i'm looking to move up from my 25' Nordic Rage with the 496HO. Mine is a MCOB and it's an honest 70 mph boat with minimal maintenance. We're building a new house and it's going to have a 40' bay dedicated to this boat. I want to go to a closed bow boat that would handle Powell and Ozarks water. I love my boat but when the water gets rough it's time to head for the dock. In the mix at this point are the Cobalt 343, Fountains, Formulas, Donzis, etc. I'd love to have 525's with XRs. If y'all think small blocks would work please elaborate. I'm drawn to boats that have a genset an Ac but I've just started this research. I'd like to go 80 but definitely not less than 70 with minimal maintenance and stay under 80K. I know... pigs flying... thoughts? Thanks much.

In the 28-35 class for Donzi, you'll only find 33 and 28zx's with small blocks or 496/502's, not 525's. There are a few out there with 575's though, but you'll pay over $80k for them. And if you're wanting 80, only the 28zx with 377's will approach that or the 33zx with 575's. 33 is a heavy boat, around 9600lbs dry. No AC in the 28zx's.

have you considered a 35 flame?? I have a 28 heat and it rides better than a rage but still not great in rougher stuff...the 35 flame however rides totally different than even my heat...better than a fountain?? prolly wouldn't go that far but pretty good nonetheless....with 500 efis its an honest low to mid 80s boat all day long...just a thought

Stewart

I went from rage to our current 32 sunny, I was looking for basically the same thing you are, my 32 with HO's runs low to mid eighties everyday, and having black motors to me meant a lot of fun with basic routine maintainence without breaking the bank account, even oil changes add up with twins when you buy 18+ quarts and filters, that said, I would never go back to single screw once you get a feel for twins, good luck in your search, there's a lot of great boats in that range of size

Lots of great boats in this segment. I'd love to stay with a Nordic it I'm not sure a Flame would fit in the garage? This is going to be a learning curve for me... never driven twins and have a lot to learn about these boats from cabins, weight, and paint v gel. I have a 6.7 Cummins 2500 and I plan on towing quite a bit. Thanks for everyone's advice.

You will be fine with that truck, our 2500 Duramax pulls our just fine, I'm guessing we are just shy of 10k fully loaded, setup on a custom trailer, which most are, triple axle trailers track very well, if you get a painted boat, get the fender covers, the rubber will scratch the crap out of paint

Be careful before buying anything. Make sure to actually measure it on the trailer. I'm building a shop for my Donzi 35 and with the trailer and drives sticking out...from tongue to prop it is going to be rather cozy in a 50 foot deep shop. There's room to walk around behind the drives but it isn't like I have enough room to put a bunch of stuff.

you're right...not sure if a flame will fit in a 40' bay...ill try to get ahold of my buddy to see if he knows what his measures on a trailer if youd like

You had a Sunny for a while? I remember you had Bob rebuild the motors. Which model was that and why'd you switch? You've seen my Rage run... I just want to do that with a nice cabin that handles bigger water. How do you like the Donzi?

fwiw I just talked to him and he told me with the drives down his 35 flame fit in a 40' stall by 3 inches just so you know...that's on the trailer from Nordic that came with the boat

stewart