Have there been any significant changes or improvements to the 353 Fastech (hull or otherwise) since it's inception in 1998? Thanks.

very little other than a move up in X dimension in 2000.

other than that just some production line changes in small trim/hardware/stereos

Thanks for the info, I saw one advertised with "3 steps" and wondered if they added one along the way since they've been out for some time now. I this basically the same size/weight boat as the 1997 33 SR1 it replaced?

Nope still has 2 steps...a real nice boat, if I say so myself !

Anything in particular to look for (or look out for) in a used one?

I had a guy tell me his 353 had 3 steps......he thought the notched transom was a step.

353's have gained 1000lbs since 1998. The boat weighed 8575 in the first two years.

I am going to say it is about 1 1/2 ft. bigger, the 97 33 SR1 had the swimplatform molded making it seem smaller, we measured my buddys 88 311 and the 98 353 and the 353 was only 11 inches longer in total to the 311. The older boats with a removable platform were true length boats.

So if the 353 is 11" longer than the 311 - a true 31' boat, it's only 32' long - thought it would be at least 33.5. How did they manage to add 1000 lbs - were there layup issues in the earlier builds or was the initial weight understated? Anyone know how the 353 cockpit and engine room size compares to the 35 Fountain and the 33 Scarab AVS? Sounds like it's much smaller than the 35 Cig Cafe which I think is a true 35'.

The 311 with the removable swim platform actually measures about 34 ft. the 35 is a 35 but with the itegrated platform it measures as part of the lenght, that is why a old 31 is a real 31 and the 312 fastech was only a hair bigger then the 272 SR1
B oats like Cigs, Apache, and Baja still use a treue length since the platform is not molded to the hull.