Sports cruiser buying advice.

petem said:
You started it
Click to expand...

Are you my missus incognito ???

I was happy to be corrected, and to be fair was the first to mention service history / maintenance is the key.

One would be fine for the Solent, as described. But getting one in budget is a different job.

The JL405 you mentioned is closer on script. ?
 
LBRodders said:
I thought the AD31 were 130hp. If not, I stand corrected.

Its not a small boat for even 300hp. Add on the family, fuel, water, dinghy etc and come the end of the season you will need all that hp.
Click to expand...

I'm inclined to agree. When I started out I looked at two Fairline Sunfury's with AD31's in them. Neither planed well. The first struggled to get to 18 knts and the second didnt make it over the hump. That's when I stopped looking at Sun Fury's and went pot luck for my bucks. Both owners said their boats would plane with a bit of a bottom scrub yadda yadda whatty whatty but my plan was to use the boat full season and not half season. Unless the S28 can be shown to be remarkably lighter than the Sun Fury then the engines are marginal and being that much lighter I would be concerned the eggshell may take stress in the ripples. It's a conundrum. Make a great Marina Queen though. Hey! Roy! This is where you can chime in. ?

Edit: Where you are wrong though is two 150's dont make one 300. Not even close.
 
Last edited:
If the op wants a single engine boat that goes fast then I think an outboard is best. In fact it’s ideal. When learning how to manœuvre a boat the advantage of being able to see the power unit turn is a great benefit especially in port. In fact for a first boat the only necessity is a toilet otherwise the wife starts to get reluctant to go boating eventually.
 
Bouba said:
If the op wants a single engine boat that goes fast then I think an outboard is best. In fact it’s ideal. When learning how to manœuvre a boat the advantage of being able to see the power unit turn is a great benefit especially in port. In fact for a first boat the only necessity is a toilet otherwise the wife starts to get reluctant to go boating eventually.
Click to expand...

so now you’re saying he wants one of these???
2BE03200-9D6A-4022-8C13-23E487DC1CA9.jpeg
 
Bouba said:
If the op wants a single engine boat that goes fast then I think an outboard is best. In fact it’s ideal. When learning how to manœuvre a boat the advantage of being able to see the power unit turn is a great benefit especially in port. In fact for a first boat the only necessity is a toilet otherwise the wife starts to get reluctant to go boating eventually.
Click to expand...

Bit o' tape on the steering wheel and he can keep eyes front. Other than that I agree. Modern outboards make a lot of sense unless you want a tender and have skinny accountant arms. Then man handling a tender and lugging 20 litre petrol cans becomes a chore
 
BruceK said:
Quite possibly, I was like the OP and very new and somewhat clueless. However I had a good idea of what I wanted and under powered and marginal in a sports cruiser certainly wasnt one of them.
Click to expand...

which brings us nicely back to a sunfury with a 350hp nearly new engine ???
 
LBRodders said:
I bet the caravan bit is lovely.
The problem is that's a planing boat with 260hp via two 24 year old units. It's performing days are over.
Click to expand...

My own boat is 18 years old and as far as I can tell it performs the same if not better than it always has over the 7 years aI have owned it. I don't see why an older boat should not be capable of performing more or less as new if correctly maintained.

The asking price for the S28 I mentioned falls within the OP's budget . It is well maintained but always there should be a survey and trial.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Share this page

Top