What did you think? The 26OL didn't have as much room as I thought it would. Was surprised that the 29 beak had the most cockpit room I thought.

Was surprised to see Checkmate and DCB there.

I thought the Baja display was a little light since they only had one boat the 26 OL with a sticker of 95k and boat show special of 84k. I was surprised to see Checkmate as I have not seen a lot of them down south. Did you get a chance to see the Challenger, a dealer up in Hickory just picked up their line.

There was some great deals on the bigger boats especially the 43 ft Donzi! I wish I was in the market for a 300k boat!

I can't pm on this site so if you want to touch base so you can see a 288 in person, you will have to go to sunsationboats.com and send me a pm to Glass Joe. My 288 is usually @ Crown Harbor right off 77 in Cornelius, and is currently sitting on the Sea Ray dealer's back lot. Let me know if you want to check out the layout. I would be more than happy to let you look around before you decide which boat you are going to purchase. My personal recommendation is the Sunsation....hands down!

Joe

When did the change to the 288 hull take place? 01? What was the new updated hull?

So a 288 with 496 Mag......66-68
with 496 HO........70
454Mag.............64-66 (Not sure it was an option)
with 525.............72-74

Do these sound about right?

And the lenth between a 25 OL and 288 is with in 6"? It seems that the 288 has quite a bit larger interior cabin with cockpit area about the same. I also would think, opinion only, that a 288 would use a bit more fuel with same power due to weight.

The biggest hull change came in 05 with a full step across the hull. Prior to that it was a partial step to the first strake. The cockpit is identical to a 32 (from the windshield back to the transom) so it may seem big for a 28.

About 2 years ago I went throught the same situation, but it comes down to what do you want to do on the boat. We were big in to overnighting on the river. The 288 was an easy winer.

On Lake Michigan is where the 288 really proved its worth to me...... in the chop it is great!

04 288 Closed Bow, HO

05 went to a full step. Much More leg room between the rear seat and bolsters on the Sun 288 along with a bigger cabin. Been rafted next to a 25OL and the 288 seemed much roomier. With the bolt on swim platform on the Baja I think if I remember correctly the 288 was around a 1' longer.
Best I've ever seen on the 04 288 496HO has been 68.5 per GPS. If your not always in the stick you'll be supprised how efficent the 496HO is in the 288. Fit and finish along with rigging all around, is easily MUCH better in the 288, no comparison there. Not that the Baja is that bad but it's what you would expect out of a mass produced boat.

I used to think the same way. Whats the biggest boat I can get with a single engine. Then I bought one with twins and I burn about the same with twin 454 that I did with my single 502 - 24ft boat.

Hmmm, maybe I'll post another thread regarding the cost of ownership between a large single a small twin.

My 2001 288 (which has the Vortec step, which is not a true step) with the 500efi 28p will run 75 by GPS