Fast bowriders for family and fishing

krawler · Sep 11, 2009

Dont care what year, i would like speed and comfort for family. would also like to mount downriggers for trolling on the great lakes. looking for 60 mph, dont care if inboard or outboard, 21' or less. dont want a cc nor do i want aluminum. I'm reading threads constantly but having difficulty finding a model or at least knowing if it has the speed or capability to suit all my needs. any suggestions on makes and models is greatly appreciated??

thanks

RotaryRacer · Sep 11, 2009

Re: Fast bowriders for family and fishing

I would suggest a mid to late 80s Four Winns 210 Horizon with the biggest engine you can find. The hull form is basically the same for these and the Liberator of the same basic size. They aren't specifically fast boats but with enough motor anything can move pretty good. I'm thinking a repowered boat with a 454 Bravo III. There may be a few out there that have a 454 with a Bravo I from the factory. Don't look at anything newer than 1988. That is when OMC bought Four Winns....you don't want a King Cobra drive.

I would say that your needs are in direct contrast. Typically a bowrider that is fast will have very limited open deck space and the motor usually is covered by a large sun pad. This will make fishing and especially trolling w/ downriggers pretty difficult.

QC · Sep 11, 2009

Re: Fast bowriders for family and fishing

Budget?

krawler · Sep 11, 2009

Re: Fast bowriders for family and fishing

I understand bowriders have the deck in the back making it difficult to mount and fish with riggers, thats why i would consider an outboard. 1d like to spend around 10g's give or take.

thanks

Mischief Managed · Sep 11, 2009

Re: Fast bowriders for family and fishing

Not sure how it would be for fishing, but a 97 and newer Regal 2100 LSR with a 5.0 EFI/MPI or a carbureted 5.7 would top out a little over 60 with a good prop.

nitsuj · Sep 11, 2009

Re: Fast bowriders for family and fishing

krawler said:
Dont care what year, i would like speed and comfort for family. would also like to mount downriggers for trolling on the great lakes. looking for 60 mph, dont care if inboard or outboard, 21' or less. dont want a cc nor do i want aluminum. I'm reading threads constantly but having difficulty finding a model or at least knowing if it has the speed or capability to suit all my needs. any suggestions on makes and models is greatly appreciated??

thanks

You might want to think about some flexibility there. I'm not expert, but I've spent enough time used boat shopping to know that some of your requirements will be tough to meet. First of all, I think most of the hard core fishing guys would agree, 21' is about as small as you want to go for a great lakes troller. And 60mph is nothing to sneeze at. It's possible, and some bow riders can manage that speed, but it seems the majority of them are more like 45-50 top speed. 10 grand is a good chunk of change and it gives you a wide range of boats to look at. But getting a boat big enough to fish on the great lakes, but still small and light enough for a motor to push it to 60 is a stretch. And why rule out cc's? A cc with a big honking outboard (or 2) sounds like it would fit all your needs. Except for it being a CC.

high'n'dry · Sep 11, 2009

Re: Fast bowriders for family and fishing

krawler said:
Dont care what year, i would like speed and comfort for family. would also like to mount downriggers for trolling on the great lakes. looking for 60 mph, dont care if inboard or outboard, 21' or less. dont want a cc nor do i want aluminum. I'm reading threads constantly but having difficulty finding a model or at least knowing if it has the speed or capability to suit all my needs. any suggestions on makes and models is greatly appreciated??

thanks

The reason you are having difficulty is that no such thing really exists. Most boats intended for saltwater use below 21 feet, speed is not the issue, ride and seaworthiness are. Being able to go 60 MPH would serve no purpose.

Maybe you should get a speed boat to blast around in and a fishing boat to fish with.

This will do it with 300 horsepower but it is a cc. You will find that most serious fish boats are cc designs, not a bow rider.

http://contenderfishingboats.com/boats.aspx?id=44

krawler · Sep 11, 2009

Re: Fast bowriders for family and fishing

I underdstand what im looking for is hard to come by. Im comfortable with a 21' boat on the great lakes. I've fished out of a 16' lund on georgian bay and lake ontario. This boat will be more of a family, cruising fun boat but id like the option of trolling with downriggers as well. I've had a 22'walkaround for the past 20 years, its slow and a great fishing boat but want something more stylish and comfortable for day trips with the fam. A cc would be similar to my walkaround. Instead of a bowrider id also look at a boat with a cabin, saw the four winns liberator but not a lot of room in the back for fishing.

thanks for the responses, keep them coming

QC · Sep 11, 2009

Re: Fast bowriders for family and fishing

The closest I can think of is a small Dual Console with an overpowered OB. Not recommended and they aren't cheap nor readily available used. If you had $40K to play with this would be easier . . .

Bamboo · Sep 11, 2009

Re: Fast bowriders for family and fishing

A Key West 211dc w/Yamaha F250 will get you to the 55mph mark with solid offshore handling. But, it is probably about 4 x your budget

45Auto · Sep 12, 2009

Re: Fast bowriders for family and fishing

mischief_managed said:
Not sure how it would be for fishing, but a 97 and newer Regal 2100 LSR with a 5.0 EFI/MPI or a carbureted 5.7 would top out a little over 60 with a good prop.

