looking for advice on an offshore - first time owner
 

I have been boating for many years and now I am looking to get into an offshore. Size 35-38 and I have been looking at the 35 Fountain Lightning. I will not be buying a used boat with in a ten year range.

I would like to enter some poker runs with it as well

Please weigh in with your thoughts / advice... or any suggestions

Thanks for the help

benny what is your budget and cat or v bottom

You mean, size 32-38.

honestly though, you need to give more specifics of what you are looking for.

Would you raft up with others and hang out on it? Would you overnight on it? How many passengers do you need to carry? Are you a gear head or should you be looking for a turn key stock boat? and most importantly....BUDGET.

Then there's also the old saying...

Pick two of the three: Fast, reliable, cheap

38 cig

Huh??

Where do you boat, and what kind of waters do you run?

ok ok,

I am looking for a used 35 foot (in that range)
I will hook up with others, I will run poker runs, I will stay over night on it
How many people - 4-6 would be nice
price range 80,000
fast and reliable
I am some what of a gear head
I run the great lakes at the moment

Thanks for the help again

There is a very nice 35' fountain w/trailer for 75,000. It is on www.lakeozarkboatrealty.com . The guy that owns it, is very particular with his stuff.

Do you have a link - I found a 32 for 75K but not a 35
better yet if you know the guy send me his info

80k puts you in Cigarette Top Gun territory. End of Discussion.....

One of his requirements was "fast" ...that rules out a TopGun, End of Discussion...

:lolhit:

active thunder
pantera

Especially when compared to a 35 Fountain. :rolleyes:

you know of an AT between 35-38 for $80?

keep it coming
 

so a Fountain 35 will out preform a cigarette top gun

active thunder pantera seems to be out of my price range (why would this be better than a fountain?)

Can anyone tell me when step hauls came in to play?

in addition to the fountain, i'd look at sonic's. they have a big cabin for overnighting.

Also, formula, hustler, and scarabs.

Each boat shines at different things, If your not going out in the rough then the fountain will probably be faster, If you go out in the rough a 38 cig is hard to beat. If you want roomy the cig wins again.... Find some boats you'd consider buying and have the owner/Dealer take you out fo a while, any doubt, rule it out.... :)

Yes; er-- at least pretty close. This boat will sell for less than $90K. I've known the boat since new. It's in fantastic shape with no history or issues. It was originally commissioned for a (Skater) racer who thought about going F2. Hence it is light and fast; but it has full amenities including AC & Generator since it was his pleasure boat. He later sold it to his employee who still owns it. Both of them are OSO members. It's whole life was in VA except for the last 18 months or so; when the owners moved to FL to start a new business. It's probably been dunked in the salt only 10 times.

do you know how I could get in touch / see some pics?

Depends on what you mean by "Outperform"....Is it faster in smooth water ? Yes...Is it a better ride in the rough? No...Is it as well built? No..Does it have the same room ? No..Is it as "dry" a ride ? No

what are you guys considering rough water?

how big are the waves?

dry ride?
are the top guns wider?
do they have step hauls?

Thanks

You wont get into a stepped T/G for 80k...They are 8' beam
You said you boat on the great lakes...Rivers and smaller lakes the Fountains run past me...On Erie...Not often...
The 42 Fountains seem to do real well Though
T/Gs have alot of Freeboard..Makes for a nice dry ride

so why do you say that they have more room if the beams are both 8'?
Do you know what year the step haul came out?
42 is to big for me for now

The 38 Top Gun is approx 5' longer than a 35 Fountain due to Fountain measuring the molded in swim platform. Top Gun is roomier (longer) in the cockpit, cabin, and engine compartment. Stepped hulls started in 1995 on the Fountain and 2000 on the Cigarette. For 80K you're probably going to have to go older than 10 years old on a Top Gun.

good information - thanks
so if I was running in a 3-4 foot chop what do you think a TG would run in MPHs - will I reach the 80's?
So in your opinion this is an all around good boat... run fast, go swimming and even stay over night once in a while and of course some poker runs.
Do they come with Gen and A/C?

