Hello. I'm on the market for a new boat, possible a Cruiser between 27-30 feet. I'll be using it on the ocean cruising to an offshore island about 40NM offshore. The seas can get very rough at times so I need a good hull to make the trip as pleasent as possible considering I'll be travelling with my wife and kids.
I am looking at the Four Winns Vista 288 as a choice but I have no idea how good are they in the open ocean.
Some offshore fishing fans claim their fishy boat designs have better seakeeping than the popular family cruisers. Some examples for fishy brands would be Albin and Wellcraft. There are also yacht class boats by builders like Hunt and Tiara that will be priced quite a bit higher than Four Winns etc.
For the popular brands like Four Winns I do not know of any rating for seakeeping. About your only recourse is to sea trial them yourself. As for those popular cruisers, just to keep your FW dealer honest, I would also take a hard look at Chaparral and Monterey.
IMHP nothing in that price range has the level of build quality that is going to standup to regular ocean pounding
Generaly they have WAY to much open area in the stern with no way to get the water OUT when the OS happens that will happen if you spend enough time on the ocean
Most of my Ocean travels were on a 34' sailboat from Norway that was built to cross the Atlantic and i can say that there were many times during long races when we got beatup pretty BAD
Tommays
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If a dirty bottom slows you down what do think it does to your BOAT
I might suggest that you go to a marina that you might be using. Local knowledge and recommendations should carry more weight than what you might get here from some folks who run 16'ers in land locked fresh water lakes. No offense intended to those folks though - - -
I'm talking about the Pacific Ocean, from the bay of Panama to the Pearl Islands. Its 40 NM out and you
get anything from rolling swells to 4 to 6 feet chops. Or it can be flat as a lake....you never know. As a point of reference, I've been doing the route for a while in a Mako 25 (fishing boat) Most of the time is fine but at least a couple of times a year I wish I had something larger.
But I'm not into fishing (strange since this is fish country)
I just like a boat to cruise around the islands with the family and explore beaches and bays. Also a boat that can take me from point A to B, safe, dry and confortable.
I'm worried that those Four Winns, Sea Rays, Chaparral, etc are lake or intercostal boats not offshore worthy.
Well, if the "intercoastal" qualifier means a boat that is no fun in 6' chop then I would say it sticks. Interior cabin volume is a huge selling point for this type boat. Which results in a fat hull. Which ... I think you get the idea.
But all that said, these cruisers really are popular for running in the Pacific out of L.A. to Catalina Island. Almost exactly the same distance and conditions as you described for your needs. So it's certainly doable much of the time. I think the question is how far you want to push the margins for conditions.
Have you considered finding a fishy boat a little nicer than the Mako?
Need Advise on new boat
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