sunsation dominator vs the rough water
 

First post guys, been on the forum for awhile now but just signed up.. anyways, looking into an 04 sunsation dominator with 500efi's. after taking our first trip to LOTO with a procharged 25 outlaw we had a blast but got beat to death out there, safe to assume 4th of july weekend was probably one of the roughest weekends. But the question is how does the 32ft dominator do in the rough water? i know they are light, but how do they compare to say 33outlaw, 33avs scarab or 33 fountain? all input will be appreciated!
sorry if im in the wrong section..

i have never been on a sunsation, but based on the fact they are light and shorter than the advertised 32' (2' bustle)....my guess is they are a pretty rough ride. i have been in a 33 outlaw, 30 scarab, and 33 fountain. Of the 3, the fountain rode the best followed closely by the outlaw. me personally, i would skip on the sunsation. have seen a couple in person and the build quality is so-so. id vouch for a baja or fountain. just my 0.02.

thanks for the quick reply! really surprised the fountain rode the best out of the 3 by its weight, but then again its just my guess by threads that ive read. isnt the fountain only a 29' without the beak and swim deck?

Apex svt, you'd have to compare the 33 OL to the 35 Fountain to be fair as length goes. I think the 33 OL rides better in the rough as long as the stringers are intact in the balsa cored hull,LOL. Friend had both of these!
Fountain will be faster with same power.

The performance aspect in very important to the change up, but still want to enjoy the long runs on LOTO instead of bracing the whole time waiting to be beat! does anyone have any input on an average weekend in LOTO as opposed to holidays?
thanks guys you are a quick reply opposed to other forums

What part of the lake do you boat. We do fine on a normal weekend going from the dam to 30 mm. This year the holiday weekends seemed to have more people out. We do have a heavy 28 ft boat.

we traveled most of the whole lake except the south west wing(channel) about up to mm40. we stayed in osage so we were about in the middle. can you enjoy your ride in the 28 on a normal weekend?

We had no issues. I thought Labor day weekend was rough this year around the 31 mm. Did not go out on the 4th this year.

His isn't a normal 28.

In that size if you can find one a 33 Powerplay best ride of the bunch.

It is hard to beat the build and finish of a Powerplay. I really wanted one.

Thanks. Hard to beat a Apache. Did run a 24 HTM up and down the lake back in the day and it sucked. 24 Outlaw okay and a 29 Profile was not bad for a light boat. Knew someone with a 28 Sunsation and they liked it. Baja would be on the bottom of my list just for the reason LOTO is full of them. Powerplay would be a cool boat at LOTO.

32 AT would be nice.

32 Sunsation Dominator would not be my first choice for LOTO boating. They are great boats, quick & nimble, but not wave crushers. Remember, Sunsation has made several different 32' models. The original Dominator is the smallest and lightest of them. One of the taller/bigger/heavier models would be a better choice (SS & the like).

Look into:
32 Active Thunder
32 PowerPlay
31 Cigarette

All great boats that you have listed.

Buy the one that's overall the best bang for the buck.

I LOVed our 33 outlaw but also was very impressed at how well my friends 1998 32 sunny did in the rough. Was under the impression like everyone else that they are not as good in the rough as they actually are. I have also had quite the challenge passing sunsations while running poker runs. They are great boats overall.

Also impressed with the 33 scarab while running next to them.

The 35-42 fountains seem to run awesome also.

Again, in this stupid expensive hobby BUY the overall best bang for the buck for sale at the time no matter what brand!

Agree in the right hands a 32 Dominator is quite capable on LOTO. You have to be willing to drive the boat, though. So if you are wanting to just kick back on the rough days I'd look for a different boat.

Having owned a Sunsation Dominator for 8 years, it's an awesome solid boat! Length aside, I've been in or ran by most comparable boats. It's light and does like to fly if you are not careful. That being said, it's predictable, has no bad habits, and is fast. I had the older non step hull.

How bout a 31' Sonic?

Having had a Sunsation 32' Dominator I can comment on this fairly objectively. The thing to keep in mind as someone mentioned there are several designs to the 32'. The older (Dominator) hulls are in fact light and fast. You can deal with some reasonably rough water as long as you know what you are doing. It will not be the smoothest ride in the world but you will be fast and you WILL be constantly adjusting trim, and K plane positions. If you work them you can get a decent ride out of them, but it requires some seat time time for sure, and you absolutely will have to drive the boat (Not just steer and throttle).

I would also state that when comparing it to other boats, it is in my opinion that you qualify the comparison, as other manufacturers also have also changed designs, specifically stepped versus non-stepped hulls. In the case of the fountains mentioned. It doesn't surprise me that it was the faster than say the Baja, but depending on the Baja construction I also understand the method has changed which affect the weight which in turn would affect the ride.


Just throwing it all out there, allot of This Vs. That happens on this site, which usually boils down to brand & size, when the hull style should also be factored in just as much as length, since allot of things have changed between in the later models.


My 2¢
Mike

I would not buy a big heavy boat for loto for 2 or 3 trips a year, they will be harder on fuel and parts. I would buy the newest with the least amount of hours at the best price. With some driver input you can get a decent ride out of any of the 3 or 4 you mentioned.I If I was boating at loto all the time it would be no less than a 38 top gun. It also helps to have enough power to be able to run across the tops when you get enough seat time under your belt.
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You guys are awesome here! So much input in such a short amount of time! I will look into those other boats as mentioned because I haven't before. Mostly been looking at suns and hustlers.. Fountain graphics really don't do to much for me otherwise they would be considered more. Like said above any boat that is a good bang for its buck will catch my interest. Looking for a pretty decent ride and about 85ish mph! The dominator that I looked at just seemed so shallow even compared to the outlaw.. It was an 04 single step with 500 efi's so it had the power but not looking to trade up more then once at this time. Thanks again guys! Appreciate it all

The "Dominator" hull did not have a step, what they do have is a vent on the side which is functionally different and not the same as a stepped hull.

As far as the Fountains are concerned relating to paint, I agree, however an easy fix for this is getting it wrapped. If you otherwise found a Fountain that fit the bill other than graphics, this could be an easy fix, and it would also add some protection against minor scuffs only to be able to remove the wrap and have a rather preserved factory paint should you decide to sell.

just something else to consider.