If you have a fly bridge or similar height get a 1/2 wave stainless steel whip aerial will last 10 times longer that the fibre glass ones,also if you forget to lower it when you come to a bridge etc it wont get destroyed.Never had problems with range as compared to the others.
The effectiveness of a VHF ant does not really depend on wether it is a floppy bit of wire held upright inside a fibreglass tube or a stiff bit of stainless rod standing up on its own.
The glassfibre ones look far more impressive but the construction quality is very variable cheap plastic ones split at the base.
If you just want a basic aerial a quarter wave stainless job as high as possible will do the job.
