Time for a new boat (new to me)
 

Its that time.. Ive had my Baja 240 Sport for almost 10 years now and Im ready to step up. Looking for something in the 30 to 38 foot range depending on year, price and weight. My self imposed budget has a 80k limit. I live in Pittsburgh and get 5 good months a year to boat so I cant justify spending too much. I do plan on towing it to some poker runs in the future though.

My criteria; comfortable room with overnight amenities. Looking to be able to have some high speed passes but majority of the time I'll be cruising at a slower speed anyways. Definately want a boat with twin power. I like the piece of mind about having the additional motor if I take it offshore or on a large open lake. Dependability. Not looking to get into a boat with blowers. I like having turn key dependability.

My list so far...

Baja 36 and 33 Outlaws, Fountain 35, Wellcraft/Scarab 33, Active Thunder 32 or 37, Sonic 31SS...

I do love the lines on the Cigarette 35 Cafe and 38 Top gun but the prices tend to be too high for what Im looking for or it puts me into a boat that is older than I want to go. I want to stay with a late 90's boat at the oldest.

Also, along the lines of reliability. Whats the issues of getting a boat with Merc blue motors?? I see alot of ads with 500's or 525s that state they have had rebuilds. How often to you have to rebuild them and what does that entail?? Its been nice that I have never needed to pull the motor from my boat and rebuild it. And it has over 600 hours on it. I have had to replace alot of accesory parts but nothing internal.

Any thoughts or recommendations would be greatly appreciated. I am heading down to Miami for the show and plan on looking at some used boats in the area to try to narrow down my list. I also plan on headin to Shogren's at some point to do the same.

So what's your thoughts?

32 Sunsation with 496's. Good enough for overnighting and good in rough water.

U may consider a Formula 353! saw a couple in the classifieds not super far from your # on paper, but less w/ your offer!! had 1, good overnight capabilities & amenities!! good luck!!!:coolcowboy:

Ive looked at the Formula Fastechs and Ive never been a big fan of the style. I know they are a great boat for build quality. I just prefer more of the offshore racer look with fiberglass fairings and such. I have seen a couple sunsations and even a nordic that I've liked. They just are not that common.

The 35Lightning is a somewhat smaller boat than the others you listed. If you want a 38' Fountain, it's a 42 you want. For comfort and offshore capabillity, something like these.

http://www.offshoreonly.com/classifi...o42509-en.html
http://www.offshoreonly.com/classifi...o43220-en.html
http://www.offshoreonly.com/classifi...o28191-en.html
http://www.offshoreonly.com/classifi...o42946-en.html
http://www.offshoreonly.com/classifi...o36455-en.html
http://www.offshoreonly.com/classifi...o36108-en.html

It's all a question about personal preference.

If your happy with Baja get a 36 outlaw.

Tons of room,,,,great rough water boat,,,,, just not as fast as others.

You'll be VERY surprised to find out how much boat 80K will get these days! ;):drink:

You might just get some money left over :)

if u can find one for that price; the 32 active thunder is in a different league then the other boats u mentioned. their rigging is up there with the best of them unless you are talking unlimited budgets. 500 hp's with carbs have gone hundreds of hours in race boats all at WOT. the AT's are great to work on in the engine room as some of the best.

i still dig the 32 AT and i've raced, owned, and rigged some of the fastest boats on the planet.

If you can swing it for all around everything buy a Sonic 358 Dialog with 525's or bigger. The 32 AT is a great choice and runs good also. The 33 Powerplay is as good and will out run the AT but the cabin isn't as plush.

You should be able to get a late 90's 38 top gun and fill it with fuel for 80k

that's almost a silly statement. maybe in the 90's...not in this era. while my 32 AT didn't have much of a cabin it ran 91 in kilo form. 89 all day and 71 at 4000rpms everyday...it was the best running F2 stye setup "pleasure" boat i've run.

I wish we still made the 32AT. I think Joe's old boat can be bought as well. Rssteiny here on OSO owns it.

For room nix the Fountians, you may want to try and look at the DONZI ZX33 and ZX38, they are slower but well built "production" boats and wide.
Best thing is look at as many as you can, even if thy are a little out of your range to figure out what will work for you.

i didn't know that...i may have to buy it back....lol...like i need another project! the only reason i sold it was i couldn't take working on race boats all the time and then having to work on that thing all the time too! besides donzi didn't want me in it and i couldn't park it anywhere near the race boat so....so i was get n a CC from em with some egg beaters on it!

u don't sell the 32 anymore?

If you plan to visit Shogrens, also vist Grand Sport Center too. They consign "go fast" boats as well. www.grandsportcenter.com I have bought three boats from them and had no problems

Nomo32. All odd numbers now, 29, 33, and 37. We've been playing with eggbeaters too.

is there at much head room in a 33 as there was in the 32?

Hey Jason - Id be happy to give you a second opinion on anything you look at :D Good luck! Hope you find something great :coolcowboy:

Yes, but we can take that disuccsion off this thread to keep it on track for Jason.

I appreciate all the input guys. I have also looked at pics of the 33 and 38 Donzi zx. I kinda break some of the boats down like this..

33 and 36 outlaws have good room as to the 33 and 38 Donzi zx.. You just sacrifice some speed for the room and comfort.

The Fountains are fast but a lil more compact. Definately performance then luxury but I do like their layout. Also, Im aware of the beak issue.. lol. I know you have to step up in size for a comparable boat. As you do with any boat that has an integrated swim platform.

