Flipper 880 ST

The 880 ST was designed by the Norwegian Espen Thorup as the largest boat in Flipper's model renewal, and at its launch it was the flagship of a planned ten-model range. The hull is 8.52 m long and 3.15 m wide with a deadrise of 18 degrees, weighs 3,000 kg without engines and carries 380 l of fuel. It is CE category C for ten persons. Venemestari noted that it was unusual among sub-nine-metre sport cruisers in combining twin outboards with side decks, a walk-through windscreen and two separate sleeping cabins.

The deck has a hardtop that extends well aft, with a large manually operated concertina fabric roof lockable in four positions, and a three-piece aft canopy. The cockpit has a long U-shaped sofa along the port side around a table, a galley module to starboard and a helm with an offshore seat. A sunbed extends over the sofa and the engine-well platform, which is hinged and raised electrically to allow the engines to tilt. Below, a bow cabin with a V-berth sits forward of a separate toilet compartment with an electric-flush water toilet, and a second double cabin lies under the aft sunbed. Flipper's 2014 price list gives the berths as 4+1 and lists a 100 l fresh water tank, refrigerator and diesel hob as standard.

The boat was designed around extra-long-shaft Mercury outboards. The 2014 price list offered a single 300 hp Verado or twin engines of 150, 200 or 250 hp each; Venemestari reported that the single-300 option was dropped because it did not give the intended performance. In its test with twin 150 hp Mercury F150 engines the boat reached about 38.5 knots, with its most economical planing speed near 25 knots at about 1.9 l per nautical mile. The tester found the wide hull quiet through waves and stable, though it heeled noticeably in turns, and criticised engine noise reflected from the roof and flexing of the roof structure with the hatch open; the builder said it was adding sound insulation.

A prototype was shown at the Helsinki boat show in 2013 and production boats were tested for the 2014 season. Totalvene gives the 880 ST production run as 2013 to 2018. In 2019 it was replaced by the 900 ST, whose most visible change was a pair of half-metre extension swim platforms, together with an electrically operated table and roof. Bella-Veneet Oy was sold to Nimbus Boats Sweden AB in November 2018.

In the 2014 range the 880 ST sat at the top of the Sport Top line above the 600 ST, 640 ST and 670 ST, and above all of the day cruisers. Venemestari compared it with Flipper's earlier 850, historically the brand's largest cruiser.