1st Boat - Need suggestions for powerful bowrider

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alaoui_l

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Hi guys,

This is my 1st post and my first time in a boating community. (Complete NOOB here )

Well I will start by introducing myself and situation. We have a house on the beach (Med Sea) and always wanted to have a boat, water ski, have some fun on the water however always feared the hassle of having a boat. After riding with some friends having some bowriders I noticed that the fun was worth the hassle which is not that bad as I was imagining. I am not in a hurry as I would like to make my buy for next summer so I am reading up and checking prices.

Basicaly, i started by looking for 30" to 40" cruisers live Bavaria 30 Sport or Sealine S25 however I realized that I would never get my wife to sleep in a small cabin (you know wives ) and we would not travel by boat. It's finally more to have fun during the day, water skiing, tubing, take friends over, have a nice ride on the coast and have a good sun bath.

I did a list of brands that make these type of boats and to be honest choosing a boat has nothing to do with choosing cars so much brands, models, specifications and I feel lost in this realm as much as I know my stuff with cars.

I guess the perfect boat I found for me is something like a Four Winns Horizon 310 with 31" with a twin Volvo Penta or medcruiser of 320hp. The design is awesome, the boat is big/impressive as I wanted to take a BMB or Sealine, this one isn't too small. It offers a day berth for a lil nap and seems to take at least 8 people. Well the thing is I want to please myself and have a big, beatiful and powerful boat that I would like to ride and also be fun for sports. Budget is not an issue however it should be worth it. The Four winns Horizon is amazing and make me day dream however 100k$ is a bit too much for a bowrider.

My questions are:
- what are the types of boat I should look for? (NoCabins or Cuddy)
- what size would be good? would 26" and bigger work fine or would it be too big for sports?
- what size of engine? too small or too big? what kind of engine as I heard about IO overboat and others?
- What is the biggest size I can trail as it would be good to store it when not used? I would only use it during summer and sometimes during the year.
- I am considering a used boat if it's a good deal. what year would be too old? I think not older than 2003.
- How many hours on the engine would be acceptable?
- what brands would you recommend?

I am interested in FW horizon or Sea reay sport,sundeck or select. I also heard about Chaparral and I liked these on there website: sunesta 274, SSX 276, SSX 256. What would you recommend from these or others?

I know I am a talker but understand that I am a newbie and very excited about this buy Please send me your suggestions, answers to my questions and whatever advise that could help me find a suitable boat.

Cheers,
 
Welcome Quick Secret Agent.
Don,t be doing what Your Namesake did.
IE, belting a Powerboat across the Land and disecting a Wedding!
On that Score however, book Youself a bit of training ref handling said boats, the like of which You intend to purchase.
Take SWMBO (Wife ) along too.
If you both get a grip of the handling and driving of said craft it will be more enjoyable.
As too which speedy boat to purchase.
Correct taint like buying a car.
I aint the bod to advise ref Bowriders etc.
There is a Huge amount of knowledge on here though.
Lots of advice to be had.
A nice size to Trail?
I think about 20 ft is big enough to start with.
Launching and recovering can be an issue whilst you are a NOOB, as you put it.
Start off small to get the hang of things and see how you go.
Although if You are only towing your new craft occasionally, ie, for Storage as mentioned then the launch recovery issue is not such a big deal.
Tiss a point worth considering however.
What make?
Phew dunno, like I said there are peeps on ere that will advise.
Bayliner, Maxum, Four Winns, Searay, Chapperal+ there are some good European makes.
100k$ ??
Don't think you need to spend that much to start off.
Not if you are looking at used stuff.
The first boat you buy won,t be the right one anyway.
Cos that's boats.
I,ve been at it for 25 years.
Still looking for the perfect boat to suit Me and Her!
Cos that's boats.
Taint like cars.
Much more interesting.
How do I know?
Too many Years in the Motor Trade, that,s how!
Good luck.
007.
regards to Moneypenny! /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif
K
 
Yep no doubt it would.
Launching would be a Cinche.
At 4ft 2 inches though there aint a lot of room for a lil nap.
Unless our NOOB is considerably vertically challenged.

Hey Bren.
Look at Your record.
Only 4 to go for the 10,000 mark.
How do you propose to mark this Momentous occasion?
Perhaps some genuine good advice to a NOOB would be fitting.
Ang on, whilst I Don me tin hat!
 
I would take a look at the Jeanneau Cap Camarat range for bow riders.

www.southernmotorboats.co.uk

I may be biased being the broker there, but they are honest boats, honestly priced. I am the broker so new boat sales I have nothing to do with, so have a look and tell me what you think!
 
I wouldn't get a bowrider for any type of sea use personally. If you just want a day boat to wazz around in then check out the deck boats, Cap Camarat range as mentioned, Sessa Key Largo, White Shark, Boston Whaler to name just a few. I guess they're popular in the med for a reason, don't see many bowriders though. Oh, and get one with a bog, for some reason the girls don't seem too happy about peeing over the side.
 
You're looking way too big IMHO. We started off with ski boats, and went from 17' to a 23' Maxum - worst boat we ever bought. Too big for ski-ing, too small to cruise on. 18-21' or so if you're looking for a ski boat, or perhaps up to 25' for a RIB with plenty of grunt on the back (150HP+). 23' cuddy or 25' RIB is about the largest you could possibly trail, and the cuddy would be a beast to launch and recover as well as needing one hell of a towing vehicle.

Oh, and get some training.
 
