The Intrepid 322 can be turned into a hardcore fishing platform or a day-cruising vessel. The boat shown here, with its ample seating, is clearly the latter.

Sometimes boatbuilders try to kill two—or more—birds with one stone. Their boats are multi-functional, chameleons of the water, if you will. “Our boat is a fishing boat, a cruising boat, an overnighter, and a family boat,” they might boast. Heck, hang your largest beach towel from your VHF antenna, and it can even sail.

Most of the time, this marketing talk is just that—talk. A boat can be outfitted with such a hodgepodge of fishing and comfort features that it neither functions well as fishing boat nor cruising boat. What good, in fact, is a livewell if you can’t get to it because a transom seat blocks your path? …