Which circa 25' sports cruiser?

[gpssti4]

Firstly hello.

Whilst I'm not new to boating, I am looking to upgrade to a sports cruiser and would like to know the good, bad and ugly of whats out there?

I'm coming from an 18' cuddy and would like something with a bit of comfort. As I live at the end of the world, well almost - Penzance in Cornwall, it needs to be able to be trailered around the South West of England (possibly a bit further). I have a list of 'likes' and want to know what's available and what to avoid!

I'll mostly be using it for cruising - maybe to the Isles of Scilly once a year. Also, water sports, knee boarding, ringos etc. So, faster is better, but not the be all and end all of it. I really want to be able to reach 30knots+ but also be able to cruise at 20knots or so. It must sleep 4, so 2 cabins. Now my list of wants!


4 berth in 2 cabins (lounge and mid cabin).
Well fitted galley, with stove, microwave, fridge, hot and cold water. (6' headroom needed).
Head with shower - ideally with 6' head room.
Sundeck area with double helm seat with a lounger to the left of it not behind.
Sundeck seating area for 6-8 people. Would be nice if rear seating converted to a lounger too.
Swimming platform.
Transom shower (hot and cold if possible).


I guess the packages are mostly US boats around 10-12 years old. I've been looking on the net and I'm quite liking Rinkers, Searays and Maxums at the moment. oh, I expect price will play a big part in it too - less than £25k (with a trailer)

One final question; is it worth paying the extra for a diesel and how do they compare to say Mercruiser or Volvo petrols? (Sorry that was 2 question!)

Thanks

Graham

 

[rafiki_]

Graham. You don't want much for your money do you?

Gary of this forum has a Rinker 250 which is the sort of thing you are describing. You are right in that most of the boats in this area are US, and quite a lot of choice. The only UK one is the Sealine 23/24/25 which will have more accom, but will be more expensive, and does not really work with ski's etc.

Good luck.

 

[jhr]

Out of the three you've mentioned, I'd go for the Sea Ray. This is not because I own one (although I do) but because they have deeper V hulls than the other two and will be happier in the kind of seas that you will get Down West. Diesel versions are rarer than hen's teeth, and unless you plan to rack up big distances, you probably won't make back the price premium that you'll have to pay.

Good luck, whatever you choose.

 

[gpssti4]

Rafiki - no not really lol. I do quite like the look of the Rinker.

jhr - I never knew the Sea Ray had a deeper V hull, thanks for letting me know and, yes, it can be quite choppy way out (south) west

 

[matt13]

Your criteria is pretty much exactly the same as mine for my next boat. Have a look at the crownline 250. Sounds like the crownline matches the cockpit layout you would like.

 

[Nautorius]

Chaparral 240 SSE would fit the bill exactly. Also the Searay 240 as well.

Fourwinns 248 would also be worth a look or a slightly older 258 though a different Cockpit Layout....

Good Luck, lots of boats out there...

Paul

 

[oGaryo]

The Rinker 250 matches the criteria perfectly... I may have mine on the market soon as we're looking to upsize again even though we love our Rinker, it's fantastic boat and well maintained, it's on a super roller coaster trailer but will be on the edge of the towable limit if not above.. we keep it on the trailer to launch rather than tow.. that said, the trailer's in very good condition, all the brakes etc are there and working perfectly

 

[gpssti4]

Thanks for the replies so far, food for thought. One thing, how about the diesel V petrol? jhr mentioned prices of diesels, but how about performance?

 

[landlockedpirate]

Welcome to the forum. You can get most of the things on your 'want' list with the exception of 2. You wont find a head with 6ft headroom on a trailable boat and getting a rear seating area for 8 is impossible with a central cabin door.

All the rest of your requirements are fairly easy, and with a budget of £25k you can get a much newer petrol boat than you think (Poss 2002-2005)

The petrol V Diesel argument has been done to death (try a search) but IMHO on this size and type of boat, petrol is the best option. This is based on purchase price, running costs, suitability for the boat and grin factor

Advice above is good, look for a cental cabin door to get the upper deck you describe. Try Searay 240, Bayliner 245, Chaparral 240, Rinker 250 etc. Boats like the Four Winns 248 and Maxum 2400 have side doors, which gives a bigger rear cockpit seating area but you lose the left hand sun lounger.

The Sealine is a very nice option, its well put together and feels much more like a mini cruiser, it has the best galley but it feels a lot smaller than the other options. My advice is go and see as many different boats as you can and take the other half as well, you will work out for yourself which you prefer.

I'm also going to stick my neck out, if you buy one of the mainstream builders with a clean survey, there are no 'bad' boats in this sector.

 

[taormina]

Doral 250/monticello

 

[russ]

I had searched for nearly two years for the right boat for me and even after going on similar sized new boats at the boat show I still came away satisfied with my choice.
A Bayliner 265. Having a better sized galley than the more common 245 and plenty of storage compartments around the boat.
I am 6'2" and have no problem standing in the cabin. Another advantage are the large windows making it feel less claustrophobic than the others. Also a large engine hatch makes access easier.

Look at as many makes you can although the cabin layouts will be very similar for this size boat.

