We are catching up. The R8 has been in the current book for a while and MyCobalt never gave it a proper post. It is not the August 2026 arrival. That was the R26. The R8 is the 27′ 10″ sterndrive that a lot of you already see at the ramp and that this club somehow never wrote down. Factory tagline is “Refined power. Elevated presence.” I will skip the brochure and give you the card.
On length it sits above the new R26 (26′ 5″) and below the A29 / R31 neighborhood. Same 8′ 6″ beam as the R4, R26, and CS boats, so the trailer story does not change. Eighty gallons is a real step up from the R26’s 68 and the R4’s 50. Yacht Certified, with a head. If you have been running an R7 on this site, this is the current sterndrive in the next-size conversation, not a 2026 surprise.
Factory specs
- LOA (w/ swim platform): 27′ 10″
- Beam: 8′ 6″
- Fuel: 80 gal
- Freshwater: 10 gal
- Capacity: Yacht Certified
- Head: yes (Porta Potti listed as standard)
- Dry weight (varies with options): 6,400 lbs
- Draft, drive up / down: 18″ / 35″
- Engines: Volvo Penta 350–430 hp, MerCruiser 350–430 hp, Monsoon 350–430 hp
Look at those two numbers next to the new R26. The R8 is longer, carries more fuel, drafts less (18″ up / 35″ down versus 28″ / 43″), and lists a lighter dry weight (6,400 versus 6,750). I did not expect the shorter new boat to be the heavier, deeper one. I am not going to invent a reason. That is what the two spec lists say this week. If you trailer, the R8’s shallower drive-up number is the one I would stare at on a skinny northwest ramp. If you live with a crowded cockpit, the extra foot-and-a-half of LOA and the extra 12 gallons are the club arguments I keep hearing, not “elevated presence.”
Power on the spec list starts at 350 hp, not 300. Volvo, Merc, and Monsoon all run up to 430. Dual Garmin 743 glass cockpit is written as standard; bigger screens are options I am not cataloging. Standard interior includes the aft-facing rumble seat, convertible sundeck, Del Mar helm chair, and that Porta Potti head. Flip-down Swim Step is on the platform. Kevlar hull, composite floor and transom, automatic fire extinguisher on the structural list. Still a Cobalt. There is an R8 Surf and an R8 Coastal in the same book. I have not posted those yet. Sterndrive first.
I like this size. It is closer to the 276 we got excited about in 2009 than the new 26 is, at least on the tape. The 276 was the boat I wanted a ride in then. The R8 is the one I want a ride in now, mostly because club members already own them and I have never been aboard. Factory copy talks about higher freeboard and a longer hull for a smoother ride. Maybe. Send me a photo from a choppy afternoon and we will see if that sentence survives contact with water.
If you are running an R8, send pictures to editor@mycobalt.net. I am in the Seattle area and still take rides. Owner feature, your photos, my byline, the way this site used to work when I was paying attention. If the R8 meant the old boat came out of the slip and you still need to sell that one, $25 / $50 here. This post is not an ad for an R8. It is the missing model page.
Photo: Cobalt Boats. Specs from cobaltboats.com, August 2026.
