WOW!! Those boats are incredible!! How reliable are the merc 525's I have heard they have issues with the stock headers? Also magic went out of business that makes me a little nervous how well built were their boats?

Thanks for everyone's input I got a bunch of drooling to do now!

My pick so far would be the magic Love how they were doing the walk thru design back then!! That really save the cushions especially when you have a 4 and 6 year old boys tromping around!

Derek

Probaby 90% or more of performance boat builders went under the last, say, 10yrs or so. Economy and the market changed.

a 27' or 28' Advantage Victory would easily fit your criteria as well. I have had both. Very nice boats for the money.

the at defiant has my vote, very nice lines, a slick offshore boat from the side with multi purpose layout.
8 1/2 foot beam, entry and uncomplicated lines look old school cool, bet it rides well, plus it has a porta-potti and sink

not in my budget but would rather starboard lounge didn't wrap around and stern was set up for water sports,
like swim, board, fish and dive, it would still have 4 lounges

from the website, it just gets better
solid glass hull bottom, bi and tri - ax material, divinycel core, vacuum bagged construction, stringers and transom are
full urethane composite, hull bottom is patented.

Like most, I think the AT is a great looking boat but we're losing track of the op's budget..... If they could be bought near 85k, I'm sure there would be a long queue of buyers.

Since there's been a few suggestions that don't fit the criteria, I'll throw in a Sunsation 32 MCOB. Bit older, bit more money, less cockpit space but a pretty nice boat all the same. Couple of examples......
Used 2007 Sunsation Dominator Mcob 32, Freeport, Ny - 11520 - BoatTrader.com
Used 2007 Sunsation 32 Mcob, Fort Walton Beach, Fl - 32547 - BoatTrader.com

Happy shopping!

RR

Thanks guys. Excuse my ignorance but what is AT short for?
Also are your tboughts on the merc 525?

Sorry, we're lazy typists.... 'Active Thunder' (powerboats). Well built boats from a smaller manufacturer with a great reputation.

RR

No expert here but.....

525's come from Mercury Racing division, traditionally painted blue and often referred to as 'blue'. It's the next step up from standard Mercury engines which are black. The top 'black' engine is the 496ho and has plenty of power for 60 plus mph.
Stick with black engines and with regular fluids and filter changing, you should get great longevity. Blue engines require significantly more maintenance and are quite a bit dearer to buy. They're definitely a step up but they need more loving which is hard to justify for some of us.

RR

Thanks for the info. I was hoping to get into the newer gen 502's or 8.2mag! From my research the 8.2mag is 380hp and the 8.2Mag HO is 430 yet the only difference is tuning! Whipple offers a upgraded ECM to make an additional 75hp and 55 lb ft! The upgrade is like $895.

Thanks

Naturally, buying the newest you can makes sense.
I wouldn't spend time and money trying to make the engine better than Mercury manufactured it, they know more than I do! More power means more stress on everything, particularly the sterndrive. Look at engine hour scan sheets from anyone and you'll find minimal time at full throttle so the extra couple of mph really ain't worth the money.

Photo shows the hour breakdown for my 496ho when I bought it. 2.2 hours above 4,500 rpm which I'd say is pretty typical.

Up to you of course but please keep us updated, I'm interested to see what you end up with. :)

RR