Those must have been the "special" Regal 2100's with the speedometers that read 15 MPH too fast. The ones with the 300 HP MPI 5.7's can only do 52 MPH.

bad_boy · Sep 12, 2009

Re: Fast bowriders for family and fishing

$10k for the perfect boat, I let you know when I stop laughing...

Mischief Managed · Sep 12, 2009

Re: Fast bowriders for family and fishing

45Auto said:
Those must have been the "special" Regal 2100's with the speedometers that read 15 MPH too fast. The ones with the 300 HP MPI 5.7's can only do 52 MPH.

That is a 2100 RX, it's way outside the given price range, and an utterly different model than the boat I recommended.

The 2100 LSR is a lot lighter (500 lbs), has more deadrise, a more aggressive step, a pad keel, more aggressive reverse chines; and would easily exceed 52 MPH with 220 HP. It went out of production in 2003 or so.

wca_tim · Sep 12, 2009

Re: Fast bowriders for family and fishing

I would have to agree with Mr. Auto on this one...

Almost without fail, every 60 mph 5.0 boat i've ever seen or heard tell of... went closer to 50 by gps...

In fact, the vast majority of 5.7 engine boats won't hit 60 except on the trailer...

I had my spedometer burried past 75 this afternoon - running 3/4 throttle at about 5000 rpms this afternoon.... think it was right?

Mischief Managed said:
Not sure how it would be for fishing, but a 97 and newer Regal 2100 LSR with a 5.0 EFI/MPI or a carbureted 5.7 would top out a little over 60 with a good prop.

wca_tim · Sep 12, 2009

Re: Fast bowriders for family and fishing

to the op, you're going to be hard pressed to find a boat that really excells at both the fishing end and the family / cruiser / speedboat end of things. However, you could probably find something really nice in your price range that will be great for one and usable for the other...

which is more important to you? (just wink if your wife is reading this)

There are a lot of nice outboard fishing boats out there that'll run into the 40s and have great hulls to handle the rough stuff...

there are also a lot of really nice 90s era i/o bowriders / performance boats that will probalby run deep into the 50s and be great for the cruising around sort of thing, but leave convenience to be desired when trying to do serious fishing.

jkust · Sep 12, 2009

Re: Fast bowriders for family and fishing

10k is a little light for what you are after. It is suprising how few well built boats will do an honest 60 especially loaded up.

Drowned Rat · Sep 12, 2009

Re: Fast bowriders for family and fishing

45Auto said:
Those must have been the "special" Regal 2100's with the speedometers that read 15 MPH too fast. The ones with the 300 HP MPI 5.7's can only do 52 MPH.

I have a buddy who had the LSR model with the 5.0 and it was very close to 60mph. The GPS would hover right around 58.5mph, we could never get it to cross the line to 60. I've never seen one of these boats with a 5.7, but there's no doubt it would easily do 60mph.

diesel5599 · Sep 12, 2009

Re: Fast bowriders for family and fishing

Have to agree with the other posters, very few boats will actually do 60, and I have never seen one in the 10K range. Won't mention the other requirements, because your two main ones probably won't be met. Almost bar none, the family boats I have seen top out in the mid 40's to 50's.

Not trying to discourage you, but with the exception of a few Baja's and overpowered OB CC's claiming 60 (non GPS verified) I doubt you will find a boat that fast with all of those features.

I'm guessing if you could somehow take a 18'-20' ski boat and shoehorn in a 454 without it flipping over you might get 60 out of it, but the only way you can pull that off for $10K is to get a hull for about $500 and a rebuilt 454 for cheap. Mating a tranny to it without shearing the transom is another problem.

wca_tim · Sep 12, 2009

Re: Fast bowriders for family and fishing

no need for the big block in the short boat... getting 400++ ft lbs torque and 375+ hp out of a 383 or 400 small block with very good manners and dependability / life is a straightforward thing for reasonable money. so you don't have to add the weight (and in fact lose some) and wind up with quite a bit more horsepower than the stock 454 would make with good manners. In fact, I believe merc often recommends their 383 for replacement of original 454 engines...

if you want to go 60 in an average / higher end family bowrider, slightly enlarge the hole in the spedometer pick-up and leave the gps at home. works for me!

I will also say that at least around here, there are lots of boats that are very nice and are runners for that kind of money... they just aren't selling a lot of them. you have to be patient, some people are buying, but they're being pretty eselective. If the guy's still got it, I think I'm going to look at a late eighties chapparral tomrrow for under 4k that has a fresh engine in it and should have no problem breaking the 60 mark...

xxturbowesxx · Sep 12, 2009

Re: Fast bowriders for family and fishing

A fish/ski will get you there but will not handle rough water.

Fast bowriders for family and fishing

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