Looking for something for lake erie 23-29 ft., has to be trailerable big enough cockpit for six with a little room to move, good in rough water and fast enough to have fun when there's only two of us. Prefer single drive and I like the older style boats from the 80's and early 90's I've found a few that meet my needs but I might have missed some so looking for opinions

I've got a 24 for sale, not too far from you. Six people in the cockpit would be pretty tight unless they are small people/some kids, but 5 adults is ok. Price is negotiable, boat does pretty good on any day you would want to be out on Lake Erie, not too bad either on the days you don't.

http://www.offshoreonly.com/classifi...aw-o66928.html

http://www.offshoreonly.com/forums/b...ld-thread.html

28 Pantera or 28 Saber

Purple Haze (28 Saber) is for sale, but it's twins

http://www.yachtworld.com/boats/1995...s#.V89DiDT3bCQ

There's a single in Ohio on CL

http://cleveland.craigslist.org/boa/5763526323.html

Or if you're a baller, the factory has a 28 with twin Verados. It's gorgeous. And $180k.

http://www.offshoreonly.com/classifi...er-o65478.html

283 Checkmate - most were built with a single and handle nicely..anything in that size with rough water in mind I would find a boat with kplanes already installed. The 29 Scarab is also nice but a little slower than the Checkmate and a much more narrow boat (less cockpit room) . Sunsation 288 is another option but a much smaller boat with the integrated platform....best question to help would be budget?

I was thinking Checkmate as well. The 283 handles the rough well and runs well with a single.

What is your budget? A 30' Cigarette would be cool.

Budget, 10k cash 35k if I finance. I hate making payments and enjoy working on them almost as much as running them, if that helps.

My thoughts after 20 years on Erie......

buy the biggest boat you can, under 10,000 is going to buy you a problem, trust me.... you will be wrenching more then you want to, even with more expensive boats that's gonna happen normally...

personally I would not want less then 30ft in Erie, especially if you want to fit 6 people and overnight a lot, twins is a no brainer, going to ride better and be heavier, also when it breaks you can get home, because it will break, they all do...

biggest bang for the buck will be a 311 Formula or a 32 Baja caliber, lots of space, good boats for the money... if you approach 30,000 hands down buy a older Cig for Erie...

most older boats are going to be rotted so look close, if the boat looks abused, dirty, messy wiring... run!!

I trailer my 35 Cig over an hour weekly just to go boating, in and out by myself at times... it's easy, don't let size scare ya....you wont regret a bigger boat here.

just to add to the list I would think a 26 nova might also fit the bill, although you'd probably want twins in that case, maybe a 27 Pachanga, 272 Formula or Baja, maybe a 29 fountain could fit your budget but those cockpits are usually pretty tight.....in any case I'd definitely consider something with some weight to it, it makes a big difference on Erie.