Opinions on Monterey 298 SC

[Mischief Managed]

Thinking about shopping for a used Monterey 298 SC. It will have to be a cream-puff, trailer-kept boat with Mercruiser 350MAGs or 6.2s and Bravo3s for me to consider it (and I'm patient). Anyone on here have one? Any other similar boats out there that I should look at? Key attributes for me are the 45MPH cruise/60 MPH top speed, the pocket cruiser amenities, and the "trailerability". I know there are 30 footers with better amenities and space, but I do not want to trade speed for space and amenities.

 

[Slip Away]

Those are good boats Dave. I owned two Monterey's and they are very well built. In the real world, you will
struggle with fuel and gear to hit 60mph with the 298. You will have a bit more room in the cuddy of the 298 than you do on your Regal, but not much.
The 298 is a good boat for rougher conditions too.

 

[Slip Away]

Sorry, guess you were looking for owner's opinions. Likely not any owner's on this board, and not many on the Winni board either.
Good luck in your search anyway. To get the rather stringent requirements you are looking for, you would be
better off getting a bigger boat than your Regal, rather than dumping a ton of money into your motor to achieve the numbers
you would like to get out of your current set up.

 

[Mischief Managed]

Yeah, I don't think I'll be doing much in the way of upgrades to my current boat. Thanks for the replies.

Regarding the speed, the bowrider version (298 SS) of the same boat hit 60.9 MPH with twin Volvo 5.7 280 HP engines, according to Boating Magazine. I think it would be reasonable to expect 60 MPH with an extra 80 HP from the twin 6.2s that I'd prefer, despite the added weight of the cabin. That said, it's got a substantially faster cruising speed than my current boat regardless and that's the real key for me as my wife and I have learned that we really enjoy covering long distances in a short time...

 

[Slip Away]

I know you want a small cabin for overnights, but when you win the lottery next week.....
Take a peak at the all new Cobalt R30. It's a bowrider, but a big fast one.
Tested at elevation in Las Vegas at the Cobalt dealers meeting, equipped with twin 380HP new
GenVI Volvo Penta V8's, she planed out in 3.0 seconds and hit 61 mph at WOT.
Dang Cobalt makes some beautiful boats !

 

[Mischief Managed]

Those are gorgeous boats. Cobalt does not make a boat that fills my need though. My wife and I spend way too many nights aboard to go without a cabin.

 

[tpenfield]

Two things that are a bit funky about the 298 IMO are:

- The steps leading to the bow are part of the sliding cabin hatch. So you have to close off the cabin to go up/down from the bow.

- The aft berth looks a bit small. Is it just for 1 person?

Overall it is a nice layout. A good sized day boat with decent overnighting capabilities.

It was once on my short list, but not too many (hardly any) were on the market when I was boat shopping.