24' Boats?
 

Hi guys. I'm starting to look for a 24' boat and only know of a couple, Pantera, and sunsation. My price range is under 25K for a used boat of any year. Who else makes 24's and whats the difference in quality between them? I'm down in Miami, and want the boat to be able to handle a 4' chop easily at the very least.

Thanks for your help,

JJ

You found it already...Pantera

Thats the main boat i was looking for. My dad used to have a Pantera waaaaay back in the day. I guess i'll just keep my eye out for a decent one. I could probably turn it into a project if its not in great shape too! :)

There is some great vintage stuff out there that will fit your requirements. Look for the 7' beam, 24-26 ft., Magnum's, Excalibur's, Martini's, Pantera's, Cobra's, and more that I don't recall right now, that all came from that same Aronow mold. Sunsation, Panther, and Superboat are the current versions. Activator is a real good one if you can stretch to 27'.

Lots of happy 24 Baja Outlaw owners out there.......including me:)

I'm with Allan. Usually when it gets really rough, I seem to leave most other boats behind. You can find alot of 24 Outlaws on boattraderonline.com. They have great bolster seats for the rough stuff and have a true 24 degree V bottom.

Pantera makes a good boat but I think you'll spend a little more money for it.

I'll look into the Baja's. There's just something about the Outlaw that I can't seem to put my finger on that i don't like. Thanks for the suggestions, i'll be looking for all those boats. The other one that I was going to look for was a 24' Carrera. Anybody have any info on these?

Thanks

The Baja Outlaw 24 has a small delta pad, so it's not really 100% v-bottom.

The hull construction is nothing special (1996). In fact, some of the wood panels in the engine compartment have some cheap useless paint on them, and they also fall off. The wood that is used in the construction is not resin coated before is is installed, so when you get a crack in the interior coat of glass water can seep in and damage the wood.

Rigging is subpar as well. On my Baja the negative ground wire came off shorting the ignition(had to get towed). The trim pump plug fell off as well(not that big of a deal, but it should not happen). The orginal battery braket broke, letting the battery toss around the engine compartment.

Baja's customer service is useless as well. I lost the key for the cabin, none of the dealers were helpfull at all. Once they sell the boat they don't care about you anymore. When you order parts it takes 9 months to a year to get them, then the dealer loses them. Warrenty is just a word used to sell boats, it is woefully useless in practice.

Whatever you buy, check the rigging. If it's Pantera vs. Baja, the Pantera could not be worse.

vtec

I'm selling a 96 Baja 232 w/ 454 and 195 hours w/ trailer in excellent shape and its in your price range... its in the boats for sale section of the board...

Its certainly not a pantera, but a very nice boat for the money, drop bolsters, dual ram tabs, pop up cleats, roller trailer, ABSOLUTELY fresh water only... . NADA said 25,000 without the trailer, I'm asking 24,000 OBO w/ everything..

My experience w/ Baja has ben exactly the opposite and i'm sure many baja owners will agree... I have had ZERO problems w/ my baja and customer service has been EXCELLENT.

24 Superboat or Pantera. Personally, I don't think there is another 24 foot boat with EQUAL POWER that will out run a 24 Superboat. The Pantera is a couple hundred pounds heavier. It may have an edge in the rough but is a few mph less in top end.

I am not trying to cut on some of the other boats mentioned here but the market is flooded with them. It takes a lot of power to get them moving too.

You may want to look for a used Velocity 260. Without the platform it is 24 foot. Good size cabit, for 24 ft and a deep cockpit.

There are alot of great boats out there in that size range. A bunch of them have been already mentioned. A Pantera is the first boat that comes to my mind when the rough is mentioned.

Go Banana's
 

I own a 1989 24' Banana.

Beamier then a 24' Pantera and goes like hell...

Hard to find in Miami though...

Good luck with your search.

If you want to step up, a pal of mine in Fort Lauderdale is contemplating selling his 27 foot Baja.

Think he wants under 20k.

i toally agree vtec, baja isnt even close to a pantera or other more custom boat.

overheard once by a baja saleperson " baja is the bayliner of performance boats"

I know 2 24s that will outrun the Superboat with LESS POWER, especially in rough water, BatBoat and Skater. Nonetheless I agree 24 Superboat or Pantera would make a great choice. Just trying to keep the performance claims in perspective. I vote for Pantera since they are local and make a great boat.

