I am interested in upgrading from a 1994 257 with a 502 to 290 with twins. Interested in (1) Opinions on the 290 in general (2) thoughts on the engine configurations 454 v. 502 v. 6.2 v. 7.4 (3) speeds with engines and (4) anything you would like to share in general as regards the 290. I am located in New Orleans and do most of my boating in Lake Pontchartrain and the Gulf.

I own a 26 myself and was in the market to move up as well. Looked at several 29's and took one out for a sea trial. Everyone I looked at had twin 454 EFI 330hp with bravo drives. One thing I noticed was the boat seemed very heavy at the transom. Not necessarily a bad thing in some cases as it really seemed to crush the waves. But you defiantly notice its not as nimble as the 26. As for speed I belive we got 72mph out of that setup which seems to be on par and or very close (69-74mph). In the end I elected to keep the 26.

if you like the 260 you will love the 290,I owned 3 290s, twin 7.4s is what most of them came with,you will get anywhere from 65 to 68 mph on gps.very well put together boat,as far a comparing the 260 to the 290,Ive been in both and you will be very happy with the 290,two differnet boats.

FF & Boatnt - thanks for the reply. Do you know of any significant differences between the twins 502, 454, 7.4 and 6.2. Were there any significant changes in one year v. the next? PS, Boatnt - why did you own 3 290's? Thank you.

Boatnt has a sickess

That is OK - I am in the medical field. Hopefully I can squeeze his brain and learn from his pathology. LL

I had a 95 ,99 and 2000 all great boats,not the fastes but nice strong comfortable boats
you may not be the first one there but you will get there in style

I'll agree with boatnt, you'll never be the fastest but you'll retain your teeth due to the solid ride.

Same here, you aren't quite as fast as other comparable boats, but rock solid and the ride is great even in the deep stuff. Carbed 454's with 4 blade 26 Bravo's, mine hits 70 on GPS with 2 or 3 crew, full tank and several coolers full of adult beverages. I've got IMCO neg 2's which probably give me an extra 1-3mph.

Yep, mines a little heavy in the a$$ and takes awhile to get on top of the water. Bought some 3 blade 23's from boatnt over the winter and hope they'll improve that aspect. Not concerned about the probable loss of top end...........

Also, 1st boat I've ever owned with no spider cracks....built like a battleship!