LapseofReason

Are you going to trailer the boat or keep it at a marina ?

What fuel grades are easy for you to get 87 89 92 oct. ?

What do you want to spend ?

Any boat that is set up to go 100 mph is not going to be a good 28 mph wake or ski or tube boat. Boats are like golf clubs, you need about 10 to play the game.

I like some of the new center consoles out there now. 2-3-4 big outboards will get you into the 80's mph mark with most of the good ones depending on size. So if you don't have a problem spending 250-500k I would look at the Deep Impacts, Midnight Expresses, Intrepids. They are all custom builders and can do pretty much anything you want and those 3 are great big water boats. There are many other great builders like Donzi and Concept and others that are semi custom.

LapseofReason

And unless the west coast is different than the east a Cat will cost about twice what a V hull to insure unless you lie about how fast it go's or slip it into you house or car policy then just watch what happens when you have a problem.

ImaPoser

You need two boats. a relatively cheap 24' open bow for the family fun days, and whatever your budget allows for the big water/poker runs. That's what I'm going to try to do in a year or so.

CPIGUY

I just went through the same decision process. Simular situation, but out here in So Cal. I decided on a Cobalt 302 w/ twin 496 HO's producung 850hp total. That makes it a boat you can play with, ski behind, and seat 12 people when need be.

As far a speed, I'm thinking she'll be a 60mph+ boat with strong out of the hole performance. It's tough to get 90-100mph in a boat that can be considered a family boat.

I've owned 6 boats from 32' to 60' and have always heard Cobalt is the BMW/Mercedes of boats. She's was also $250k loaded with every option, which is not for everyone. We'll see.

Good luck with your decision. Mine took for ever.

tblrklakemo

On the flip side....its hard to get real offshore performance and ride out of a "family" boat.

CPIGUY

Agreed

tblrklakemo

I would think that any one of the cat hull based deck boat builders will put a ski tow on there for ya. Single or twin motor. How about an eticket with 525's? Haul the mail, haul the people, little cabin space...nice. Not sure how good a wake it will lay down for wake board.

Frequency

I've hashed through everything that has been said here. All good points. I think Chris's questions were innocent enough, but family boat and 90-100 mph are a tough combination. He did not say he wanted to bring along friends and their five kids too, or I would have suggested a boat like mine.

The problem with the sport deck version of many low profile cats and vees is that the front seating is just too shallow for children. Any speed over say 40 mph (depending on conditions) and you're going to want all the kids (5 of them) back in the cramped cockpit with you! The Envision offers a lot of depth up front - so I can put a bunch of kids up there and run safely at 60 mph. I don't think Chris would want an Envision because it would take $$$ to make it go 90 mph.

If I had to do it over again I would look at one of the high performance toons or deck boats, or a center console - or have two purpose built boats, one for speed and one for watersports.

scarabfun

oh' please...

PARADOX

CB.
I been and still in your shoe.
Let's cut through all the BS and admit it. There is no such a thing. Period. No matter what you get it will be a compromise. That's boating. You want speed, forget the family outings.
Towing, in and out of lakes, rivers, oceans, etc. forget large fast OS boats. Skiing, tubing, samall. fast, planty of torque.
Family style, pleasure boat, grat for sking, tubing, etc. you won't be happy with Poker Runs.
Solution... you need more then one boat. or figure out what's the most important and stick to it.
Boat buying is in fact similar to car buying. You can get a sport coupe, but you won't be going off roading, and camping with 4+kids, and the family pup.
All that being said. a 27' to 32' "V" bottom, may be mid cabin, is the best "over all" combo. Sunsation, Formula, even the new Challangers. Donzi, (but Donzis a bit porky for ease of routine towing. Envision, Older but OK all around boats, Mach 1. etc.
Biggest descesion maker will be the $ you want to spend.
Good luck. Let us know what you end up.