The only things i care about in a boat is that i have fun driving it and that its dependable!

Women don't know the difference between 60mph and 100mph on the water...but they sure as hell know the difference between running or not!

Yup!

FYI - Statefarm told me they only require a survey if the boat is being insured for over $40K, $30K for boats in the salt.

i have erie insurance,95 fever twin 415 hp motors.they ask how fast will it run and ask if ill pull skiers,i said 75mph no skiers.they said no racing and I pay $525 a year.now with that said I have a pair of 572s going in this winter I may want to ask them if theres going to be a problem.

Here is where I'm at. I bought my first boat with stock power and would run 60's. New boat has blowers, way more hp, and is bigger. I've found that I run the boat easier (RPM wise) because its a faster boat all the way around. I don't think I could ever go back to a stock powered go fast boat. But its like everything else, I always want more.

All good info here, but re-read what UD said and pay special attention to the part about fuel availability.

A few thoughts I'd add:

Even if you can do the maintenance and inspection stuff yourself, visit the engine manufacturer and get their opinion. An engine builder will have a solution based on what they learn from you, an engine assembler will have a canned presentation. You'll be able to tell the difference.

We bought a boat with an engine that went 1250 on the dyno and was being run at 1075. I visited with Alexi @ BoostPower and the boat shipped home with 900. Our boat isn't a trailer queen - we run it hard but don't fly it or drag race it out of the chute and I'm getting about 40 hours out of the XR. I have a spare drive because I don't want to be waiting on parts during what little season we have in here in MI. With big HP It's not a question of "IF" the drive is going to fail, it's a question of "when & how bad?"

There's "always" someone faster so you might as well get used to that idea as soon as possible. If you're putting up with the headaches of Big HP to be "king of the lake" you're going to be really disappointed when that 100+ mph frickin' pontoon boat drives around you. With a boat load of people. Smiling.

Remember to think about fuel availability. Ours will run on 93 but you can't always get 93, so if we're going somewhere we haven't been before I fill the boat with 110 (at about $7/gal) and start looking for fuel when we're about 1/2 tank. 110 aint cheap but it's a lot cheaper than engine parts.

Think about no wake zones and dock manners.Docking a boat with big HP can be "interesting"; as in that old Chinese curse "May you live in interesting times".

Headers leak.Sea strainers suck up weeds. You have to stand on your head to work on either.

Learn to like changing your drive oil. A lot.

Get used to people asking you questions about your boat. I think hot rodders all have to be part exhibitionist and it's cool when the boat draws a crowd but 30 minutes every time you go to the gas dock or boat launch can get a bit old after a while.

Re. Insurance: Do your homework and don't lie about what your insuring. If you're lying about power and speed the short version is you're committing fraud and setting yourself up for a claim denial. Don't get me wrong; blow your approach to the dock and submit a minor claim and it probably won't be a problem. Run over a pontoon boat loaded with nuns taking presents to a bunch of disabled orphans? You're gonna be outta luck.

I checked my agent before we even went (across the country) to look at the boat and was told "no problem". We got the deal don & I called to place insurance and discovered my agent was mistaken. My agent was very upset, but not as upset as I was having just bought a boat that I couldn't bind coverage on. I was referred to Tanah at Wozencraft and she bailed me out and saved me $$.

And last thought - all the negatives combined won't make me go back to stock power. If you're into it, it's worth it. Every Single Time I fire the boat I get goosebumps.

Do your homework & best of luck.

d

Before I bought my boat I called statefarm since they were the ones that had the boat insured by previous owner. They gave me a price that I could live with. On my way to pick up the boat I called the agent and told him I was on way to pick up and needed insurance and asked if I needed to give him CC # or what. He said they would bill me. Long story short, two days after I get boat I get letter telling me they would not insure me. So I had a new to me boat without insurance.

State farm seems hit or miss on insuring performance boats. Somehow they took mine and I did not lie about horsepower.

Depends on underwriting in the area the boat is being insured. LOTO is a prime example. They are a little "looser" on what they will insure in order not to lose the household business. Just my personal opinion.

12 years ago I moved to my current boat with a whopping 375 HP and at first they balked! No way they said too much HP!!! Lol! This after having 3 other boats with them but none having over 260 HP up to that point. I laughed and told my agent to tell underwriting it was the most HP boat but also the slowest. They finally took the new boat but only after I reminded them I had a Power Squadron certification.

It seems to follow how educated the Agent is. I had a Farm Bureau agent somehow enter my 253 Checkmate as a cruiser with 11 mph top speed. Glad nothing happened because a year later when I was shopping around for insurance, i pulled out the policy I had just shoved in the filing cabinet when I got it. Read the policy when you get it. Make sure everything is correct. I though the price was too good to be true. I'd have been up squit creek had anything happened. Especially since the agent knew I had a 548 as he would BS with me about it.

Did a lot of calling around and quoting with my 380 Powerquest. Am insured through Foremost via the local Auto Owners agent who handles the rest of my stuff. I had to walk them through the application to Foremost as they were clueless about boat stuff for the most part, especially go-fast stuff. I have a REAL boat policy and am insured for probably more than what I need, but if anything happens, it will be worth it. I only knew what to say and do because I went through this with my previous boat once I discovered the discrepancy. Ended up with Foremost there too. Only ones that really wanted to touch a boat that size with decent power.