25 Outlaw performance in chop?
 

Still keeping my mind open for a first performance boat. Is a 25' Outlaw too rough in the chop at LOTO on a weekend? Will it take some hearty passengers to tough it out? Just wondering if one of these is in the air more than in the water. lol

25 Outlaw owners sound off! :cool-smiley-027:

I guess the question is compared to what?

For a 25 foot boat I don't thing you can beat the ride and handling of a 25 Outlaw. True deep V 24 degree hull. Plenty of weight to handle the rougher water.

When it comes to LOTO or any rough water destination there is no replacement for displacement but if you are trying to stay in a 25 footer, the Outlaw is a great boat.

My real question is "is it do-able"? Do many of the 25 Outlaw owners still brave the main channel on a busy weekend down there? Does it rock the passengers pretty hard or not? I've hit the main channel on a waveblaster for 40 miles, so I'm not too worried about myself.

Id do it in a 20 Outlaw if that helps! :D

The 25OL loves rough water, and it is built solid enough to handle plenty of it, but it is still only a 25 (27) foot boat. If driven right it will put many bigger boats to shame as long as the holes it must jump over are not much longer than the boat itself!
One of its best features, shared by the 23 and 26, is that it has a very deep cockpit for this size of boat with no windshield frame to bump into, and that helps passengers to feel secure.
It also has deep freebord, and a bow that is almost impossible to stuff into a wave, unless you do something pretty stupid with the trim.
Yes, it will get air, but I´m often surprised when I see the pictures that people have taken of my boat, because it never feels as spectacular as it looks from outside, and I think that is about the biggest compliment that you can make about the design of the hull.

Great pics Stephen. :D

I've been in a 25 O/L @ LOTO a couple of times.

You spend alot of time in the air.

The only thing 25' that does any good down there
is a 3 logged pontoon

My 33 does alright, but, there's still times
you get your bell rung.

I put 350 hours on a 25 Outlaw boating LOTO, Okoboji & the Missouri River close to Omaha. It's a great all around boat, you can get around down at LOTO. You just have to use your head and less throttle.

Any hours on Carter Lake?:D

The Baja handles rough stuff fairly well. You will feel comfortable in 1-2 foot sloppy chop, and confident in 2-3 foot sloppy chop. 3-4s and you are really going to drive the boat. 4-5s, and your wife and kids are not going to be enjoying the ride. 5+, IMHO, you're better off heading for the trailer. (These are conditions likened to LOTO. Running in 4-5 foot ocean swells is not a big deal.)

I've spent time on a couple of 25' Baja Outlaws. I've also spent a little time on LOTO. This is my personal preference, but I would not want to be out on anything less than 30' on a busy LOTO weekend. Same goes for a windy day on the Chicago shore of Lake Michigan.

IF you decide that a 25' Baja is what the boat you want to pursue, make sure it can handle all of the extremes of your planned boating. I am helping my neighbor market his for sale. Let me know if I can be of assistance:

http://www.offshoreonlyclassifieds.c...o17835-en.html

LOTO sounds like great fun:cool-smiley-011:. Just my cup of tea!

...found a pictures that show´s
Wild Card 09 against a 42" Cigarette


OL25 and driver can handle rough sea!

Bad Influence

It definetely test your throttle skills:D

I was on my own on the way to load up after the races and it was FUN!! Oh did we say AIR.

We got beat up in a 36 Outlaw at LOTO on a busy weekend.

LOTO is the roughest inland body of water I have ever been on period. Every boat manufacturer should test their product at LOTO one full season and if it survives they can label it a TRUE offshore performance boat.

Twenty five feet is twenty five feet. The Baja 25 Outlaw is without a doubt one of the best riding boats you will find in it's size range but you will not be happy at LOTO long running anything under 35 feet on a weekend.

Just my opinion.

Hey Brian, Market mine out there also, it is in the classifieds! :) I need a bigger boat for that smooth Lake Erie!

What are you looking to move into? :D :boat:

LOTO is very rough, but the whole lake is not bad. Just the areas between the 7 mm to the 25 mm. It goes from 1mm to 75 mm for reference.

Well, you now how much I love the Active Thunders! Depends on what is out there when isell. Would love to get into one

Wow, well if you say its THAT bad, I
believe you.

No doubt about it, the chop that builds up from alot of boats churning up the water is often much worse than anything that a strong wind can create.

However, I´ve been out on the Med sea over here, in everything from our 16 foot rib, the Outlaw, my 28 foot Chris Craft, up to my brother´s triple engined 48 Sunseeker Superhawk - and it is amazing to find out that they all reach their limits at some point.
We came back from the Monaco Grand Prix, a few years back in his previous boat, a 43 Thunderhawk, in what must have been the worst storm I´ve ever seen from a boat cockpit, and stuffed the nose on every fifth wave.
We were facing into head sees . It was like slow motion each time seeing the waves roll over the front of the bow and ducking each time as it broke over the screen.
There was a 70 foot Feretti superyacht about a quarter mile behind us, and sometimes I could see his propshaft tunnels...from the front!
We had a good reason to keep going, but in retrospect all agreed that it was madness not to have turned back.
We wanted to make it back to Port Grimaud but headed for shelter in Golf Juan after about an hour of nose diving.
It took about a week to wash all the salt out of the boat, and dry it off!

We're on the main channel at the 3.5mm. Right across from "Atlantis Island". Our dock definitely gets rocked. The lake has certainly changed in the last 25 years.

WOW! :hitfan: That is some serious shat!

Keytime, I have some friends that have a place on the 3mm behind the island. If you want to try out a 33 Outlaw let me know and I can swing by when I'm over there. This weekend would even work ! :D

Eddie,

Thanks a BUNCH for the offer, but I'm stuck in Wichita doing some home remodeling this weekend. :hitfan: Yeah, I'm excited about that. lol NOT! Trying to get my head above water so next year is more open to lake time. I'll definitely keep that in mind. We're on a recessed point right next to Pumphouse Cove (don't recall the official name for it, but I better find out). Great view of the lake!

John

Come on over to the Big Pond. Loto is rough the Lake Michigan seperates the men from the boys. 25 OLs are very nice solid 25' boat. They are very driver friendly, I was impressed with the 25 I drove last time I was in the Ozarks.

LOTO will pound you like none other. At least Lake Michigan is "predictable" LOTO is like a washing machine. It will knock your dinkus in the dirt!
Now, back to the topic. I took my 226es (240es) to LOTO for the shootout a few times. I quit going in it when water broke over the nose about mid-deck at an idle.
My 29 does much better that the 226 did, but still it will getcha. The water is so unpredictable, but I think you'll be fine most weekends.
I've found that excess hp makes the ride better. I think that being able to power thru the rough stuff is a definate plus.

If you guys are talking purely chop, a 25' outlaw will eat up chop like no other. My 24' oulaw handled big weekends in havasu with out any problems ever.

It sounds like the problem with loto, as with havasu and many other narrow lakes is the wakes bouncing off shore and creating washing macine like water with side chop. This causes chine walk and now you're not just fighting the chop from straight ahead, you're fighting that side chop that hits the boat at just that right angle against the hull under you where it feels like you just hit concrete!

It's like others said. Chop isnt that big of a deal...Neather is swell. It's washing machine water that sucks! Can't read it.