35 Outlaw?
 

Can anyone post some insight into the 35 ft model, I'm new to performance boating, just came into some money and I would love to compete in poker runs. Looking at either a 35 ft Baja Outlaw or a 38ft Cig Gladiator.

I also wanna get some custom paint, know any good Canadian companies. Pic's would be great!

Naming the boat 4play

First Welcome,

In my opinion you are looking at two totally different boats with two very different overall purposes.

The Gladiator is a very purpose built offshore boat with sit down seating, no cabin and very few creature comforts. If your main goal is to have a solid fast platform for Poker Runs only, then it would be a nice choice if that style is what you are looking for. I would not however recomend it as a first performance boat unless you take things very seriously and take some performance boat classes with Tres Martin. You can't just jump in a step bottom and hit the water. It takes practice and experience to really run that style of boat.

The Outlaw is a jack of all trades type boat. It won't be the fastest, but the ride will be hard to beat due to the deep V design. It will be a more forgiving and stable boat and you will be less likely to get into trouble with that type of design. With a full cabin and more room in the cockpit it will allow you to bring more folks in on the fun and use the boat for overnighting and a place to get out of the heat. It will offer much more in the way of creature comforts. More of an all around do it all boat.

Good luck in your search.

You really have to sit down and decide what you want out of a boat and what activities you will be doing. Then take time to really water test both boats and make a decision on which one is the best for you.

Thx so much! I will do my research! I was actually leaning more towards the Baja, hence me posting in the Baja Forum. I have a wife and a young child so I should be getting a boat that will help ease my adrenaline yet adapt for family/leisure time. We have a cottage on the St. Lawrence River in Ontario Canada so going up and down the river fast but safely would be fun.

Once again thx for any help, my only other worry would be the power package, 496ho's or 700's? I have heard it's actually more bang for your buck with the 496's. Let me know

Just so you know, my last boat was a 2003 26ft Chaparral with a 496, great ride, great family boat...But I want flashy and fast!!:cool:

496 HOs and the 700s aren't you're only engine choices. Between those two you're looking at a huge $ difference. Just need to decide how fast you want to go and how much you want to spend. 525s would be a great in the 35.

With a family, the Outlaw would be a better choice in my humble opinion.

I would never be able to go to a boat without some type of cabin, the wife would kill me.

As far as engine choice, it depends on how fast you want to go. I would almost prefer a pair of 525s in the 35 for a balance of speed and reliability. Just my .02 though.

Looks like me and Jmeng were on the same thought process there. :party-smiley-048:

Also curious how you settled on the Cig and the Baja as your final two choices? Both great boats but kind of at opposite ends of the price scale. There are a lot of other boats out there also. Fountain, Formula, Donzi, Sunsation, Powerquest, Active Thunder, etc.

i just went from a 22' 4winns into a 36 outlaw with 502's and wow what a rush. it's hard to beat the baja at that size for cruising and plain old fun. we were torn between a blackthunder 46', 33' scarab and then the outlaw in which we have come to luv. we own a houseboat so the blackthunder was out due to all the creature comforts that it has and we don't really need. the scarab altho very nice and fast was a little intimidating for a first go fast. now i am thinking of selling our 36' to go to a 442 . man this never stops. good luck and enjoy.

I think Premier Boating Center has an 07 35 outlaw with 700's in it. :signs069:

Hawkeye did have one with 700s, and may still have one or two with 600s.

Just wait a couple of months and buy Lucky 7's
when it gets done with the PR tour.

I second that...do your home work on your options. You might want to get a hold of Sydwayz on the Active Thunder forum...he's a friend of mine who works for Active Thunder...he can hook you up on an AT33 or 37 all made just for you. (ie: Custom Paint, cockpit layout, etc) He's a good guy. I have a lot of friends with AT's and they all love them. I chose a GUN & I love mine...I started with 2 Baja's...you have a lot of choices...

Also think about a TS/TG rather than a Gladiator.

To contact Brian use his home email, since you do not have PM yet, ActiveThunderAVH(a)aol.com
If your looking for custom they can hook you up on a one stop shop, Paint, motor config., layout, etc., they have a 33 built, I know he will work a good deal on, Plus they are looking for someone to build a 37 for the Miami boat show, some extra perks in that deal as well. Talk to Brain, and as mentioned do your research and figure out what is best for you. Good Luck and Be Safe, these boats take some practice time, get comfortable with it before jumping into a Poker Run. :signs069:

Ive always loved Baja thats why i stated that originally, and cig makes one hell of an eye catching boat..paint and all. But im seriously leaning towards a 2008 35ft Baja with 700's. I'm having a rendering done now on the look, so I should have it to post in the next 2 weeks. Look for me in the poker run circuit. Can't wait for 1000 islands poker run in kingston!

As for jmeng's comment, I also looked at powerquest & sunsation, but PQ seems to be out of business and sunsation's wait time is just to long for my hunger.

how cool would turbines be? haha

Our neighbor at our cottage is Bill Tomlinson and he's building a 50ft tunnel with turbines called myway, check it out at www.turbinemarine.com under projects.

Thanks for the help guys, i'll post pic's asap

Cauzmik,
Baja builds a great production boat; if you like ordering from a catalog and spreadsheet. I have three neighbors with them, and know many other owners. I have no digs or complaints about the boat.

If you want something radical, you need to speak with a custom boat manufacturer. Check out my signature.

Thanks for the nods Jim and Rick.

Alright I'll check it out!

Thanks!

Here we go again.

For the record Brian, I do like the Active Thunder boats, so please don't read too much into this question, but I would like to know.

What is custom about your boats other than paint and hardware? I think the word custom gets thrown around way to much.

Happy to answer, and no offense taken. However, I am going to do so in the AT forum, with pictures. I'll post such a thread later tonight.

Great, I look forward to it. Thanks.

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!!

Prop changes can have a huge effect on the ride, speed (both cruise and top end), attitude, and handling of a boat. The faster the boat, the more important having the right prop is.

I have an 2007 Baja 35 Outlaw with 700's. Poker Run/ Family ready.

www.premierboatingcenter.com

under used boats

The add says "Customer is ordering another 35 with 700's!"

I would love to hear the story behind that.

I am a boat dealer, he is a car dealer, we have been good friends for years. He likes to have brand new!

Plus, It gives us something to do over the winter, Stereo and other custom items!

Call me at 402-464-4791