Hi everybody!
Writing from europe, and asking advice from the country of powerboats

Next i'm going to ask a lot of questions, so if you people would be so kind and take your time to read what i have to say, and then come with your views in the matters at hand.

So in the not so distant future i thought of coming over and look for a used 90's powerboat to ship home. And what i had in mind is something in the 30-38ft class with the following criteria:
1) enclosed head, vacu-flush possibly. (Let's face it, not much idea sitting with friends at the marina in the evening sipping beer, and then asking everybody to get out when someone needs to use the porta-potti...)
2) Sturdy hull with offshore capability.
3) Possibly stepped hull.
4) my Budget max 60-70k dollars.

And following a little background about why i've come up with these criteria:
I am from Finland and have some of my business there, and i've lately moved to the island of Saaremaa in the country of Estonia. So then i came up with the idea of buying my dream since childhood -a POWERBOAT!- for travelling between my ex-hometown Hanko, Finland and the harbour of Kuivastu, Estonia, in the summertime. Doing this trip with a powerboat cruising around 40-45 knots would dramatically reduce my travel-time compared to travel by car (Hanko-Helsinki, ferry to Tallinn, then by car to Virtsu, again ferry over to Kuivastu and finally a 45min drive home), which would take almost an entire day! I still have real estate in Hanko plus our family's old pier, so having a start-ready powerboat there would be great.
-The trip over to Kuivastu is about 90miles, with a 50mile open-sea leg, so this is why i'd need a boat with offshore capability. Think of it as boating between Muskegon and Milwaukee over Lake Michigan.

So here, next an IMPORTANT QUESTION:
-------What boat would you recommend from the 90's, with good hull quality and a good rough water ride? Brand, Length, year etc.? Good windshield/screen??? (i hear Formulas are good, so that's why i've posted here, but feel free to comment other brands as well)

And then, next topic. Because of the mentioned 90-mile distance to travel and not going bankcrupt with gas-guzzling big blocks, i will be swapping for diesels. And what i've had in mind is the 6.6L duramax. In sweden there is a company building hummer duramax's for marine use both civil and professional, up to 500hp+. Please check this out:
http://www.marinedieselengineering.com/md/
And why this engine and not some CMD or Yanmar? Well, because of the cool v8-sound Of course a powerboat must have V8's!
So these engines have succesfully been installed in powerboats to replace gasolene-engines, directly to the same mounts.
This is why i have a budget, because i'll have to get the engines. So primarily i'd be looking for a bargain boat without engines (REPO maybe?)

The next IMPORTANT QUESTION:
-------Do you have any experience in having a stepped hull consuming less fuel compared to a traditional hull?
And if this would be true, what were the first boats in the 90's with stepped hulls?
I guess Formula started making Fastech in -97, but others, earlier?
-And how much difference would there be consumption-wise between a 336 sr1 or an 382 fastech???

Actually i wouldn't mind if you ignore telling me about Fountains, because their length istn't true because of that "beak" -type bow, making their hulls actually shorter than what they sell them as. And i don't like the Fountain style of placing gauges. Since i never take chances when i'm out boating, i always like to have a clear view of the gauges when i take a glance at them once in a while. They cannot be hidden low behind the steering wheel. And yet another thing, i don't like the looks of mr.Fountain. He looks like somebody i wouldn't buy a used car from.

And then again you don't have to comment so much about what boat would be best for top-speed, since i haven't yet decided how much horsepower i'll put in. Besides, a fuel-efficient hull is also easier to get to be a fast one. And ofcourse it's nice if it would run 65 knots instead of 55, but right now that's irrelevant for me.

So i thank you for your time and hope you have good advices to tell me from your experience in such boats.

Hi welcome,First off we would rather you insulted our President than Mr Fountain.

But back to your questions the smallest Formula Fastech the has an enclosed head is the 353.They can be had in your price range but they will be older.If you are stuck on diesels I would suggest you try to sell the gas motors before its shipped unless there is a market for them there.A stepped hull will be more efficient.And get a survey some of the older Formula's had transom issues.You are going to be better off with a dealer if you are unsure about their reputation ask here.

Good luck

I have had everything from a 18' to 38'. I will say for fuel economy I haven't noticed much difference between a 31' and 38'. For peace of mind I would go with the 38'. I have to say, the 6.6 duramax is a cool idea. Please keep us posted on what you buy and the repower.

