Originally Posted by VetteLT193 (Post 3240136)

No front door on your 27? how do you wash it? Just curious.

I have a 28 Donzi ZX Open. Fantastic boat. It has the dual cabin doors so I don't worry about ocean running, etc. If the going gets rough we button up. The main complaint I have is getting to the bow isn't exactly easy. Just the nature of the beast... you have to crawl and bend a bit. Still better than walking up front on a bow though.

The open bow makes anchoring easier. Trailering easier (it's easy to pop up from the front of the trailer into the front seating area). Docking is easier. When running slow the boat either holds more people or we are just more spread out... a plus either way. When running fast, no one rides up front.

An Ex Donzi employee said they do run a few MPH slower than their closed cabin counterparts because of aerodynamic issues. The Donzi specs put the Open models a bit lighter in weight so that is logical. I'd love to have a hard top for the front though... I have an idea how to mock one up that I may do one day.

I want to get a DC air conditioner for the cabin. should cool off in no time and give the kids a place to nap, and us a place to beat the heat for a few minutes.

Storage is not all that bad, there is storage all under the front seats... accessible from the cabin on both sides and the forward 3 seats lift up.

Originally Posted by Perlmudder (Post 3240871)

p27 that looks awesome. i have a powerboat mag from a couple years ago and eliminator made a 28 that was an open bow. the guy who bought it got them to give him the piece they cut out, and he fabricated a hard top for it for poker runs, etc. it looked flawless, you couldnt even really tell it was a hardtop on their. if i was looking for a bigger bowrider that would be the way to go forsure!

Originally Posted by pokey27 (Post 3240976)

Just found out from Reggie they did make one

Originally Posted by VetteLT193 (Post 3240983)

Fountain also made a huge one, 47 I think. big cabin with a small open area all the way up front. that one is neat.

The door helps you get to the front, at least on mine, because there is a flip up part on the top so you can stand up inside the cabin with your head poking through the flipped up part. Hard to explain, but it does help.