fctyson0

hello all i would first like to tell you this is my first post here.been viewing oso for some time and finaly joined.anyway hears what my question is.i have been looking for an older used performance boat.(sunsation,power quest,baja,formula,donzi,etc)anyway my budgetwas set at about 30k.i have been searching for about 6 months and not realy finding anything that caught my eye in that price range so i started looking at some rinkers and found a 2002 captiva 272 with 496 ho ,b3 with 209 hours.i like the boat but i have a feeling its going to be a slow boat and use alot more fuel them the performance boats i was looking at.i do most of my boating on a good size lake in northern n.y.(2-5 footers depending on the day.)so what opinions do you guys have on the captiva 272?and what do you think top speed will be?
last i was thinking maybe hold out for a performance boat in the mid 35k range?

thanks for all your help
frank

Too Stroked

Well, I'll take a crack at this one for you. (BTW, welcome to OSO.) I think you'll pretty quickly find that a Rinker just isn't a high performance boat. With a 496 in it, I doubt you'll get more than low 60's (true speed) out of it.

The big difference between a production boat with a high performance motor in it and a true high performance boat will be the hull design and construction. Lots of production manufacturers have built "performance" boats over the years. Sea Ray had the Pachange series. Celebrity had their Firestar series and I could go on and on. Most of them simply beat themselves to pieces.

If you really want to go fast, you really want to buy something built to go fast. You mentioned some decent high performance manufacturers, but even within them, there are good and bad models. And even in the good models, if the previous owner has abused it, you're in for a real dissapointment.

Can you find something in your price range? I'd say yes, but it's going to take some time and effort. I'd suggest finding somebody in your area who knows their stuff, and have them help you.

Snoworks

You will not even get close to the 60's. I have a 7.4 24 foot captiva and it does about 55mph. Not the best rough water boat around. Its good for taking the kids for a spin, towing the kids and or sitting at a sand bar.

fctyson0

i forgot to mention that the rinker has a steped haul.also im not looking for a 70mph boat but i would like to know about how much slower the rinker will be over a baja 272 or something in that size?

Catmando

Here's a Baja. Seller doesn't say how fast but with over 700hp it will run at least 70 I would think;

http://www.offshoreonly.com/classifi...o35270-en.html

suntimes

The Rinker is a somewhat sporty family boat but definitely not a sport boat. It is not built for rough water like a sport boat. Powerboat did a test on a 99 272 with 7.4mpi 310hp and it went 49mph. I had a 232 Rinker with a 454MagMPI that went 60 out of the box. A nice sporty family boat--but not a sport boat. You will need the tougher design of a sport boat, preferably with stand-up front bolsters, to take on 3-5 foot waves. Your price range looks doable in this poor economy. There are some Velocity 26 and 280s near your range and they have a good family-friendly design--they are also fast. Keep looking and you will find a nice sport boat you like!

fastoys

a formula 272 is a stronger boat. look for more quality.

bob_t

I bought a brand new 2000 232 Rinker Captiva in 2000. In my opinion, and this is only MY opinion, that boat was a disappointment, bordering on what I would declare a POS. While wiping it down on 3rd or 4th time out on the local lake, the boat was covered with spider cracks. I immediately brought this to Rinker's attention and they said "read your warranty", cosmetic spider cracks were not a warranty type defect. It scared me to walk on the fwd deck of the boat because of the amount of flex it had. It had a 300 hp 5.7L in it and topped out at 53 mph (on Garmin e-trex gps), so I doubt it was "stressed" too hard. Also, when "flying" down the lake, various accessories would randomly "fly" off the boat, too, such as rear seat cushions and various trim pieces. I'm not sure that the 272 and 232 are apples to apples comparisons, but I was thoroughly disappointed with my "new" boat. I also believe that the Rinkers' are chopped fiber boats, but cannot say that for certain. The boat could have been a decent "family" boat for just cruising/tubing/skiing, or rafting up with other families for a day, but that's about it. It had a lot of nice creature features, but not much attention to detail. If you don't set your expectations too high, you might be satisfied. Definitely not a "sport" boat and not even remotely close to what I would call a true "sport boat". Again, like I said in my 2nd sentence, this is nothing more than MY opinion, based on MY experience with MY brand new 232 Captiva, which I promptly sold in less than 6 months of ownership.

Dave M

Be patient and keep looking. Usually around Feb-Mar a lot more boats will come on the market.

GoFastScott

Had a 1995 21' Captiva w a 350 mag, ran 60 pretty much right out of the box after switching to a ss prop. Never had any problems with the boat, ran it hard in some bigger stuff and came away impressed. As others have said, it is not a high performance offshore boat, but what I would call a family sport boat. I used it to haul around 3-4 friends from one party to another. If you are consistently going to be in 3-5 footers I would try to get something a little bigger and heavier, but for the
$16k I spent on mine new, I beat the hell out of it for 5 yrs and felt I got great value from it without sticking a dime into it except maintenence.