 

[gpssti4]

Thanks folks, some good sound advise so far.

 

[Prospect and Sunray]

I have a Sunray 2500 which is 27ft and has everything you are looking for, except a swim platform shower, and the shower in the heads only has about 5'7 headroom. She is trailerable just (on her trailer her towed weight is 3,350Kg) built in 1992 and powered by a 5.7L V8 petrol to a duo prop outdrive she cruises at 25-28kts and flat out pushes 38. Not been out much on her this year, but went out a couple of weeks ago and played around Plymouth Sound for 2 hours mainly doing 24-25 kts and she used 25L petrol, so quite chuffed with that.
If you find yourself at the other end of the county on the south coast, drop me a line and pop in and look around if you like. I know of 1 for sale up country for £10k but no trailer, and One Vision has been valued at £15k with the american trailer she sits on

 

[gpssti4]

I have a Sunray 2500 which is 27ft and has everything you are looking for, except a swim platform shower, and the shower in the heads only has about 5'7 headroom. She is trailerable just (on her trailer her towed weight is 3,350Kg) built in 1992 and powered by a 5.7L V8 petrol to a duo prop outdrive she cruises at 25-28kts and flat out pushes 38. Not been out much on her this year, but went out a couple of weeks ago and played around Plymouth Sound for 2 hours mainly doing 24-25 kts and she used 25L petrol, so quite chuffed with that.
If you find yourself at the other end of the county on the south coast, drop me a line and pop in and look around if you like. I know of 1 for sale up country for £10k but no trailer, and One Vision has been valued at £15k with the american trailer she sits on

That sounds good, I guess I can duck (or grouse!) in the shower lol
I'm suprised at the fuel consumption, sounds almost as low as my Fletcher 18gts, but good none the less. I may take you up on the kind offer to look over yours. How do you find it towing quite a large heavy boat?

 

[gjgm]

What are you towing with?
At 25ft you are going to need good slipways; forget any off the beach idea. Falmouth area has some, and many of the marinas will too, but its maybe £35 a self launch as a guide. You also need alot of parking space with a huge 4*4 and a BIG trailer.. that also isnt easy to find ?So, at this size you will be alot more limited from WHERE you can boat, in fact.
I would say petrol; at least on a trailer you can fill up at tesco's for alot less than a marina prices, and you dont need to torque or the weight of a diesel. You should get the zippyness, but you will lose the cruising range with petrol.
Just have a real think about just how often you will be sleeping on the boat. Its alot of the boat to give up to a kip, if you are only going to be doing it a couple of times a year

 

[Prospect and Sunray]

That sounds good, I guess I can duck (or grouse!) in the shower lol
I'm suprised at the fuel consumption, sounds almost as low as my Fletcher 18gts, but good none the less. I may take you up on the kind offer to look over yours. How do you find it towing quite a large heavy boat?

She tows very well, go's behing a Jeep grand cherokee V8 Bit of a trial by fire really as I bought her from mid wales and towed her straight home, towed great at 55 all the way.
I am lucky to be a farmer, so she is not as big as most things I tow, and have managed to beach launch from Cawsand, but needed the tractor on the sand, and the access is a bit tight, so slip launch from Millbrook and then put her on a deep water mooring in Cawsand when I plan on using her.
Originally the Sunray had a 5L v8 230hp petrol, and the new 5.7 doesn't labout at all so maybe thats why she is fairly frugal, but till I go for a proper long play I don't know how she will average, but I do know she has enough range to get to france at cruising speed (but only just)

 

[Prospect and Sunray]

Just did a quick search ( as I havn't got many pics of One Vision yet) and found this:

http://thames.boatshed.com/sunray_mirage_sunray-boat-130371.html

Same as mine so you can see the layout..... just food for thought

 

[gpssti4]

Just did a quick search ( as I havn't got many pics of One Vision yet) and found this:

http://thames.boatshed.com/sunray_mirage_sunray-boat-130371.html

Same as mine so you can see the layout..... just food for thought[/QUOTE

That looks quite good value, maybe a little older design than I was hoping for, but I guess she is a fair bit cheaper too!

 

[neale]

If you want t take it to the Isles of Scilly you may need to look into the availability of fuel. From Memory there is no waterside petrol there so you'll need to be happy that you have the range to go there and back with a safety margin.

Diesel will make a better cruising boat, but if your primary use is going to be watersports, a big V8 petrol is the way to go.

 

[CX54WEK]

You will need to choose between cruising range and watersports. You will struggle to find a boat to do both im afraid.

We have a Sealine S23 and it is a great pocket cruiser capable of 30 knots with a decent cruising range (diesel). We have happliy spent over two weeks onboard with no discomfort. The galley is equipped with gas cooking so no need to rely on electric for your cooking needs. Headroom isnt going to be your required 6ft but then again it wont be in most other 25ft boats either. Whilst it will reach 30 knots it is no race horse at getting there and with a boat full of holiday gear, full fuel tanks, beer supplies, a smigin of food and the dinghy and outboard on the davits it can take an age to get onto the plane although it will eventually.

The S23 would probably be outside your price range but i should have thought that you could pick up a Sealine S240/S24 for your budget.