I know most on this site are anti weed wacker but I'm kinda partial to them for the cost of ownership and maintenance. That said I'm in the market for a new (used) boat and am curious to get the opinions of those that have had these boats.

I'm coming from a 32 Spectre with outboards and don't think I want to step up to a 36 etc due to trailering headaches and other perceived costs. Just don't think they're realistically in the budget even though a 388 is the "dream boat". I had a ton of fun with the Spectre and loved the way it handled "rough" water, I know people will say it won't hold a candle to a Skater but regardless it impressed me and a lot of other people. I'm 95% sure the next boat will be another cat just not sure yet on size, brand, or power, yea I know that leaves a lot of room for discussion but would appreciate your thoughts on the below. I feel like it'll probably be a Skater but who knows when it comes right down to it a deal may be a deal.

28 OB

Pro's

1. Fast
2. Reasonable price especially since I don't mind an older one since you can't seem to hurt them as long as the tanks are good. Anything else to watch out for?
3. Fast
4. Value, it seems that there are always a few for sale and most don't last long on the market so as long as it's taken care of I can always get out of it.
5. Oh yea Fast, not sure what else you can get and reasonably expect 110-115 or so with two outboards.

Con's

1. Size, I'm concerned that it won't be large enough to comfortably (perception of passengers) handle the same water that the Spectre did. I have little doubt it will handle bigger water than I'm comfortable running it in but from running with them in the past they seemed like they flew a lot more than the Spectre and had lower freeboard. I don't doubt the ride would be ok for the front passengers but for people in the back seat it looked like it would require a lot of faith and holding on if you got into rougher water.

Just afraid it may be more of a lake or river rocket than I'm looking for. I don't go out looking for big water but do boat on the Chesapeake Bay quite a bit and it can get nasty quickly, 3-4 foot can pop up pretty quick and the problem is they generally are right on top of each other and are often coming from multiple directions.


32 OB
Would most likely be looking for an "A" hull since they appear to be better suited for outboards

Pro's

1. Should handle "rough water" better than the Spectre
2. Can buy an older one so value is also there
3. Maintenance costs are low as well as operating costs compared to BBC IO's. I can buy an entire new 300XS for the cost of a replacement number 6 let alone rebuilds on blower motors, trans, and number 6's
4. Seem to be bullet proof hulls, I've never heard of anyone hurting them
5. "Cheap" way to get into a 'bigger" Skater
6. Even with two motors mid 90's should be a very reasonable goal and with 2 stroke outboards that don't care as much about running hard that will run with or better than a lot of people who have to be more careful running a BBC hard.
7. With 3 motors 112-118 is probably ball park which is as fast as I care about going on a regular basis
8. Reasonably high speeds with still keeping the sensation of going fast. My understanding is that with some of the 36 and 38 Skaters 115 seems like you're running 45 which is great but the sensation of speed is more of what I'm after ATM rather than trying to run 150+ to get that same sensation. 150 is cool but sh!t starts happening at those speeds and we boat about every weekend in some congested areas so wouldn't really have the ability to run that fast any way.
9. About the biggest boat you can get that will run well with outboards.

Con's

1. Not as fast as the Spectre and nowhere near the speed of the 28 with 2x 300hp
2. Limited market for resale
3. Three motors are really needed to be a 100+ boat so add that to fuel and maintenance.


32 IO

Most of the OB pro's and cons apply here but these are my impressions of the standouts

Pro's

1. Sky's the limit when it comes to speed

Con's

1. A little small for an east coast cat with inboards for resale value. For similar money you can get into 36-40 Skaters, MTI's, etc.
2. Maintenance costs scare the crap out of me. Fuel I really don't care about but the cost of maintaining blower motors and number 6 drives scares me. Granted I haven't had them so maybe it's nowhere near the pit I think but would love to hear honest opinions of what it takes to run a boat like that every weekend. I don't want 1200 HP, I just don't need it or care about running that fast, but from everything I've seen number 6 drives are a must. Just about everyone I've talked to that has a higher power boat or cat period with XR's has to either baby the crap out of them or is constantly blowing them so I've no interest in an XR boat.
3. To get the speed advantage of having IO's it seems like 650 is the minimum power to have a boat that will run reliably in the upper 90's and top out in the 120-130's.
4. It looks like I can buy two outboard boats for the price of a decent 32 with #6's

At some point I hope to be rich and famous and have a 388 with big power to play with at the occasional poker run but in the mean time I'm looking for bang for the buck. Please let me know what you think of my list and let me know if I've got it right or wrong.