I do plan on looking at the ones at Grand Sport as well. I think I have all the major dealers listed on my favorites list. :)

the Active Thunder and Donzi zr series are kinda a combination of speed and luxury but the Donzi 35 and 38 zr are out of my price range..

cool....just curious.
but if rick is selling my old boat he live's in the same state i think....have em go look at a cool boat with a $hit ton of gauges!

I bet you could get into a nice, mid to late 90's, non-blower powered Cigarette Top Gun for $80K. We absolutely love ours and it is a re-rigged 1995. As previously mentioned try Shogren Performance Marine and also make sure to give Brett Manire a call with Performance Boat Brokerage at Lake of the Ozarks as he may likely have something formally or informally listed that might spark your interest and fit your needs. I think PBB has some good stuff listed in your range right now. Good luck and have fun shopping!

That 38 Nor-Tech is a lot of boat for the money, seems like a good deal. You have to watch financing and insurance on boats over 10 years old.

As for the Donzis, my friend had a 33zx and that boat was awesome. It rides like a much bigger boat and had a ton of space for a 33. It was pretty fast for its size too. This one would move nice with 525s:

http://www.offshoreonly.com/classifi...o41271-en.html

This looks like a good deal on a Cigarette, don't know anything about it:

http://www.offshoreonly.com/classifi...o41271-en.html

All the Sonics have the integrated swim platform. Great boats especially for rough water. Great ammenities and great head room. I like the integrated swim platform.

They may not be as fast as similar boats the same size with the same power. Your choice- comfort or speed, all depends on what type boating you do.

We do alot of overnighting, so the Sonic fits our needs perfectly. Someone is always faster no matter what you have- size or power wise.

There are some good prices on many boats out there right now. My advice- go as big as possible, that you can afford- fuel wise, tow/storage wise, your ability to pay costs for repairs when they come. And for the comfort and ride quality your looking for.

+ 1

If you are financing talk to your bank first.

Banks are still doing boat loans, but have limitations in place that were not there 10 years ago. It may be a factor in your decision.

my 1st wife really wanted a sonic for the looks and amenities. a few of our friends had them. the hustlers (not the slingshots) were also on her list for head room amenities. i like running in big water and all those amenities are just things that are going to get ripped out and destroyed.
that nor tech looks like a good deal...i just can't get over how much boats have depreciated over the past 7 years! you can get a ton of boat right now for the money!

Performance Boat Brokerage is another site I troll alot looking at boats. They have had some nice deals go through there.

I plan on speaking with my bank, credit union and then contact a couple loan companies that I've seen on here. I figure I can take advantage when Im in Miami for the show and speak with a couple in person. I know the financing has definately changed from a few years back.

If only money wasnt an issue, I'd buy a Nortech 36 Cat with turbines.. :)

36 is too small for turbines! :)

i know a lot has changed with loans and even more so with the insurance on them....never had either....but i would think the difference between a big sonic with 502 mpi's vs small fountain with 525's would they not be a huge difference to insure???...

The insurance would definately be higher on a faster or more expensive boat. I'm sure I will be shopping around on insurance once I narrow down my choices to try to get the best deal overall

Reeeealy?:lolhit:

I'm not sure from your post about just what was more important. Spaciousness and headroom for overnighting with amenities such as 6' headroom, galley, walk in head, gen-set, ac, etc or the abilty to pound out some fast passes at speed.
My search criteria was weekending comfortably and reasonably high speeds.
I came up with the Baja 38 special, Fountain 38 sport cruiser, and the Sonic 38 to fit my needs and started searching.
I'm like the fastest boat in the cruiser crowd and the slowest boat in the go fast crowd.
Kind of a jack of all trades but master of none.
I'm probably the only member who'll drop these selections.
None of them are really pretty looking boats because of the high deck to generate headroom in the salon but I found lots of them to choose from that were affordable.

Good luck with your search, there are some great boats in your allowance.

Here's alink to a boat that would meet all my needs if I had your allowance, I found it in 2 minutes after posting.
http://www.powerboatlistings.com/pow.../9026/main.jpg
http://www.powerboatlistings.com/pow...3-2010_029.jpg
http://www.powerboatlistings.com/pow...3-2010_026.jpg
http://www.powerboatlistings.com/pow...3-2010_027.jpg

See ya,
Kelly

Im kinda looking for the same mix of comfort but enough speed to enjoy some high speed runs. Most of my boating is done here on the rivers in Pittsburgh so I dont have a large area to really open the boat up. We do alot of raft offs and tie offs. So I definately want a well rounded boat. And this keeps leading me back to Bajas in general but there are a few others out there, just not as many.

I'm curious, where do you define high speeds???
Just wondering.

See ya,
Kelly

My current boat tops out about 58 to 60 depending on temps, fuel, load, etc.. I'd like to get into the high 70's if not break 80 if possible. If I had a bigger budget or just wanted speed, there are boats out there that will do in excess of 100.

The Donzi zx series boats seem to have a nice balance to them also. I definately want to take a close look at them. I've also always loved the lines on the 35 Cafe Racer and 38 Top Gun as well as the Active thunder 32 and 37.

I havent had any of the ammenities on my 45 get ripped out or damaged in rough water and I have rode in 5-6 footers at 60 plus mph with no issue what so ever.

Just ribbin ya Joe, well kind of. I had to say it and I have plenty of seat time in both (pleasure version) the newer 33 AT is a different animal and is sweet!!! You gonna come out and play this year? Or are you racing again???