New Boat Advice - open sports boats

[Feelingonesway]

Just sold my yacht and looking for an open sports boat for use in the sea.

Will use for family fun days, fishing. Will need to beech with family around solent
Need to tow, have landcruiser so no issue with weight.
For ease of getting on and off trailer, was thinking about 18ft. Might dry stack
Single outboard of 80-100 probably the ideal. Prefer 4 stroke
Will need to have enough freeboard not to scare the kids

I have fallen in love with the Quicksilver Commander 555 (not seen one in the flesh mind you) but would have to buy new as the current model has not been out long. Being new to this area from sailing, there seems confusing choice out there in the market. Anyone got any views on alternatives like the Cap Camerat, or Beneteau open, or Boston Whaler etc???

Southampton boat show beckons for a butchers...

Any help/advice gratefully received,
regards...

 

[epervier]

"Southampton boat show beckons for a butchers.."

I agree,

went last year and there were some stock boats with serious chunks knocked off the the asking price, who knows might even be better this year?

 

[Chas25]

We hired that very model a couple of weeks ago in the majorca, not a bad boat at all, overnight accommodation is very limited but would do for the odd night here and there, with an inflated ringo behind the helm seats there was no real space for more than 2, however without that you would cope with a total of 4 without any issue.

with 115hp outboard it skipped along at just over 30knts quite happily, but in a bit of a chop was far happier at 18-20knts. Seemed to have a decent hull and was reasonably well built, large sunpad on the bow was great in the med.. you might get to use it occasionally in the solent

Fuel consumption was pretty good, we only managed to burn around 40litres and must have been using her for around 3-4 hours all in with mixed use.

I use to tow an 18ft bowrider with a much smaller SUV and that was fine so you won't have any trouble with a landcrusier!

Cheers
Charlie

 

[landlockedpirate]

Great choice of boat for your suggested cruising style. Decent freeboard and the walk through bow makes beaching access much easier. The cuddy is small but usable for storage or even the odd overnight. The only other boat that I can think of that has a similar layout is the Beneteau Flyer 550 Sundeck.

Lots more choice if you dont need the slightly larger cuddy such as the Jeaneau. My favourite is the White Shark 205, but its bigger than your spec and needs at least 150hp to keep it interesting.

Other possibilties are the current crop of Scandinavian style cuddy boats with walk through windscreens and bow access. Look at Yamarin, Bella, Aquador or Beneteau 550 Cabrio.

 

[mateyboy]

I've hired on a few occasions a beneteau flyer 650 with suzuki 140 its an absolute barrel off laughs, hammered its ass off and use around £100 all day and embarrassed a few larger 'speed boats' at that! Surprisingly ok in a 6' chop but some bigger rolls i headed for got a bit hairy but sharp enough to head back to flatter waters. If you drove more gingerley I reckon £100 would last a few days. Cuddy though at best is like the back of an old landrover, squished and smelly!

 

[Nautorius]

All good recomendations. I have exactly that type of boat. A 2008 FT Boats Beluga 550 with a two stroke evinrude Etec 90hp!

Firstly the two stroke evinrude is the best in class, quieter and more economical than a 4 stroke and a lot lighter. I would have needed a 115hp 4 stroke to get the same performance because of the weight. The evinrude costs more but is an amazing engine.

A 5.5m is about as small as I would go. It can take big waves, is a great load carrier yet is comfortable. Centre consoles are great as they are easy to move around, should have a large seating area/sunbed and decent stand up seating.

If you have never heard of FT boats, they are sold by Gibbs on the Thames. They have a new model, the Beluga 580 WA and it is brilliant! The FT boats hulls are better than the quicksilver for being capable and dry, but not as good as the white shark which is best in class. Link to Gibbs boats below:

http://search.boatshop24.co.uk/boatdetailpopup.asp?btsrefno=12765024&callpage=externalbrokerlist

and her is mine in Spain last year...

Also great for UK as used her on the Solent and down in Fowey for one year!

Paul

 

[tinkicker0]

The Quicksilver weekender might be better if you plan to use it on the open sea. Open bow boats will seriously restrict your trips out due to the wave height.

Force 4 is about the limit of a closed bow cuddy type boat and probably uncomfortable as hell, an open bow boat will perform considerably less well IMHO and the usual standard 500gph bilge pump will be next to useless.

Just my opinion.

Or a Bayliner 192 cuddy if you feel the need for an inboard and an open cockpit. Bit biased there though! you'll get up to 5mpg at 30ish knots out of the 192 with mercruiser 3.0 / alpha gen 2 package.

 

[Nautorius]

Centre consoles are normally self draining so even if you ship water it just drains away! They also normally have flared bows and deeper v hulls which mean that they are dry up to force 4! However they are wet in a F5 wind over tide in the Gibraltar straights! Mind you my 44ft Beneteau Sail Boat is wet in a F5 wind over tide in the Gibraltar straights!

Centre consoles are built for the rough stuff. You may get cold or wet but you get there in the end.....bit like sailing!

Cheers

Paul

 

[gjgm]

Open bow boats will seriously restrict your trips out due to the wave height.

Cant agree with you here. We are talking about day sailing around the Solent in a small boat. Sure there are a few spots such as Chichester harbour mouth ,Calshot and the Needles that can get a bit spooky, but its not likely he is going to be heading off in a F5 anyway.
In fact, I def would NOT get a cuddy in this size boat, as 40pct of your boat is now just a locker, which is a total waste.
Go as big as you can; an extra foot or so in this size boat makes a huge difference, but just check that length is hull and cockpit, not some 60cm of plastic screwed onto the back. Might be too big and too heavy (unless dry stack), or too expensive, but I think there are a few Windy second hand 750-ish open boats for sale. You wont be complaining too much with one of those. But I think the French builders have got some cracking open day boats. Personally, I wouldnt bother with any "cover"/hardtop. If the weather is ****, you arent going to be day boating that day anyway.