Thanks

.


Your writeup is like reading the same concerns that are in my mind!

try this one ==> http://www.offshoreonly.com/classifi...o52032-en.html


or this one ==> http://www.predatorpowerboats.com/c30%20catamaran.htm



.

I visit the factory from the last one thanks to noli and he set up a test ride in one of the 30 Predator which is more then worth to look at if your serious looking at another boat ,I was very impressed on the build quality and how the boat handled the 3' waves we ride over .
Some day I want a skater ,but not everybody can afford one I think this is a very good option for those people ,at least I m gonna own one pretty soon .

Where are you going to run mainly? A 36 with I/Os in 3's with occasional 5s' is a blast a 90 to 120 mph but is no fun on inland lakes with less than 2' chop IMO. I am stepping up too and will continue to run 2.5s'. I think a 32 Skater with outboards would be great for what you described and they have plenty of freeboard as does my 25' Talon. The 2.5s and 300x are simple by design and easy to rebuild compaired to the 300xs with the air pumps.Less complex and less to fail. A 32 DW is a blast if you boat in the ocean with occasional trips inland,but is boring in anything under 2' chop IMO. With 280s' it will run 105 all day.

If I were looking outboard powered and wanted something fast you can narrow it down to two choices. A 32' with Triples or a 28'. The 30 is a real nice boat but is not as fun to drive as a 28. The 28 will accelerate much quicker and be faster. In rougher water the 30' would do a better job but it depends on how often you run rough water. Back in the days of the 28's when they first came out they were very competive against the 30' foot Motion and Mobil 1 won many a races in rough water against them. I will tell you that if you set it up right it will run through some pretty good stuff. However that set up may not be the best for a all out top end run.

Thanks for the feedback.

Noli and Bor, I'm not really interested in the Predators. I'm sure they're nice boats but I've got no interest in another new boat build After doing so with the Spectre, while I was extremely happy with the boat in the end, was a major PITA and I won't be putting myself through that again ATM. Noli, nice to know I'm not alone with the thought process.

BB, I'll be in the Chesapeake Bay mostly so while not flat water it's normaly not bad but storms due pop up quickly. I'd love to go IO and have that power just nervous about maintenance costs. I agree the 2.5, and X are much easier to work on but other than the original compressor pump failing and beign switched out to the new style, I didn't really have an issue with the xs's, at one point I was thinking of switching for the HP of the X but was esentially talked out of it by just about everyone I talked to. I'd love to find a 32 DW but I just haven't seen them for sale recently, and most still have lids on them which the wife won't go for.

DR, Any idea how a trip 32 would run compared to a 28? Obviously it will take bigger water since it's longer and heavier but how about accel and top end? When you say the 30 isn't as fun to drive as the 28 do you mean it's not as flighty or because of the higher freeboard just feels more secure? How does it compare to the 32? What are honest expectations for speed? I hadn't really been looking at them as much as the other two because it seemed the 28/32 could be had for a much better deal and the 30 still didn't have the windshield. My thinking was that if I got back to that price point I'd probably go to another 32 Spectre and have the speed and windshield. As for the 30 motion or even spectre I figured they would ride about the same as the 28 skater but be about 10mph slower on the top so hadn't really thought much about them.

Am I off base on the maintenance costs for IO's? Just heard to many horror stories of 15K to fix/replace an outdrive and while that may not kill me it would definitely put a damper on the fun.

mlb, what Spectre do/did you have and what are you doing with it?

That was my question as well. The 32 Spectres are awesome boats and given your criteria would be near the top of my short list.

And BTW, I'm not saying $15k drive rebuilds dont happen, but with mild power in a 32' cat, I'd say a set of 6's should last much, much longer (with regular fluid changes) than the lowers on the OB's!