Had to jump in:

'04 33 Outlaw: Owned one for 2 years, sold it for $10K less than I paid. Excellent, great riding, easy to drive and handle at the docks, and we saw a consistant 72 mph GPS with HO's and labbed 28 Bravo 1's even when loaded and full of gas. Huge cockpit, nice cabin, great looks, best buy right now.

35 Outlaw: Essentially a streched 33. Wetted surface is nearly identical to the 33, they just added a 2' notched transom like Formula, Fountain, and other major manufacturers do. Rode in two with 525's. New boat here in Houston had 8 hrs. on it, got 86 mph GPS flat out. Poker Face on Lake Travis got 86 flat out with four people on board and less than 1/4 tank of gas.

36 Outlaw: Extremely good riding and dry rough water boat for its size. Best ride of all of these but slower than the 33 or 35 for the same power by 2-3 mph. The mold was bought from Cigarette and is the old Cigarette Mistress hull, that was called a 35 (Google that to find out more).

'05 30 Outlaw: Faster than the 33 by 2-3 mph under similar conditions but noticibly smaller ride.

'05 42 Fountain with staggered 525's: No comparison.

Beak, I was running 93 on Conroe next to Lucky 7's & they wer pulling me just by a bit. That was early on in the day.

beak42
Thanks for the info. Can you give a update on the 42. How is docking ability. With staggaered engines and drives so closse together etc... You have been in the 36OL I would admit a great rough water boat. How's the ride compare to the 42. To me some of the stepped boats seem at slower speeds so 40-60 may feel rougher since the more flatter bottom. Am I correct on this. Never really rode in any other boats but Baja so cant compare. 2 guys I met both went from 35 outlaws to -1 38Fountain w/staggered 525's and the other to 38ZR with staggered 525's. Both clicking around 87-90. so they say!
Like you said the 35OL in regular layup is good for mid to upper 80's with 525's. Pretty respectable to me. Just size. THe Donzi may seem bigger for a 38 compared to the fountain.

John(specialized) Like all have mentioned the 33 or 35 is a great setup. I would just say. If you have any mindset about a 35 then really consider it. Dont be in the situation "I wish, I wish, I wish"

Dennis

I saw your boat Jason... That is a sleeper if I ever saw one! You can't see the drives unless it's out of the water.

My wife was complaining since we had my one year old daughter on board so I was "governed" to 60 mph. But we see about 82 GPS with the Bravo 1 32's and and 85 with borrowed labbed Maximus 30's but I didn't want to spend the $2600 right now on those new props!!

The 42 Fountain is about a 39-40 foot boat minus the beak. But what a great riding 39-40 it is. Extremely smooth and great handling. Quite predictable. But you cannot whip the steering wheel with a step hull or you can spin out. So I always slow down for sharp turns, or trim up to dig the stern in.

As far as docking is concerned it was TERRIBLE at first with those staggered drives so close together and such a long boat when I tried to dock it like my trusty old 33. But if you dock it like it was a single its esay as pie! That's really the secret, just use the steering wheel like it was a single and its no problem and I can now spin it on a dime.

The 42 Fountain feels bigger than the 36 Baja, but really not by a lot. That 36 Baja ( Cigarette) hull I really like. Very smooth and controlled if you want to stay Baja. I've also been in 3 different 40 Outlaw's but the fastest I've been in one was 76.8 GPS with 3X500EFI. That's why I went with the Fountain when I wanted a bigger boat.

If you're going to go with HO's, I'd say 33.
( a friend of mine has one that runs 75 gps on fresh water)

If you were to go with 525's, I'd say 35.

Once you get in the 525 + range the 35
seems to outshine the 33
( and this is coming from a 33 owner)

Honestly,
you wont go wrong with either.

I think that I saw your boat in a post a couple of months back. If I remember correctly It was a beauty. But I have said to myself I am going to stay as stock as possible(Easy to say hard to do) due to the fact that I will be ending a partnership on a boat and heading out on my own. I want a few years of conservatism to assure myself the right budgeting before going a bit more exotic. Good luck with the sale

John

Hey Dennis,

I was at the Ft Lauderdale Boat show this weekend and was using the statement "I wish, I wish, I wish" just about all day long Especially after seeing the Turbine powered Nor-Tech Roadster. I don't think any of us can ever get away from that one. I do think the 35 would be the better choice performance wise, but I get too much of an uneasy feeling leveraging myself that far at this point. I will probably use the 38 until after the dec 8 run and then start looking for what is available in 33's. Not sure yet whether to try and trade the 38 or sell it outright through Tom and then go purchase. Whatever I do you can be sure I will be posting up any on the short list to see who knows what boat.

John

To all,

Thanks for all of the responses. You all do a great job of making some one new to this area of OSO feel welcome.

John

Im not really ready to sell It would cost 100 to130,00 more to have what I allready have, 98 mph with a full tank in a baja is priceless Tne last day out I was running with a 39 cig 07 525s and 35 donzi 05 525s IN 2 an 3 some 4s 85 mph put them behind me AS TO ME GETTING A BEAK BOAT,REGGIE WOULDNT TREAT ME LIKE BAJA do ya think Reggie would get on phone for me

I don't talk to Reggie either. But we do have outstanding Fountain dealers in Austin and Dallas. The Baja dealer in Austin is great but in Houston sorta ho-hum.