Ya know, as soon as I hit the enter key I knew somebody was going to chime in about a Skater or a Bat Boat. OK, you have a point there, but I am assuming this guy is looking for more of a "pleasure v-hull" . Can he find a Skater or Bat Boat for under 25K? How pleasure orientated is a Bat Boat? I don't know what JJH's experience level is but a 100 MPH Skater in the hands of a less experienced boater can be trouble.

Dave M.

You might also look at 242 and 272 Formulas. They are very well made boats. Maybe not as fast because they are heavy, but the construction is second to none. You should be able to find quite a few of them in your price range.

There is a 24' baja for sale outside a bar where i dock my big boat. not an outlaw tho. It has an integrated swim platform. Sorry, i dont know the model, im not a big baja guy. asking was about 14k if i recall. I could get the # and a pic or 2 for you if youd like.

The 28 batboat has normal seating and even a small cabin, but the 24 is strictly a 2 seater with canopy. The wings are really no issue around the docks, but like I said, I think he should get a Pantera. I only brought up batboat and skater as a counter to the claim about Superboat being the best handling 24, not as a viable option or in the price range. I agree that superboat would be a great option too, but pantera is local and that means a lot in terms of maintenance to me at least. While I don't totally agree with the baja bashers the other two are arguably better boats in many ways; style, performance, construction, reputation, etc. I had a friend with a 24? velocity and it was a great boat too.

The request for handling 4 foot chop easily is a red flag for me though. That leads me to think 6 foot kinda well and 8 foot OK at speed. You can die in those waves in a normal 24 (or even a bigger boat) and should be looking at a 28 if planning to run in big water regularly. Easily to me means full throttle and no worries about the waves, which even in my batboat is leaving the easy range in 4 footers. Yes the boats listed can handle it, but 4 - 6 footers are at the top of the performance range, not "easy" for them. 75 in 4 footers in a 24 foot boat is a wild thrill ride and the passengers are hanging on for their lives.

I would have to agree with Tom that if 4 footers are the norm for JJH he should be looking for a bigger boat. True 4 footers are not easily handled by 24 foot boats. Maybe rolling waves but not confused chop.

If I am too lazy to put out the bumper it is like a magnet and finds the bolt on the dock or whatever is there to chip the boat, but with bumpers it works fine. If I pull into a U shaped dock I just tie up to both sides so it can't hit anywhere. The real issues for me is it takes a shoehorn to get in at 6 foot tall and visibility sucks. My boat is impractical for everything but the ultimate ride, but it gets me rides on anything I want:) I also take just about anyone who asks for a ride in mine.

On 4th of July I am hanging out with a friend with a 28 Pantera. I have not had a chance to run with a 28 and should be interesting if the ocean is rough. The ride I want is in Pantera 24-650HP's boat. Now there is the perfect 24 in my book. Well I also want to go on Nort's boat just to see the women he gets under that bimini top:)

Ain't that a shame, bimini on a performance boat??:confused: :D

tom , i'm not bashing baja, i'm speaking from experience.

what would you think about your batboat if you removed the lag bolt holding your motor mount in and found a piece of plastic conduit used to tighten up a stipped or incorrectly drilled hole.

but then any serious performance boat would never use lag bolts, correct? :rolleyes:

I own a 28 Pantera its the only way in rough water Joe at Pantera will treat you like family . Im very greatful he has several 24s at the plant I seen them a couple used with some serious hardware however if a 28 is in your budget you wont like a 24 it wont handle 4ft at any speed promise you good friend has one ride in it reguraly wont run in 4s its a death ride one drawback is pantera is narrow in the 24 I would look at the velocity in a 24 /pantera in a 28 my 28 will eat a velocity in rough water cause 28 v is 26 keep looking ..

Thanks for all the suggestions guys. I really appreciate them. I really don't want a cat, its not my style really. I'm more looking for a v hull. I've pretty much narrowed down to pantera, superboat, sunsation, P&D(if there's any), and carrera. I'll just be looking for whichever pops up and the condition that its in. I've come to figure that they are all very similar and can handle my needs. I'm set on a 24, i really don't want bigger.

Also, let me clarify, i said 4 footers b/c i want to be able to go out of Govt. Cut(the channel for the port of miami), without much concern. I have a little mako right now, and the waves get REAL big in Govt Cut sometimes. Its not like it is the norm for 4'+ seas down here, but i want the boat to handle it if necessary.

