3,500 is your all-day setting. Here it is the one band to stay out of. Get it to 4,000 and it cleans up.
Here is the honest limit. One engine means no get-home, and no amount of Yamaha reliability changes what that feels like 30 miles out with weather building. Zero to 30 takes 14.2 seconds, which is fine but not brisk. There is no berth and no galley — this is a day boat with a console head, and the head is the reason the day runs long rather than a reason to sleep aboard. If two engines are what lets you sleep at night, buy the S 268 instead and accept the extra three inches of beam. Buy the S 248 because you want a boat you can tow, launch anywhere and use forty weekends a year, and it will be the most-used boat you have owned.
Watch Our Pursuit S248 Reviews
Official Pursuit Premiere: Inside the Pursuit S248
Video courtesy of Pursuit.
Pursuit S248 Photo Gallery
Photos courtesy of Pursuit.
Pursuit S248 Articles & Guides
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Frequently Asked Questions
Does the Pursuit S 248 have a head?
Yes, in the console — but there is nowhere to sleep. The compartment holds a SaniPottie head with a removable 5-gallon holding tank and a storage cabinet, reached through the console door.
That is the whole of the accommodation: no berth, no galley, no cabin. What Pursuit puts the space into instead is fishing and shade, with in-floor fishboxes and an oversized hardtop on a 25-foot-8 hull.
Worth checking on the order sheet: the 20-gallon water tank is optional rather than standard. If you want a berth in the Sport line, the S 328 is where a convertible one starts.
What cruise speed and range does Pursuit publish for the S 248?
35.9 mph at 4,500 RPM, burning 14.9 gallons an hour for 2.41 miles per gallon and 234 miles of range on 90 percent of the test-condition fuel rather than the full 120 gallons.
That 2.41 mpg is one of the two best economy figures Pursuit publishes anywhere in the range, behind only the twin-F200 D 266 at 2.46. The reason is one engine rather than two.
The 4,000 RPM row is almost identical on economy — 29.7 mph at 12.4 gallons an hour and 2.40 mpg — so choosing a quieter cruise costs you speed and essentially nothing else.
How fast is the Pursuit S 248?
50.2 mph at 6,000 RPM on the single Yamaha F350. Pursuit tested it on 9/4/2024 at 7,798 pounds with three people aboard, 108 gallons of fuel and a full water tank, on a 15-1/4" x 18" SWS II propeller.
Nought to thirty takes 14.2 seconds. The F350 is the only power offered and it fills the 350-horsepower maximum rating exactly, so there is no package decision to make here — every published figure for the S 248 belongs to that engine. Dry weight is 6,050 pounds.
Pursuit S 248 or S 268 — which should I buy?
One engine or two, and that is genuinely the whole decision.
The S 248 is 25 feet 8 inches with a single Yamaha F350: 50.2 mph, 2.41 mpg at best cruise, 234 miles, 120 gallons. The S 268 is 27 feet 4 inches with twin F200s: 52.0 mph, 2.42 mpg, 300 miles, 139 gallons. Speed and economy are effectively tied.
What the twins buy is redundancy a long way from the ramp and 66 more miles of range. What the single buys is one engine to rig, service and eventually repower. The S 268 also upgrades the console head from a portable unit to an electric freshwater one with a stainless sink.