How fast is the 39 GTS?

I saw one of those closed deck Concepts (Miami show a few years back) but never saw another.....

The thought of a 25' Tantrum with a cabin, 3 row seating, and a pair of Optimax motors on a bracket just gave me a chubby.

Meanwhile, my checkbook had a mild heart attack...

you just stated the case for them, how many people really enjoy blowing $1000 on gas for a day of high speed wave pounding, 0.01 of the boat buying public and even fewer of their guests. the number goes up when you add the pleasure of "being seen" in a crazy cool boat but even then its 0.003. The reality is the majority of people that can afford these boats wants to be able to be the Host with the most" and the new flashy CC's allow them to do it without taking a huge ego hit by going slow.
If I had the money I would have both

I absolutely love my 30 Concept. I was originally looking to go 36, but I am happy I went with the 30. It does everything I need it to do, sits 8 in the cockpit comfortably (not that I want to do that often), has a small cuddy that the wife and I can sleep in, handles Lake Erie snot well, gets excellent fuel mileage, is unbelievably quick (not the fastest thing on the water, but the torque of the 2 stroke outboards blows me away)... While I did originally miss the sound of my BB/Bravo, I quickly got over that. Also, working on the outboards is a breeze compared to crouching down in the engine bay of an off shore.

oops, just reread the quoted post above... Yes Concept does make a closed deck 30. They call it the 30 Sport Deck. There aren't many out there but the ones that are out there are well laid out. The 30 Sport Deck was on my short list when I was shopping...

The CC segment is growing up here in MI. While there aren't many custom high dollar CCs running around, I am seeing more and more CCs/OB boats every time we go out. Our Concept is one of only a few here in SE MI, and I am asked about it every time we go out, at the dock, gas station, etc. The Concept has the look of the go-fast, more so than most of the others. Don't get me wrong, if my check book could support it I'd have a Deep Impact/MTI/Nor-tech/etc over my Concept. But having come from a smaller Go-Fast (Velocity 260) to the CC market, the Concept kept the look and almost as much speed. Velocity 260 would hit 74 on a perfect day (GPS), I have had the Concept up to 66 with the Bimini stretched out and motors trimmed in (So I'd say the Concept is a 68 MPH boat), but the Concept crushes my single 496 in acceleration.. With the Velocity we cruised at 45 MPH, with the Concept we cruise at 45 so where we spend most of our time (slow cruise speed, the O/Bs like to run in higher RPMs, but we like to cruise a bit slower so I am sure we suffer a bit fuel mileage wise by cruising slower) I haven't given up anything (actually gained fuel economy).

70 with trip 300 Verados. Cruise is 50-55

Again, I would not argue with you about severe contraction in the marketplace. I simply disagree with your statement that the market is "done," and I suspect Randy Scism of MTI, Mike Fiore of Outerlimits, Skip Braver of Cigarette, Erik Christiansen of Mercury Racing, Peter Hledin of Skater, the Schaldenbrands at Sunsation and a lot of others, who are all very candid and realistic about the marketplace (don't take my word for it, you can talk to all of them at the next Miami boat show) in terms of how small it's become, would disagree with your pronouncement as well. Yes, it's a lot harder. Yes, there are fewer buyers. But builders are still out there, producing great product that provide pleasure for those who can afford them, making a living providing a living for other people, though fewer than once were.

Only an idiot would argue that the market will ever return to former levels or anything close to them. But I would gently suggest that it is you who is "done" with the market, something I understand, and not the market itself that is done. It's just a whole lot smaller than it used to be, but frankly that just belabors the obvious.

I'll never own one. Nothing like driving a cat at high speed. My old lady would leave for a cool guy if I ever bought a fishing boat.

I think what gets everyone is they don't do their own work. I change my oil, fuel filters, drive oil, drive alignment, etc. If you have reliable power (merc/ilmor/etc) and can do your own work these boats are a crap load of fun. Over 400 hours on my Eliminator in 5-6 seasons.

Look at the boats in the classifieds. Few year old big boats with huge carb'd blower motors. Only an idiot or a mechanic would try and run that regularly. Or the guy that has so much money he just drops it off and tells someone to make it run.

Or maybe cause at least around here you pretty much have to be a very rich man just to insure your cat.

I'm sure FL insurance is high. But these hobbies cost money. I was just quoted under 4K a year for a 30 plus foot cat with mild power no lay up in Texas. Tottaly worth it to me.