Again, thanks for all the help. I'll start keeping my eye out for a nice one, i'm really not in a huge hurry anyways. Thanks again! :)

JJ

I was hoping someone else would mention the red flag about running 4 footers easily. If a Pantera owner with direct experience thinks not, and everyone thinks the Pantera is best handling of the 24's in rough water, then maybe we should be talking about the dangers and what is realistic to expect. Leaving batboats out of it for many other practical and financial reasons, are there any other 24 foot boats that will handle 4 footers easily and safely? I agree with B-Stubb - get a 28 if you can and even then be careful with rough water. I get nervous every time I read "handle a 4' chop easily at the very least."

Saber,
I didn't mean to call you a baja basher, sorry. My brother in law is in the hospital for cancer and I might be coming out your way sometime in the next several weeks. A ride in your Saber would sure be great! You are still welcome to come out here any time for a ride in the pacific with me.

I explained what I meant in my previous post. Sorry for being so obscure, didn't mean to do that. :( And i'm not talking about going too fast in that type of chop either. I've been out there fishing when a storm rolls in and we have to fight the 6-8's on the way back, its not fun.

Sorry, we both posted at the same time and yours came before mine. With yur explaination of what you mean then the pantera or other boats you are looking at are fine. I'm one of those crazies who would just run full throttle (or close to it) back and forth in Govt. Cut (assuming it is big enough to do that in) if the waves in the ocean are not big enough. Anything less than 4 footers is boring to me, so I guess I have a twisted view of "handle 4 footers.";)

Please post pictures when you get one and if it is a project we love to see progress pictures.

tom,

my baja was one of the most inadequately constructed boats i have seen. there was no way a boat capable of almost 70 mph should be built like this. i hope the baja owners on this board do not take any of my comments personally, it is not meant that way

are the new ones better? i don't really know.

hope your b-in-law does ok , my sister just got through with breast cancer about a year ago.

Will do. Like I said, i'm really not in a huge hurry. I have something to get me through the summer and lately i've been thinking of making it more of a project. :) I see you have a concept sign as your avatar, do you have a concept too? My dad has a 28 that he's had since 98(the boat being a 95), and we love that boat.

JJH. A docker at my marina had a Carrera 235 Viper and it was a beautiful boat. I do not think that it was a true deep V hull though. I could be wrong. It was a fast boat with the 454 mag and topped out around 70 in good conditions and weight. Unfortunately the owner did not winterize it properly and cracked the motor block. So it sold and now I can not compare it to my Baja 240 Sport. As far as the Baja, I am happy with mine. It may be the Bayliner of the boating world but it was affordable and got my foot into the performance door. So far no complaints about quality but the previous owner was meticulous in his car of it. It has no problem handling bigger chop when it arises. Of course a bigger boat would do so even better. The best thing to do is set a price, search the classifieds then go out and look at each boat in person. Make sure you demo ride them also because they can have distinct different characteristics that you may like or not. Good luck in what ever you choose.

24 Pantera should be on your short list. But, as Cuda mentioned, I would also look at a formula 242 or 271( 25' without platform). The Formula may not be fastest, they're a tank. I went on a 30 mile run in 6-8's and was able to keep up with some larger boats. Not a fun ride, but if your body can take it, the boat will.

Come to SoCal and you can have your pick of a dozen or two custom boat builders of 24 footers.

python

A lot of the 24' boats have a very simular (if not the same bottom) Python, Sunsation, SuperBoat, Pantera, Corsa..... Just a matter of finding something you like.

Maybe you should consider buying a British built boat!!

www.extremepowerboats.co.uk

Since you're from Florida you get a good deal on a 24' Powerplay. Although not 24degree, good ride in the rough and they're built rock solid. It does have sit down seats, however. They're fast with twin O/B's and maybe 70mph with a 502/410.

QUESTION for 24' Fans??
 

I was just reading a thread about those who have switched to CC's. Do you really need a cabin in a 24'? I guess they're handy for kids and ladies who want to get out of the rain, or if, God forbid, someone needs to go potty. I had a 25' Checkmate, dare I say, maybe they're a cut above Baja and a good performer for the money.

As far as performance is concerned, this Ocke Mannerfelt 7 meter RIB, by Mark Pascoe, Great Britain, runs 74mph with a single 200 Optimax and can hold a 300. Unsinkable and you don't need fenders. The 9 meter runs 86mph with twin 200 Optis.

QUESTION??
Would any of you smaller boat fans consider an unsinkable rigid inflatable boat if price was an issue, and the quality of the glasswork was on par with Pantera? We're a new company and think that RIB's will soon be popular in the US, as an alternative to the traditional performance boat for far less $$. We would appreciate your feedback.