Oh yeah, Welcome.

thank you!

Ok, point taken about your president. After all, mr. Fountain is an icon in this industry, no question about it.

But thanx for the advice. The 353 is one i've been drooling for... The pier we have is a little limited, so a 38ft would be on the maximum in what we could accommodate, especially, if i were to later invest in a float-dock or lift. Also my dad and i have our 20ft fishing boat there, too.
And about the engines, i think you're right that i'd be better dismantling them and selling in the states. Not much of a market here...
About the transom-issues, do you mean early Fastechs or older no-step hulls??? -Ofcourse wouldn't be a problem to reinforce it while the engines are away.
Those duramaxes have a lot of torque, so reinforcing the transom would be a wise decision i guess.

The transom issue is more on the older non step hulls,while it could happen on the newer ones I have never heard of it.Get a complete hull survey on anything you buy you don't care about the engines but you do want a solid hull.

While its not what you asked you might want to talk to Pepe or Joe at Pantera.They could build you a new 36 hull only then put your engines in.

Hi

Adding 500 HP Duramax Diesels from www.marinediesel.nu including drives that can stand the 1200 NM + torque will already exceed your budget without boat

Its a great package, I drove a boat with twin 300 `s

the biggest advantage to all other diesels is that these engines sound 80 % like gas V 8 `s

You will find a few used Formula 336 SR 1 in Europe with twin Volvo Diesels
Formula built a 10 unit series for the former German Formula Dealer in 1992-1993 , also a few 271 SR1 with single Diesel

All boats came with enlarged engine room to fit the 6 cylinder Diesel

I saw a 336 Diesel on a Poker Run in 2006 , its not the fastest one, but very good on fuel , and the owner drove 400 miles from Berlin on own keel thru low speed channels with very low fuel consumption to join the Run

here is some info on the 336

http://www.marinemaint.com/repowerli...%2042%20DP.pdf

and here is a 271 diesel for sale

http://www2.best-boats24.net/de/boot...319&oa-mask=69

A couple of thoughts

Welcome

The holding tank on a 382 is only 6 gallons. A bunch of friends sipping beer will fill it pretty fast

You can by a lot of gas, even at European prices, for the cost of a pair of diesels. Crunch the numbers. Figure about 1 MPG for a 382 cruising at 40 MPH. A diesel is maybe 1 1/3 MPG? Make sure its worth it.

My 1999 has had the transom redone so stepped hulls are not immune.

Steps are supposedly about 6 - 7 % more efficient than non stepped hulls. I think that came from Boating Magazine.

I have never driven a 353. They say it's a better handling boat than a 382 but I love my 382.

The asking price of used boats is all over the place. I didn't see much difference between 35's and 38's so I went big.

I trailer mine. Probably not the smartest thing to do. It saves money and it's always home

Hi!
And vielen dank for the info.
My budget was for the boat without engine swap, so the engines will have to come on top of the boats price. There seem to be some REPO boats in the U.S. every once in a while, with the engines and drives dismantled. That would be what i'm looking for.

Interesting about the fact of Formula making SR's with diesels for european market. I've read about it but never came across one. A few years back, if i remember correctly, a finnish importer of Formulas was offering diesel models (fastec's), but lately they've only been offered with gas-engines.
I have come across older SR's in finland with swapped volvo penta diesels, but they've been quite poor in horsepower (only 4 cylinders -200hp). Like you said, installing an inline-6 turbodiesel requires a longer engine room.

Thanks!

Only 6gal, eh? Ok that was smaller than i thought...
Well, only some drinks then and off to the marina's bar

You're right on that one, only swapping into brand new diesels for saving in fuel spendings istn't worth it. But i think of it more of the future in powerboating. In europe gas prices aren't getting any cheaper. And our options at the gas-station just got worse after new-year. The cheapest we have in Finland now is 95 octane with 10% alcohol (because of global warming u see), and the other option being 98 octane without alcohol (or max 5%). These are premium so it istn't cheap, and the 95E10 will be around 5% less efficient which means more consuming than the non-alcohol 95 of last year Don't we just love our governments...
But i also expect there will be a better market for a high power diesel boat in the future, compared to one with big blocks. If I intend to sell it some day, but actually I will keep it for years.

Ok, so about the transom, i will definitely have it checked and reinforced.

Thanks for the info!