THE BEST BOAT BARBECUES

Balmy days, sunlight glistening on the water and the ubiquitous waft of a barbecue drifting in on the cool evening air.

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Sounds perfect, doesn't it? And so it is, which is why so many boat owners consider a barbecue to be an essential piece of boating kit. From simple portable charcoal-burners to fully fitted gas-fuelled units, there's a multitude of choices out there, but finding one that's not only safe for use on board but also good to cook on, easy to clean and solidly built isn't easy. That's why we've done the hard work for you by testing four of the most popular boat BBQs.

In the interest of both safety and sustainability, we decided not to test disposable barbecues or open charcoal units, partly due to the fire risk and partly because of the problem of disposing of hot embers at sea. Instead we've focussed on four top quality grills suitable for boating use, three gaspowered ones, and one charcoal barbecue that claims to be just as quick, safe and easy to use as the more sophisticated models.

MBY'S BIG BBQ SHOOT OUT

When it comes to testing boat barbecues there's only one way to do it - a pontoon party! And that's exactly what we did. Three boats and their crews joined in the fun - a Sealine SC35, a Monterey 275 and my own Fairline Targa 34.

We began by assembling and mounting each barbecue. While the Magma Marine Kettle's single-point mount was relatively straightforward to assemble, the Newport 2 grill required two brackets to be fitted.

"Fitting the Magma barbecues to the boats was fairly simple," commented Luke, one of our testing team. "Both mounts come with inserts allowing them to accept two sizes of tube, 22mm or 25mm. Disassembly is also very simple as you can loosen and unclip the mounting clamps from the rails without having to take the nuts off, so you shouldn't lose any parts overboard."