Hollowpoint

BTW rlj656, No Cig Bullets were ever produced as a single and I've never heard of someone converting one to a single.

So to sum it up, I think the questions you must answer to yourself are the importance of:
Size vs Single or twin engines?
Ability to afford cost of running?
How much will you use a cabin?
How important is heavy sea capabilities?
How rough is YOUR normal boating area?

Many people may say buy as new as possible, but the tradeoff (and a major one in my opionion) is the need to settle for a smaller boat and one with a single engine when you use that approach.

Personally, I prefer twins, especially if you are running up to 50+ miles from where you launched. At least you know you can limp home on one engine instead of having a $1200 tow!

Powerplay25

There is a 31' around our way with a pair of V-8 OMC's off the back. It's a deep navy blue. Sharp looking boat. Avanti from Palmyra, NJ had it for sale for a long time. I heard a father bought it for his kids.

jafo

I was making the same choice as you on 28-31' boats several years back. It all came down to the Bullet, Pantera, AT, PowerPlay, and one not mentioned yet, the Saber. We couldn't find a Saber or PowerPlay, a deal fell through on a nice Bullet, and the lack of freeboard on the Pantera didn't excite the wife. Love the Bullet; it's a tank, but it also takes a LOT of power to get them moving anywhere near 70.
Then we met Pat at AT. The rest is history. We loved our 28, it ran 3 of the 5 Great Lakes while we owned it (as well as the Atlantic down in Florida). It's now prowling the Pacific. Equipped with twin 350magMPI's, it was VERY economical to run. I would own another boat manufactured by Active Thunder in a heartbeat. The cabins are large, the freeboard is unrivaled in its class, it handled rough water with a good feeling of safety, and we were treated like royalty by the company that built it. What more could you ask for?
Jim

wananewboat

I don't think anyone has said it, but what ever boat you choose be sure to get a survey done.

E Colby

If you're thinking 31 Bullet, don't forget the 32 Hustler, which would be a great Lake Michigan boat.

DONZIEBRI

I would not buy a 28 ft boat with a single engine.Docking is a breeze with twins.Plus as mentioned,the 5.7 mag mpi are very easy on fuel and they will push a 28-29 ftr near 70.And sinkt at 4800 they sound sweeeet.

AIR TIME

what about the sutphin 30 and 31 thats a real monster crusher I have been on a few old and new the 31 with 420s would do 74 and 500s around 85. they have a nice cabin room in the cockpit and fast will cut throught rough water nice with the 26 degree hull. can't wait to see the new 27 footer. theres a 26 with twins in the classifieds.

Indy

Nor me, that knocked it out of the running when I looked at 28s.

rlj676

Thanks for all the advice everyone. I think everything I'm hearing is confirming what I thought.

However, it looks like insurance may just kill my Cig desires, as I haven't gotten any reasonable quotes for a Bullet yet (even with under 1000 HP total) as they are all older. Anything over 20 years appears impossible, and over 15 expensive.

So that pushes me towards some of the other choices. There are a ton of boats that I'd be intersted in if I found the right one at the right price, but they'd have to be newer. The only boats I'm interested that are old are Bullets, and they're being eliminated by insurance for me.

I also like Formula 292's and have seen some great deals on ones with the 6.2's. If they had something that pushed them over 70 and were a great deal that'd be something I'd be more serious about.

I guess my priorities are
-Solid boat/Turnkey
-Room/comfort as I don't want to leave people behind if I don't have to.
-Speed over 70 but under 80 (for insurance)
-Handle rough stuff

So, it sounds like the AT 28 (or 32 if a deal) would be towards the top of the list. However, the choices are slim for these so I'll just keep looking for ther right deal, as I don't plan on buying until it gets at least close to warm here in Detroit.

Cgarret, no, I never worked at KCK. I actually moved to Detroit to start with Ford a few years ago.

bert4332

Powerquest 300 Revenge if you can find one. One just sold on Ebay for 50k. It's an AWESOME boat that covers everything on your list. Just make sure it has BB and not the 6.2s.