Thanks Dave...flag waving can be misleading to a potential buyer. These boats cost big bucks and it's a HUGE purchase for many of us. People have a tendency to defend their purchases since they've put a ton of research and money into their selections which can be an issue if somebody is reading the posts intently while trying to decide if the boat should be a consideration.

The 2002 Heat I had built was a beautiful boat with MANY positives but ultimately not the best for my waters. We sold it and bought the PowerPlay which was a completely different animal. What a difference but that's another story....

bottom line is you have to get on some of these boats to see what works for your family, typically you will give up some comfort to get a better rough water ride with the east coast style boats with the AT being the exception. I looked at the AT, Warlock, Sunsation and Powerplay when I was in the search for a 28 and ended up with a PQ. I actually put an offer on the warlock and sunsation but it didnt work out. My favorite was the PP, but he was 5K beyond my budget, the PQ definitely wasnt in the same league as the PP quality wise but it was a much bigger and more comfortable boat, similar to the Sunsation. The PP was 8'wide but the cockpit was probably 7'w, the PQ is 8'6" wide and had a full width cockpit,

All depends on what works for your needs, if you have a family and plan on lying around on the boat, I would bet oone with a intergrated swim platform like sunsation, pq, nordic, much more comfortable than an aluminum platform

Hey whats wrong with a 29' Fountain Fever? with the stepped hull mine handles the rough stuff great. 540 700 hp. Plus its for sale for only 36k. That leaves you 14k under budget. Where would you like it delivered?

Lots of good suggestions here, bottom line you have to pick something you like and works for your style of boating.

you really need to figure what you want... a good ride in rought water or speed..A good ride is 24 degree bottom and a heavier layup.. you'll get a great predictable ride..a fast boat is shallower bottom and lighter layup..wont take the rough water as well but will be faster.. there are some boats that are a compromise..

This is a pretty fair summary. I love my PP, but the cockpit, amenities, etc aren't the best for entertaining. Next to a 28 PQ my boat looks 2 feet lower but longer (no swimstep in my 28 ft measurement). Almost sports car vs sports sedan. That makes sense though, as mine was built to be a race boat. Mine handles the rough great, haven't been on a PQ to compare directly, but there's definitely more to break on a "loaded" boat vs my stripped model.

I would do your own research based on what you really want. As UD has stated, for real rough handling a 24 degree hull is a must, so you might take people's input on boats w/ a pad bottom etc w/ a grain of salt. You give up flat out speed for some rough water comfort.

I did the exact same search as you, and ended up favoring the S. Fl boats both in style and rough water performance (Active Thunder, Pantera, Powerplay) if budget limits how new you can go.

That's a sweet boat!!

Questions that need to be asked are:

1. Warranty
2. 3 piece or 2 piece boat
3. Speed
4. Cored or not cored boat
5. Vaccum bagged?
6. Fiberglass cockpit liner?
7. Is your fuel tank aluminum , epoxied and glassed to USCG specs.
8. Stringer and transom materials?
And of course price , looks and like the original question - performance in the rough?

there has been some great info for me here to research.thank you.the reason for asking advice has proved well founded-not much mention of a few makes i thought may make an appearance-probably showing my ignorance hence asking in the first place.my op stands true apart from maybe i will look into a older twin- although fuel costs may scare me back to my original thoughts.anyone got any burn rates on a 28 with say twin 454's?the search goes on.

Great #'s!!!! Thanx, Tracy