I agree that 18-23ft is a good place to start you can always trade up after the first season and you shouldnt lose much. Having said that I was talking to the UK importers of Chaparral a couple of weeks ago and they are seeing a trend of people going larger for their first boats. They sell more 23 to 27 ft sports boats as first timers now. I also dissagree that a rib is better than a bow rider, safer maybe but no mach for the space and facilities on the latest crop of big bow riders from the states.
 
Just hired a Leader 6.25 in Hyeres in Med (identical to Cap Camaret).
Impressesd with it, as was wife as it had a little house on the front she and daughter could have a snooze in. Suzuki 140 4 stroke o/b pushed it along quickly and very economically... impressed.
I'm no fan of small bow riders having experienced nearly sinking in one as it buried its bow in a wave and filled up.
 
Today I did my homework, read millions of threads and articles about boating. So now I know all the boat types, the hull types, the engine types and much more /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif (very proud of what I learned today)

So I guess I need definitely a Bowrider or a Deckboat or even a jet boat. From what I have read bowriders are faster than deckboats and handle better so it would work better for me. I have heard good stuff about jet engines but was curious that I didnt read about anybody interested in jet boats when looing for bow riders. I guess a big bowrider from 25' to 28' would work good for me. And also I wouldnt go below 2003. Was wondering if with a bowrider that size I would be able to water ski and wake board? Also is 300HP+ enough or should I go to the 375HP and 425HP versions? I also set myself a limit of $50k (already half the budget saved /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif I am on the right track!!!)

I have done some search on boats.com for some used boats and found this:
Chaparral SSI 260 from $32,000 2004
Four winns 250 Horizon from $36,000 2005
Monterey 268SS from $40,000 2003
Regal 2600 from $42,000 2004
Crownline 270BR from $44,000 2005
Sea Ray 270 SLX/Sundeck from $45,000 2005

Formula, Cobalt over $50,000
No used Doral, Bayliner, Maxum, Sessa found

BTW what are the popular classified sites for europe as I am located in Morocco, I would love to grab it from south spain, france or italy.

Any recommendations from the results I got?
 
Dave_Snelson: BTW I would be boating in the area where you sell flats in Morocco (Kabila/Marina Smir). Do you have a boat there? I would use your experience otherwise
 
If you had to go bigger, you'd lose the safety and versatility of the jets, and you'd certainly blow your $50K budget, but my favourites are:

Doral Elite 265br
http://www.doralcorporations.com/brands/en/boats_all.aspx?lineid=2&boatid=6&action=specs

You can see the clever sunpad arrangement on the cuddy version here:
http://www.doralcorporations.com/brands/en/boats_all.aspx?lineid=2&boatid=18&action=specs

Chaparral SSX276
http://www.chaparralboats.com/containers/chaparral.html

Chris Craft Launch 28 (also available in smaller flavours)
http://www.chriscraftboats.com/launch_28_oview.aspx
 
some ideas to think about:
1. Every boat is a compromise. Make a list of ,say, ten things you really want from the boat. You wont find them all, but at least make sure you get most of them.
2. You will want to change your boat. Understand this before you buy your first, partly, because what you thought you wanted wasnt quite correct, and partly because after a while you are ready for whatever seems next.
3.See what is local, both in style and brand. Generally, especially when starting out, it isnt a good idea to have something bizarre with no dealer support anywhere nearby. Bits fall off and break.
4. However flush you are with money, this will be more expensive than you thought. Do some sums on large twin petrols.
5. Remember, you have to sell the boat at some time, so dont go too whacky. Having said that, buy the boat YOU want, not what someone on here tells you to get.
6. Get some training before hand.. both of you. Its cheaper finding out that way if someone really doesnt enjoy this.
7. Check that you can keep it somewhere local
8. Nothing wrong with second hand, but get surveys done.
9. Look at lots of boats in the flesh. You need to decide yourself what level of finish, and what little layout tricks mean something to you.
10.Flashy doesnt necessarily mean practical. When looking over a boat, really think about a day on the water: ease of canopies, storage, loo, sunbathing,storage, watersports gear storage, lunch,tables,swim ladders, size of swim platforms etc etc Go through a theoretical day, and see how practical the boat really is for what YOU want to do:its not so much a risk that a boat is crap, more a risk that its crap for what you want it for. If you think how small a boat is, you can see that its the practical details that eally make a boat work, I think.
 
All a bit too big to be skiboats, IMHO, but fine otherwise. Too big and heavy, and they'll give you a horrible wake to ski in.

You won't find many jet drives outside of big RIBs, but for the boats you mention big block V8s are the order of the day, so 250-350hp.
 
I guess I would be 80%+ of the time cruising and the rest of the time trying myself at water ski or giving a hard time to friends on the tub /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif So I would say a big bowrider would be confortable for cruising and big enough to get a bunch of friends over. On the otherside it's powerful enough to get somebody out of the water.

I like the Chap and FW would keep looking into these routes. The question of the day is I have to check if I can get these brands serviced in Morocco. Otherwise I would like to grab a used one from spain or south of france so if you can recommend any websites specialized in europe, spain or france used boats. I know that because of the exchange rate I might get a better deal by buying one from the US but wouldnt be easy to try it so I am still checking these routes.

Sundays_Child: I heard that jet boats are very good for cruising and sports however might get damaged easily with seaweed and what not. I dont know why people get IOs more
 
"BTW what are the popular classified sites for europe as I am located in Morocco, I would love to grab it from south spain, france or italy".


Morocco a, I was in Smir last week on a charter. We are in Southern Spain 20nm from the Rock. Have a peep at our web site Alas. We dont do new boats in case anyone asks.
 
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