Which stand??

msimms

msimms

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Boat: Chichester Marina
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Off to the show tomorrow.

Looking for something trailable using a Jeep Grand Cherokee, 3.5 ton limit. Mid twenties (feet) in length that would would allow occasional overnighting for two adults and two children 11 and 6. Ideally diesel and with a 'proper' toilet! Glastron GS249 has come up as a possibility.

Any other ideas and pointers as to which stands to target?

Cheers

Mark
 
We looked a most of the 22ish footers and the head and shoulders winner for us was the Doral, streets ahead on build quality over the rest. eg. no sharp edges, screw heads etc.

Jim
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I take it the 249 is 24ft and 9 in
A big beast to tow. I have towed a 24ft Sealine around europe for many holidays. Have a look at the new Sealine 23. Make sure you buy a really decent trailor. In my experience they are designed very close to the limits so if you intend to tow a long way go for the heaviest duty one you can.
The 240 towed well behind a 2800 Shogun and a 3.1 Vaux Monterey (Isuzu trooper)
 
Assuming you are looking for new pocket cruiser, have you considered Four Winns 248 Vista, SeaRay 240 Sundancer, Maxum 2400 SCR or Sealine S23. Latter is British and available with Volvo KAD diesels others are, IMHO, the pick of the American ones.

Remember that 3.5 T is total towing weight of boat + contents + trailer. So boat of 2.5T is probably limit. SeaRay is 2517 kg so just on limit. Also remember you have to launch and recover as well as tow.

Can provide list of boats and summary of weights if required as just compiled for my own list.

PS According to my info Glastron GS 249 is 1997 kg.
 
There is a second hand Beneteau Flyer 701 over here for sale at a good price.

When you go to the Jeanneau stand speak to Jon Le Conte who will give you the details.

Dom

2003 is going to be a good year for me
 
Look at the Sea Ray 240 Sundancer, don't know about diesel though haven't seen one with a diesel engine. Cost more new and 2nd hand i.e new Wellcraft 2400 £32k new Searay 240 50k new but build quality is there. I have a 270 Sundancer 1993 excellent boat and still gleams.
 
Thought the Sea Ray 240 Sundancer was expensive v the competition, Four Winns looked and felt relatively spacious and well built. For me too the Doral was head and shoulders above therest as well as the advice and service from the stand. Why has no-one mentioned the Regal 2465 - looked v good vfm? The biggest disappointment was the fact that the Wellcraft Martinique 2400 was not at the show (nothing from Martinique range at all). The second biggest disappointment was the Sealine s23. PS - I would also be interested in the list.
 
Re: Doral 250

Well, after having a good look around at what was on offer, it was the Doral that did it for us.

It's quoted at 2864 kg with the 5.7 L (which I guess is dry weight) so must really be at the upper limit of what is trailable. The Guy on the stand says its fine behind his Discovery.

Anybody got or had a 250? If so, what are they like to live with and what would be the best engine option? Is diesel worth the extra money?

Cheers

Mark
 
Re: Doral 250

Mark

You need to be careful here with weight. If the boat is listed as 2864kg dry with a 5.7 petrol, I would hazard a guess that a diesel version would be too heavy to tow. Bearing in mind that a good quality trailer for a boat of this size will be not much less than 1000kg and that the builders dry weight very easily creeps up with gear, fuel, water etc, I find it difficult to see how this boat, even with the petrol is going to come in at under 3500kgs on the trailer.

As an example, my boats dry weight as detailed by builder is 1950kg but it does in fact weigh 2650kg fully stocked, fully fuelled and fully watered.

Neale
 
Re: Doral 250

We had a 250 up till 4 weeks ago, and can only say that it was a fantastic boat. It's build quality is out of this world, and it will handle conditions must worse than you will be able to tolerate (We crossed Lyme Bay in a F5/6 last year and the boat did not miss a beat).
It will take 4 people for a weekend, but like all boats this size it will close-in on you the longer you stay aboard, but cockpit layout and space is fantastic for 4 if the weather is good enough.
Approx 70% of all 250's sold are with petrol engines. The diesel quoted at the show is the Mercruiser, and if you ask for an honest opinion from Simon (Simco MD) he will advise the Volvo option, as it has 90 more horses, and fly-by-wire controls. The downside is a £19,000 hit over the 5.0L petrol Volvo, and that is a lot of petrol.
If you want to consider a used petrol engine they have our old fully loaded one for sale (Delivered late April 2002, and only 50 hours on the clock).
Why did we get rid of it? Because we bought the 280Se.

Hope this helps, and let me know if you become a Doral owner.

Terry
 
Re: Doral 250

Don't want to appear a kill-joy but I couldn't agree more. Whilst you may want to take a chance with the boys in blue perhaps it is your own safety you will want to consider. With a boat and trailer that will weigh 4000kg + a fully loaded Jeep with kids and provisions, then brake fade, emergency stops etc, could become a real issue. Just make sure you go in with your eyes open.

Here endeth the lesson - now go and enjoy.
 
Re: Doral 250

Having spent a little time checking some of the trailer web sites it does seem unlikely that this can be trailered legally. The guy on the stand assured us that it could be towed and spoke at some length on how he towed and launched using a Discovery.

I'll give them a call next week and ask for further details - maybe they can get a trailer made out of some type of anti-gravity material that would help compensate for the weight of the boat!

In any case, we liked it so much we are now looking at the possibility of keeping it in a marina or maybe using one of those stacking/storing facilities.

Cheers

Mark
 
Re: Doral 250

Ask the guy on the stand to put it in writing. Provide him with details of your car so he can do the leg work. Then sit back and wait. Should be interesting.
 
Re: Doral 250

If you find any of that anti-gravity stuff then I could do with some to wrap around my waist!

Mooring sounds like a good idea but opens up a whole new can of worms if you don't need a trailerable boat. There is still time to re-visit LIBS of course.
 
Re: Doral 250

He (Simon) delivered mine on the back of his Discovery, and between us we launched it in Southampton, on the public slip under the Itchen Bridge.
 
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