In the overcrowded world of bowriders, size really does matter. Generally, the smaller the boat, the bigger beating you're going to take in a chop. Size is even more critical if you run in coastal waters, or on big lakes that get churned up like a blender by boats going helter skelter. There, the last boat standing ' in this particular case, the Wellcraft 260 Excalibur Sport ' is often the biggest.

When you start hitting the top of the open-bow spectrum, say 26 to 30 feet, hull shape is just as important as size. It doesn't matter if your 28-footer runs faster in calm water than that slick go-fast across the lake. If there isn't sufficient deadrise in the transom, and the entry's not sharp enough, your boat could turn into a kiddy pool after hitting a big wave the wrong way. Riding up front just isn't fun when the boat's throwing buckets of water in your face.

A handful of builders, mainly high- performance companies, have come up with hulls that minimize the get-wet issues of an open bow. In Wellcraft's case, it's called the Excalibur series: four boats with deep-V hulls from 19 to 26 feet that are first cousins to Wellcraft's high-performance Scarabs. Wellcraft calls the six Excaliburs (two are closed-bow models) 'Family Performance' boats. (It also has two 37- and 48-foot cruisers in the Excalibur line, but they're off in a class by themselves.)

'Family performance' may sound kind of like 'jumbo shrimp,' a contradiction in terms, and the concept probably wouldn't have worked if Wellcraft had just hollowed out the topside of a Scarab and slapped on the Excalibur name. Many boats that come from a high-performance pedigree just don't have the creature comforts topsides.

But the new 260 Excalibur Sport was designed as its own boat and does a decent job of mixing performance with family features. The 260 Sport (the closed-bow version is the 260 Excalibur) runs well on a half-day test on Sarasota Bay. That part of southwest Florida, just inland of the Gulf, is ideal for this kind of boat. The Bay's shallow and gets enough wind to make it nasty, but you don't want to be stuck inside a cabin when the sun's shining ' which is most of the time. With waterside restaurants and gunkholing spots through the barrier islands, family boating is a big deal in these parts.

Twenty-six feet is a good size for these waters, small enough to get into tight slip spaces at the marina or onto sandbars (draft with drive down is 38 inches), but big enough to head out into the Gulf on calm days. The day BW tests the 260 Sport is sunny but blustery, with a one-foot chop running through the bay.

At the dock, the 260 Sport doesn't have high performance written all over it, with a long snout and raked-back windshield. But there's something, well, sporty about the profile, the way the windshield sweeps to the rear of the cockpit and the bow's shaped like a precise, sharp arrowhead, rather than curving like many other bowriders.

The exterior graphics aren't anything to write home about, and the cockpit, with its white upholstery and blue accents (red is also an option) is kind of spartan-looking without the standard pullout carpet (a plus for washing out the inter-ior), but that's in keeping with the approach taken in the design of this boat. Family comes first, and performance is second.

But not a very distant second. The 260 Sport test boat is powered by a standard 270-hp, 5.7L Volvo GXi with Duoprops. The engine is adequate for this hull, giving it a top end of 46.5 mph. It does not feel underpowered. The boat accelerates from 0 to 30 mph in 6.9 seconds. Not bad. The decibel level is 88 at the top end. Even better.