Water Test - Which Is The Fastest Ranger Tug Color?

[Jesperjo]

Many Tuggers spend minutes agonizing over which color boat to order. One consideration is of course personal preference, but at least equally important is speed. Martin Nethkin (@Submariner) and I decided to carry out some water tests to answer the critical question many Tuggers have been asking: which is the fastest Ranger Tug Color?

We’d like to thank the Factory for providing us access to one single-motor 2026 R-27 in each color for this important work.

We wanted to test both the hole shot speed and the top speed. To make it fair, however, we decided to test the speed from zero to 20 MPH as a proxy for the hole shot speed, and then a wide open throttle speed. We conducted all the tests driving both north and south at the Tacoma, WA factory dock, and to ensure it was fair, we tested all the boats on the same day. Here are the results*.

Hole Shot (0-20 MPH)​

• Midnight Blue - 43.8 seconds
• Caribbean Sand - 42.6 seconds
• Hero Red - 44.1 seconds
• Light Gray - 41.3 seconds
• Dark Gray - 43.9 seconds

Top Speed at WOT​

• Midnight Blue - 35.2 MPH
• Caribbean Sand - 36.3 MPH
• Hero Red - 34.8 MPH
• Light Gray - 36.7 MPH
• Dark Gray - 35.1 MPH

As we expected, the Light Gray hull color came in at the top in both tests but it is interesting to see the empirical results. The darker colors generally were slower, but it is interesting to note that the Factory standard Midnight Blue actually had the fastest top speed of the darker colors. Below you will find some cool photos from the testing, showing all the boats as well as showing the Light Gray winner crossing the finish line!

We hope this exhaustive testing is useful to you when you select the Light Gray for your new Ranger Tug. We hope we can validate these tests on the full lineup of Cutwater C32s over a longer test next year.

* These results were validated on April 1, 2026. Your results may vary if you test on another day.

 

[venajeff]

Nice try, but we all know red boats are the fastest.

 

[Submariner]

Nice try, but we all know red boats are the fastest.

That’s actually a proven myth. Red gets pulled over by the USCG more than any other color, which many then assume it’s because they are fast. 😀

 

[Newf]

That’s actually a proven myth. Red gets pulled over by the USCG more than any other color, which many then assume it’s because they are fast. 😀

And here I was thinking that it was because it is obviously the best looking color and therefore catches the eye of the USCG more than any other.

 

[Submariner]

And here I was thinking that it was because it is obviously the best looking color and therefore catches the eye of the USCG more than any other.

Loi 😀

 

[bob daily]

It appears that red is also the favorite color of the fish and game department!

 

[Jesperjo]

I’ve heard the light gray is actually invisible to law enforcement though. It blends into the background. Although, perhaps not the way Martin does it:

 

[Submariner]

I’ve heard the light gray is actually invisible to law enforcement though. It blends into the background. Although, perhaps not the way Martin does it:

Fish fear me. 😎

 

[venajeff]

I need that wrap on my boat so I can blame it for why I didn't catch any fish.

 

[OverTime]

Everyone already knows which color is fastest...what we really need to know now is "Which color gets the best mileage?" 😀

 

[Mastercraft]

I am more concerned about fuel color at the fuel dock than boat color. RED fuel gives me the best mileage and speed in my R29! It's based on wisdom and not testing. It doesn't matter what day of the week it is!