Speed will depend on power. Some straight bottom Top Guns won't break 70, some run 100+. 80 will take decent power, probably at least 650 HP per side if not more. I've never seen a Top Gun from the 90s with a generator and AC. More of a hard core offshore performance boat.

I hope you don't take this the wrong way buy you need to spend some time reading the boards, looking at classifieds, visiting dealers in your area, etc to decide what you want. Being a first time buyer, 80K budget, wanting to overnight, etc. I think I would stick with smaller, newer boats. Something like a 34 Powerquest, 31 or 35 Formula, 29 - 36 Bajas, 31 or 35 Sonics, etc. These all have nice cabins and most will run 70+ with stock merc power. You won't be running at the front of the pack in the poker runs but you also won't get burried under a ton of maintenance/rebuild costs. JMO.

3-4 foot chop in a TG will take 650/side on a flat bottom TG to run around 80.

Not many will have Gen and A/C. When i was shopping I was looking for A/C, but didn't end up getting it. Truthfully, I thought I would install it down the road, but never did and don't plan too - my wife and I stay on the boat at LEAST a dozen nights a summer and are never uncomfortable.

Jmeng Above makes GOOD points. Get some research under your belt on this board and others....

no offense taking at all. I am not rushing this.
I want to stay away from bouncing to much on a smaller boat. I don't expect to run at the front with the big dogs at the poker runs... I will look at some powerquests, fomulas and sonics, not a big fan of the baja's

Definitely don't want to get buried in maintenance/rebuild costs... nothing worse than a boat in the shop during the summer

I forgot to attach the link! Sorry.

http://www.offshoreonly.com/classifi...o23739-en.html

A production boat like a Fountain, Formula or Donzi with stock power are a good start IMHO. There's a lot of them out there and easy to sell if you're not happy. The price is reasonable and they run well with small power.

Once you have some time under your belt you'll probably want to move up or out into more of a custom built boat.

I'd take a hard look at this boat if you can get it under 90k. It does a lot of things well.

If you are going to spend any time onboard, you want a good head with a door, unless you don't want to ever take women along. Some heads are so small they are really just storage compartments. If you are going to do any horizontal dancing, a head under the V-berth is a real bad idea. I suggest a vacuflush head as an absolute requirement.

Staggered engines. Side-by-side is a bad idea if you intend to buy used.

Also, if you are buying used, carbs are way better than EFI. The opposite is true if you buy new and turn the boat within a few years. EFI leads to impossible to trace weird bugs. Carbs are very easy to diagnose, cheap to fix and maintain, and work GREAT on boats.

Stepped hulls are quite a bit more fuel efficient (about 20%) and faster. But poorly designed stepped hulls work poorly: they may lack directional stability, they may porpoise. Fountains work well because they constantly improve the hulls. Most builders change their molds very, very rarely, and the chance of getting steps right the first time is quite low: hence the multitude of horror stories of ill mannered step hulled boats.

Make sure the structure will hold up. Few boats are built as well as Cigs or Fountains. Take the boat apart as much as you can, and look at deck joints, bulkheads, stringers, how things are mounted, everything.

Finally, always consider a longer boat. Its really no harder to tow a long boat than a short one. A 42 may be no more complicated, and therefore no more expensive to own, than a twin 28. A longer boat is much smoother, carries load better, provides more room to work on the engines and systems, and more room to play.

Good advice.

I dunno, it may cost the same to own it but it costs more to operate a 42' over a 28' in my opinion. I love my Apache and would never go backwards but I miss my Scarab Panther. ;)

How about a Donzi 33zx or a 35zr. The zr would have to have 496s do get it close to your budget.

Why is that?

If anything goes wrong with the engines it is a pain in the ass to fix in a non-staggered boat. Sometimes you even have to take out one of the engines so you can fix the other one.

Just buy the 37AT and be done.....You will be satisfied for a number of yrs to come. Also, it will probably be worth more in a few years.....if you decide to make a change. The boat will do almost everything a first time "go-fast" owner could want. You may want more speed, but the ride & comfort will make up for it....rarely will you need to go 80+. However, the ability to go 55-70mph in 3-4's and enjoy it is paramount!