Best 31-33?
 

Looking for some input, looking to buy a boat in the 31-33' range. I like the 31 Formula, 33 Scarab AVS, 33ZX Donzi, and 32 Sunsation Dominator. Anyone with any experience with these boats have any opinions? Looking at 96 or newer, want something with a fair amount of room up front, good quality, good speed. any other boats to look at as well?

List your criteria in order of importance. Also, where do you boat and in what conditions?

If you want all out speed, go with the Sunsation. If you want rough water handling, consider the Sonic 31SS.

I live in michigan, so i want to be able to handle great lakes chop, but also be running on inland lakes. I want enough room to overnight or travel a little, a looked at the sunsation and the headroom is a little low for me. also didnt have much cockpit room. i dont need flat out speed but i want a good fast economical cruise.(relatively) like the look of the sunsation though, nice quality. formulas are nice but most of their paint/graphics are not for me, also a little slow compared to the others. havent looked at a sonic.

Sonic 31SS :)

32 Active Thunder is nice as is the Donzi and Scarab

33 Outlaw with HO's or better. Great cabin room, great speed with said power, HUGE cockpit of rhte girls to dance.

here is a true 33' boat..I had a 37..very good quality..excellent price..I believe a new one was listed some place with 496's HO's for 149k..Good Luck..Jeff

http://www.activethunderboats.com/home.html

I had a buddy with a late 90's 31 Sonic. In addition to the v-berth, it had a pull out section that turned the entire cabin in to a large bed area. It was the most awesome overnighter in that foot range I ever saw. Great in rough bay waters down here too. For economical purchasing, the 33 Baja is a good boat too. Sunsation is fast but light.

nothing against baja's but they are everywhere here, dont want the same boat as everyone else. the graphics on the newer ones are pretty cool though. plus, it seems like they need a lot of power to make any speed, unless they have changed thier hull design in the last few years, but im not looking to buy a new boat, just a solid used, 97-04? depending on price

I have a Sonic 31ss and the cabin area is very roomy.... like thlwl said the pull out section is very nice. I have a/c and a small fridge and makes overnighting very comfortable.

The boat handles the rough stuff very well. I think the A/T would be the fastest hull, but I am partial to the Sonics myself. The build quality is excellent and it is a very stable and rigid boat.

How about Laveycraft 32' NuEra.
Its an excelent rough water boat and handles very well.

Of the 4 that were listed, I'd probably pick
33 Scarab AVS.

I've seen a few of them with decent power
that really haul a$$.

33 AVS Scarab is a heck of boat, runs nice without alot of power. I really like my Sunsation does what I need it to do well! Customer service is the best in the biz! If I were shopping 30-33.

1. Sunsation 32 SS
2. Active Thunder 32
3. Scarab 33 AVS

Consider a 33 Ocean Express catamaran, there is a member on here with one for sale....$60K. Bigger boat than all listed, cabin actually has a bed, no v-berth. No idea about build quality

I'll run a 33' PowerPlay in the rough with any boat listed so far.

Well, I am a little biased, and have a Sunsation 32 Dominator SS. The SS hull is the key. It gives about 6-8 inches more of freeboard. However, they weren't built until, I believe, 2006, so not sure what your price range is, but that might be a factor.

Wow, 2-pages deep and the the Fountain faithful haven't taken over yet!!!!!!! :lolhit:

I'm with him.:drink:

We have a winner!!!!

How much do want to spend? Opinions are like *******s everyone has one. Some of these questions never get answered correctly,it's all peoples personal preferences.

i know everyone likes something different, just looking for people that have run these boats or something similar they recommend. u dont really know all the quirks of a boat till u own it and run it a while, so what are your likes/dislikes? i was also wondering about the fountain faithful, great hulls, speed, handeling, just not my cup of tea style wise. anyway any help is appreciated. oh and my budget is no more than 70k. i have a wife and kids so im trying like hell to avoid a cruiser!

also like the 31 cigarette bullet but i think it would take big power and lots of gas money to make it do what i want, the mystique is sweet too but out of my price range

The 33 AVs's run and handle great. Mine runs 92 on 10 yr old bone stock power. They can be had with porcelain pump out head, fresh water sink and transom shower along with shorepower. The cabin is pretty roomy, a little short on headroom ( I am 6'). All that makes them pretty friendly for overnighting as well as stomping on some Powerplays:drink:

Just as well....it would take too long to explain why a 35' Fountain is the same as most 31-33' sport boats. :drink:

If you have time too be patient, you could get a mystique for that kind of money I'd think. That would be a great choice.

