Performance v.s Comfort
 

Has anyone or you know of anyone who has traded in the Performance Boat for a cruiser and truly regretted it?My wife is trying to brain-wash me into it.she's not buying into a Top Gun with the AC and Gen thing very well.

I did it, I bought into it... I love my 400SS, but miss performance...


My 400SS is a great boat cruises at 37MPH with all the amentities basically sucks when all your buddies are blowing by you... But when you get to the raft up or the over night spot there isnt a better boat there as your kicked back in comfort...

You basically need to figure out what is more important to you...

You could go with diesel?

I went the other way.....had cruisers for 10 years, then went to a performance boat.

Both can be alot of fun but what you do will change. I wanted to start exploring places farther away then we normally traveled and a cruise speed over double that of a cruiser was the perfect way to do that. (we do have a Honda genny and air in the 382)
If you currently make short trips to several places and are content with that then a cruiser might work for you. We have to travel large distances to get to anything "fun" and a 4 hour one way ride in a cruiser just didn't happen very often. (That same trip is now about 1:50 minutes). The cabin ammenities are awesome and I'm considering going back to something like the Formula 370SS as a good compromise. The wife fought me on buyng a performance boat and now she is "fighting" me looking at a slower boat.....apparently she really likes it huh?

keep in mind.....a BBC burns 15-20 gal/hr regardless of the hull it's in. My old cruisers burned twice the fuel getting from A to B than I do now and took twice the time to get there!!!

The Formula 400SS is a great balance between the two, particularly if you get the diesel stern drives. Although the top end goes down about 10 mph, the cruise speed goes up, and the mileage is better. The 45' and 47' Excaliburs have great layouts, but aren't available with diesels, nor are as well-built as the Formula. I have a loaded 382 Formula (genny, AC, water heater, etc.), and it has served as a great cruiser, but we have no kids....

Has she seen a late model FULL CABIN 37/38/39 foot boat with 5'6" of headroom/stand up head, with shower, hot water, vacu-flush toilet: Heat/AC, microwave, flatscreen TV/DVD, refrigerator, 6'8" V-berth, AND 17 defined storage compartments?


Do you want to show her one? I can help. :D

They may not be quite as big, but they can be as well appointed and plush. A little Tommy Bahama maybe?

I don't know why but for some reason a cruiser gives me a feeling like we are "making a day of it" - it seems like more of a production. It doesn't give it as much of a spontaneous feeling - I just don't feel like I can hop in the boat and run over 15 miles away and grab lunch and a drink and run back. I thought about buying a cruiser when I started getting serious about a boat but I just thought for the kind of boating we do - lunch stops and rafting out, that a performance boat worked better. I will admit though that on a long weekend like at BayDays It can be a bit of a pain in the asz.

I think the kind of boating you do should dictate the boat you get.

P.S. - my Cafe doesn't even have AC so tell your wife a TG with AC already sounds like a cruiser:grinser010:

My wife does not like performance boating. So I buried myself in a big Searay. Turns out, she likes boat rides and hotels. I could have stayed in 4 star hotels for the rest of my life for the depreciation on the Searay. I took the big hit and dumped it.

On performance cruisers- in my experience, they don't do anything well. Not fast enough to satisfy the needs of a speed-oriented guy and not enough room for real spouse comfort.

I have a Cig and now have a Formula 400ss w/525's so it will do right at 60mph.

Does the Formula replace the Cig? No way
Is it a good compromise? Yes

Even though the Formula is pretty quick if it is rough out you have to slow down unlike the Cig that just eats that stuff up.

I find that i use the Cig a lot less now but that is also becuase the 400 stays in the water and it is just eazier to use.
It is a lot nicer to cruise around on the 400 since it has a full bathroom / Generator plus just plain more room.


If i want to trailer somewhere then the Cig wins, the 400 is just to big. ( i have my class a so i can drive big rigs but have no desire to haul that boat around) The Cig is a pleasure to tow. ( Both boats have Myco Trailers)

I have a 46' Black Thunder. Great combo boat. Twin 525's, runs 75, seats 8 in cockpit, full cruiser ameneties down below in huge cabin. W/ 700's, they run 90 mph.