Thanks for the info, I appreciate it! Seems the 38 Lightning or the 35 Lightning ICBM is really what I am narrowing my search to. Virgin staggered 525's is my choice also. Gotta pay to play, thanks again!

I'm on Cumberland as well. I've owned both a 35 EX with 500's, and a 38 Fever with 525's, then 625, then 710 Ilmors.

The 35 is a more nimble boat, is fun to drive, and goes over moderate weekend chop comfortably at a decent speed. But if you want to run fast in decent chop then the 35 will bounce you around bigtime. The 38 is a much more capable boat. If you have any thoughts of ever running a poker run, go with the 38. It's still a nimble boat but just not quite as nimble as the 35. As was stated the 38 Fever's have a huge cockpit, I loved mine but next to newer boats it is starting to look like a dated design. Both are great boats but make no mistake, on busy weekends you'll be glad you have the extra length of a 38 if you go that route.

If you are wanting either boat in a full stagger, you'll need to have a 2007 model or newer. Personally, I have driven both a 35 Ex and and 35 lightning, I preferred the EX, but it is slower with the same HP vs the lightning. . I've never driven a staggered 35 lightning and they are a totally different animal with the stagger.

They started doing a semi-stagger on the 38 in 2003 before going full-stagger in 2007. The 38 lightning with a full stagger is an awesome machine. Very fast with very little HP.

Good luck in your search.

It will be difficult to find a staggered 35 Lightning with low hour 525s at 100k - because so few were made they seem to be holding their value quite well.

Thanks for the info! I'm going to continue to weigh and research, as I don't usually get in the middle of the holiday weekend heavy traffic. However, I'm not infatuated with the speed and such and will easily compromise for ride quality and comfort. I know the lightning is smaller in the cockpit because of the deck and all, it just seems to be what I prefer. I could be wrong, won't know until I climb in them. The money does increase significantly as you get up in those 2000 years so I will definitely look into those semi stagger 38s. Fountain really did make this difficult, considering they updated the cuddy interior in 2007 which i absolutely love lol.. appreciate your help!

You are certainly right about that. I love the interior they redesigned I believe in 2007 which helped me narrow to the ICBM. Full stagger, blue 525s and not too much boat, plus the fastest out of all of these, it seems. I will pay attention to the prices but you are right, I seem to be able to find an early 2000s 38 with decent hours as cheap or cheaper than those 2007 and up 35s. Thanks for your time and help!

You can find staggered 42's for the price of a late model 35 stag. Granted, not with the new interior.

Once you go 42 you never look back...I fly over 3-4' waves and can't believe it some time...

I don't disagree one bit, glad to hear you love yours! For what I would be doing and waters I'm in, it's just too much honestly.. aside from Memorial, Labor, July 4th, and poker run. Not to mention I would not use a dually for anything else other than to pull that massive 42 footer!

Just as soon as I start narrowing down what I'm looking for and marking things out, I read this! lol I still think a 42 is too big and not to mention requires a bigger truck, but nonetheless I will keep an open mind and maybe run across a good deal. Thanks for the input!

Ha ha! Have fun with your search. Wifey and I tested a 38 before we decided on the 42 and it is a great boat. Our test boat had 525s and was a 2006 model. Feels much bigger than the 35. Personally I think the difference is greater 35 to 38 than 38 to 42.