So do I !

Your right, he should probably talk to Kustom Kolors about doing something radical on a 35. Look at all the awards won over the past 2 years on the 2 - 35 Outlaw Poker Run boats!

fyi, Baja does offer a Level 2 custom shop, plus that 35 Poker Run Edition is Kevlar which weighs less than my 33. Just my op, but if your pluncking down that kinda coin, I would nail it down to 2-4 mfg.'s then go visit their operations. I just purchased mine in April of this year. it now has over 100 hrs on it, have burnt up 1,300gal of gas, just did my first Poker Run, and Lovn it. but I bought it for price, & fun for every weekend. Oil and drive fluid change has been it.
I see in another forum you want some pics, visit http://www.imagequix.com/photog.php?id=69Z829N
click on the July event and then select the boats you want to look at. I wasnt in that one, I am in the August event, check out page 11 for a little 33 airtime,also http://randynuzzo.com/ the first 3 pics is a 31 Sonic, his passenger broke 3 ribs on that one. the boat survived just fine.
Enjoy the buying experience, it seems overwhelming at first, but it will all clear up once you make that decision.

Thanks so much, I'm actually slowing it down a bit. I spent all day on the phone and on the net. I’ve found that I'm just plain drawn to the Baja look. Active Thunder makes one hell of a boat and Sunsations boats are out of this world, but I keep going back to the Baha price. I actually spoke to my friend who runs www.boaterexam.com and he may be interested in throwing in some money for advertising purposes and traveling expenses to poker run events. We shall see what happens. I'd like to thank everyone for their support and thoughts, and I hope to see you on the water.

Post up:
http://www.offshoreonly.com/forums/s...d.php?t=166328

Brian,

As I posted in your thread, I appreciate the info on your line of boats. As I said before I have always liked them and it is nice to know you guys are doing good work.

That said, other than the option of two cabin entries and the option for exotic non-Merc power there is really nothing there that can't be done through the Baja custom shop.

To the comment about production builders making one exotic boat a year, well that is just not true. Baja, the Baja Custom Shop and Hawkeye among others have built several "Custom" Bajas within the last few years. One of my favorites is the Green Monster that Hawkeye had built that is just insane.

As I said, I think the word Custom Builder gets thrown around way too much as I think Semi Custom is more in line with the correct term. Most builders are not going to go changing around bulk heads, redesign top decks and other major items to suit one buyer. It is more likely that the basic boat will stay the same and they will rig the boat in a custom fashion.

But, these are just my opinions and nothing more.

When I think of a non-custom builder, I think Four Winns, what is in the catalog is it. When I think Semi Custom there are many options that come to mind including Baja.

The day will come when I feel like getting up to a larger twin engine boat again, although that day is in the pretty distant future. I will of course look at several different boats but my Bajas (on number three) have always been excelent solid rides and I expect I will have a hard time making a decision to leave the brand.

I respect both Baja & Active Thunder's having owned a 25 outlaw & a 212 islander and pretty much road an entire year in a 37AT...I also was privy to attending the Baja corporate & dealer meetings where we spent days looking at the R&D going into the new line of Baja's. Great stuff... I also have been to the AT factory in FLA and seen what is what...

While no builder is going to change molds for one buyer...AT is a custom boat...you chose everything. The Baja custom shop would be considered more "semi-custom" than anything else. The Level II custom work that Baja performs is by no means even close to being on the majority of their boats and level 2 is mainly graphics...AT won't produce you anything but custom. I've been in 5-6 different AT's and no 2 are alike. While they hate to hear it...Baja is a cookie cutter boat. They stamp out thousands of boats a year from 20's to 40's...you just have the ability to add frosting & sprinkles to those cookies if you want. Not a bad cookie at all. I think comparatively...a boat like Poker Face vs a boat like the new 33AT in brian's pics...you would have money better spent on the AT... but this is just my opinion. Whatever you chose...have a great time & note that whatever you buy...in 3 years...you'll want something different. Either that...or you'll want out! Oh...BTW: I took a 90MPH ride in Poker Face (before it was painted that way) and man it flew. Felt really light in the water. It did not have it's cabin at that time...so I'm sure that added to it.

Well, I am happy with my cookie cutter boat.

The fact is that AT and others focus on a small part of the market and do very well. Keep in mind I am not bashing AT here, they will still be on my short list when the time comes for twins. However, I still look at bang for the buck and the Baja line gives a lot of that.

Baja covers everything from the very basic to the extremely complex and everything in between. I don't think this makes them any less of a boat or company or a worse investment as some people apparently do.

Fact, you can go to a Baja dealer and buy a stock boat off the showroom floor.

Fact, you can have them start with a bare white hull and finish it in any way you like just like the majority of the so-called custom builders out there.

Baja really has something for everyone where as most of the upper tier builders just focus on one group of buyers.

Example of Brand Loyalty at its finest folks, I'm in marketing and we DIE for people like you. I will say this, I have noticed from my research that this is going to be a longer decision making process then I originally thought. So I’m going to take my time and play it safe. I want a boat that reflects the essence of performance and pleasure boating and myself. This process can be had by opinions of others, and I feel you have all helped in every way you could. THANKS!!

If I could ask you all one more question it would be does prop size & structure really alter the speed and stability of a boat drastically or just enough to make you feel like you spent your money wisely? I know I had a mirage plus on my other boat. I was told at the time it was the best for center consoles which my boat was not.

Cheers
Cauz

I will have to say that we ran a bit if the 1000 Islands poker run next to lucky sevens and it looked pretty good and ran strong with the 700's. Very nice for a Baja!!