A bullet will be the things you said, but a real wavecrusher. If you're borrowing though, something that age can be tough.

What he said ! !

If I was purchasing right now this would be my want list:
30 Cigarette Mystique or Vice (if you can find one)
33 Powerplay and 32 Active Thunder
31 Sonic SS
33 Scarab AVS

Now with the prices of the Sonics a little more in my range so in reality that would be my first choice.

Powerplay...........................

I have a '96 Hustler 32' Sport for sale. Listed on boattrader.com
I run the boat on Lake Ontario, so it'll certainly handle the water you will run in. Great ride, proven hull design with excellent handling. Nice room in cabin for overnighting, and deep cockpit. This boat is the nicest pure 32' on the market. This boat will look like a battleship next to a 29' Fountain.

ive never seen a mystique in person but they look awesome, anyone been on one?

For that money, my search would start and stop at Sean's Cafe, if he still has it. Heritage, ride, and fresh fuel-injected power. It might be a touch slower than some of the others, but with a Cigarette you won't have to slow down much.

Thread

http://i369.photobucket.com/albums/o...g?t=1247712406

OMG the red one in Powerboat was absolutely STUNNING! Using the Viper deck design was a stroke of genius. Ran like a raped ape too.

That's a boat anyone would be proud to own. Old school cool baby!

I have what is equal to a 33' AVS minus the steps. Great boat, handles the rough great. Pretty roomy. My only complaint is I wish the placed the rear seat a couple inches forward more and given a couple more inches to the engine compartment.

nice boat, any contact info or price?

Take a look at the thread I linked, the boat belongs to OSO member "Sean" - I believe he was asking 60 or 65 at one point. New 496/bravo power, it was originally a TRS boat. Sean has a reputation of being somewhat, um, fastidious about his boats. He previously had a 28 Cig that was completely redone with 350 Mags - it was stunning and I lusted after it for years but the timing was never right.

One of the reasons I got my 32 Active Thunder was for the high freeboard in te cockpit. It feels like a much bigger boat and is great for the kids. Probably one of the best rough water boats in its size range.

view from a Donzi 33 ZX Daytona owner.............
 

I guess I'll throw in my 2 cents....

I own a 2003 Donzi 33 ZX Daytona and love the boat. It is a big heavy wave-crusher with a very wide beam for this type of boat. Workmanship and build quality have been top notch. This is my second ZX series from Donzi (my first a, 26, is listed for sale here on OSO).

The 33 has plenty of room with great accommodations from a built in fridge to a vacuflush head. I've added a 12V Marine Air DC Cuddy system for my young daughter. Exterior and interior fit and finish are very good.

Stepped hull is very stable and tracks well. I boat on lakes, so I can't speak to the ocean ride, but it handles large cruiser waves very well. It performs very well, running just below 90 on GPS with stock 575's. Probably 2-3 mph below a comparably powered Fountain 35 or a Donzi 35 ZR, simply because the 33ZX is more boat with a much wider beam.

I'm sure the other boats you listed have some happy owners as well, but I didn't see any Donzi owners speak up, so here you go :)

Im sorry but which red one are you talking about?

Where do you live and Where do you go boating?

Then Id ask what do you personally seem to gravitate toward..
Do you like East coast stuff or West Coast stuff?

typically East coast stuff -

Has a bolted on swimstep
Has paint Vs Gelcoat
has slightly more factory look /ie see yourself more often

Typically West Coast stuff

Has a molded in swimstep
Has graphics in the gelcoat
are usually a bit more custom some awesome some terrible.

pluses and minuses to everything.
These arent hard and fast but typical.

LOTS of great stuff out there either way.

UD

for rough water a sutphen 31/32/33/34/35 depends on year hull was built, would work great in rough water 26degree hull. and the AT 32/33 would also be nice boat to have. theres a single 32 sutphen 800hp speeds of 80 plus for sale for 62,000.00 in mass. its a low hour 05. also sutphen boats has a red hull that needs to be finished with twins. richie said with smblock mercs 80, mph I talked to him last week.

I just finished the thread the 05 sutphen falls in your price. there might be a AT 32 also.