Re: Saber
 

Absolutely !!!!!!!!

Don't even look at anything else in the 28' range !!!

You won't be sorry !!! And your buddy's will be pissed !:D

No balance problem with my 28 with twin 502s. Flies nice and level and has a good running attitude. It's certainly more azz heavy than a single, but it doesn't have any negative handling at all.
Jo built quite a few 28s with twin 454/7.4s...

How about Joker? I've never been on one, but I've heard it does very well in the rough stuff. Maybe Brian should toot his own horn here a little bit. He builds them with top notch materials and now Tres Martin is going to rig them, can't get any better than that!!

Tim, what's the freeboard like on your boat? I've always like the 28 Pantera after hearing about them here on the board, but we've got a 2 year old daughter, so I want a good, high freeboard - sitting *in* the boat rather than *on* it, if you know what I mean.

make that 4 :D

DR-
Freeboard on the Pantera is OK for a 28, but there are boats (Sonic) with more freeboard.
Back seat is fine..
The step in area of the boat serves as an armrest (arm straight out) for a 6' person. So depth is from the seat to about your armpit...
Driver/passenger freeboard isn't very tall. Jo has been cutting down the floor under the bolsters to get you lower in the boat. I believe all new 28's are like that. He says he can cut the floor down a few inches on my boat... I'd do it, but we've been using the boat a lot ao I haven't had a month to leave it with Jo....

Lavey Craft builds a nice 27, if you like a sit down boat.
They're good in rough water.
Top end stability seems to be a bit funny (chine walk).
I have to say that Lavey builds the BEST looking boat. Their gel coat graphics and overall build quality are fantastic.

Funny thing is, when we bought our first performance boat, we were really into the curved, modern style and ended up with a 28' Powerquest after looking at Formula, Sunsation, etc.

Now I find that I really like the old school styling of the Pantera, Apache, AT, etc - plus they are true 28' boats.

thanks Indy
 

Yea the best kept secret in the 28ft range. BH

Yep. I looked at just about everything under the sun. I knew I wanted a 28 Pantera or 28 Active Thunder.
I couldn't find a decent deal on an AT anywhere. Their new boats were just toooooo much money for my poor wallet.
Sunsation builds a nice boat, but I haven't seen any running in the rough down here.
Remember... Construction is just as important as design. You can have the most technological design, but it's no good if the stringers seperate from the hull....
The rigging on the Pantera and AT is clearly designed for the long haul.

Oh, and don't rule out a nice used Powerplay. There are a few out there.

I saw Ambrose's 33 last night. Very nice boat, and a '96 model.