Egret 290 Offshore, the Flats Builder's Bluewater Center Console

When Egret boats went offshore

Egret boats made their name in skinny water. The Egret 189 earned the nickname the Rolls-Royce of flats boats among guides, and the company's own history says the Egret hull design was born, built and tested on several running plugs in the early 1990s, with production starting in Fort Lauderdale. Egret later built boats in Washington, North Carolina, for more than two decades.

In 2006 Egret announced that the Rolls-Royce of flats boats would be joined by the Egret 29 Offshore. The goal, in the company's words, was to do for center console fishing boats what the Egret 16 and 18 had done for flats boats: build a luxury product with outstanding fit, finish and performance, with more than 110 separate features. By the time of that announcement the sold prototype, powered by twin Mercury 225 OptiMax outboards, had already made a maiden voyage to the Bahamas, and the first production boat was in Nantucket with an unusual centerline 420 hp Yanmar diesel driving a Hamilton waterjet, so its owner could run through lobster pots without fouling.

The boat was later sold as the Egret 290 and is now listed as the Egret 29 Offshore. In 2024 new owners bought the company and moved its headquarters back to Florida, to St. Augustine, where it builds the 29 alongside the Egret 16, 18 and 21 skiffs and the Moccasin line.

Light and stiff, the Egret way of building

Weight is the theme of every Egret. The company's archived standard equipment list for the 29 described precision construction with vinylester resin, vacuum-bagged Kevlar or fiberglass laminates, foam-cored hull and deck, a composite stringer and transverse grid filled with flotation foam, and components bonded with aerospace-grade methacrylate adhesive to form a unit-body structure. Stainless hardware, fittings and fasteners were standard.

Egret's 2015 site put numbers to it: about 3,700 pounds for a fiberglass 290 and about 3,100 pounds in Kevlar, apparently hull weights before engines and fuel. That is light for a 29-foot offshore console, and Egret credits the low weight and careful weight distribution for a low center of gravity that keeps the boat stable underway, trolling or drifting. The builder also claimed that no Egret hull, deck or hatch had ever suffered a structural failure; that is a manufacturer's statement, so ask for a survey regardless.

Today's Egret 29 is described as 100 percent composite construction, consistent with that history.

Specs across three eras of the same boat

Egret's published dimensions have shifted over the years, which matters when you compare listings. The 2006 and 2007 pages gave 29 feet 6 inches overall, a 9-foot-6-inch beam, a draft of 2 feet with outboards or 3 feet with an inboard, 220 gallons of fuel and up to 600 hp for outboards or inboards. The 2015 page for the 290 quoted 29 feet, a 9-foot-4-inch beam, a 2-foot draft and 238 gallons, with a 236-gallon tank in the feature list and standard engine packages of twin 200, 225 or 250 hp outboards.

The current Egret 29 Offshore page lists 29 feet (31 feet with the bracket), a 9-foot-6-inch beam, a 24-inch draft in the spec list (22 inches in the headline figures), 250 gallons of fuel, a 23-degree deadrise and an 800 hp maximum, meaning twin 400s. Engine options run from twin Yamaha 225s to 350s and twin Mercury 225s to 400s.

The most likely explanation is a hull that has been refined and re-rigged over time, including the move to a flotation bracket, rather than three different boats. Always check the capacity plate and the actual fuel tank on a used example.

• 2006 to 2007: 29 ft 6 in LOA, 9 ft 6 in beam, 220 gal, 600 hp max, outboard or inboard
• 2015: 29 ft LOA, 9 ft 4 in beam, 236 to 238 gal, twin 200 to 250 hp standard
• Current: 29 ft hull (31 ft with bracket), 9 ft 6 in beam, 250 gal, 23-degree deadrise, 800 hp max

A 29-footer built for one job

Egret pitches the current boat to anglers tired of the frills on modern consoles: everything has a purpose, nothing is overcomplicated. Standard equipment includes a 50-gallon transom livewell, Lenco trim tabs, AGM batteries with a charger, two 2,000 gph bilge pumps, fuel-water separators, an aluminum T-top with a fiberglass hardtop, hydraulic steering, six gunwale rod holders, an Armstrong flotation bracket and boarding ladder and an aft fish box that drains to a gulper pump.

The options list lets the boat grow into a tournament rig. Egret offers a 60-gallon cockpit floor livewell, a forward in-deck well, a leaning-post well, acrylic lids, a Hooker electric sea chest with manifold and removable tuna tubes, which the company says brings available livewell capacity to more than 150 gallons. Coffin boxes, Garmin or Simrad electronics with radar and autopilot, FLIR night vision, Starlink, a stand-through second station and rocket launcher or kingfish rod holder packages are all available.

Earlier boats came with a 60-gallon transom well, two insulated fish boxes with macerator pumps, a lockable under-floor rod locker, a built-in cooler seat at the console front and a hardtop with LED courtesy lights, so even a 2006 to 2015 boat should be well equipped.

Performance, and what we could not verify

Egret has published videos of the 290 running but no speed and fuel tables that we could find, and we found no independent magazine test. We therefore leave cruise speed, top speed and range blank. What we can say is that a hull of roughly 3,100 to 3,700 pounds with twin outboards of 500 to 800 hp has a very favorable power-to-weight ratio for its size, and Egret's 23-degree deadrise is moderate for an offshore console, aiming for a balance of ride and stability.

Ask any seller for a sea trial with GPS speed and engine fuel-flow data at several rpm settings. On a custom boat built in small numbers, your own numbers are worth more than any brochure.

Buying a used Egret 290

Egret 290s are uncommon on the brokerage market, so be ready to travel. Expect roughly $60,000 for an early boat with original or tired power and up to about $260,000 for a nearly new Egret 29 with twin 300s or larger and a full electronics package. Kevlar boats, fresh repowers and boats with stand-through second stations command a premium.

Because the company changed hands in 2024, confirm what warranty support applies to older hulls, and ask the factory in St. Augustine for build records by hull number if they are available. Annual running costs of about $10,000 to $24,000 cover insurance, storage, twin-outboard service and a typical season's fuel.