Advice Please: 20 ft. vs. 22 ft. pontoon boat

[WaterDR]

Re: Advice Please: 20 ft. vs. 22 ft. pontoon boat

I've had a 24' Starcraft pontoon for 27 years with a Yamaha 115 hp 2 stroke. It runs great and pulls skiers well, but it just handles like a pig. And top speed is like you hit a wall--at about 25 mph.

We switched over this year to a 24' Bennington trihull with a Yamaha 150 hp 4 stroke engine. It runs 40 mph GPS @ 6000 rpm's. It's an absolutely stunning boat, including the rear facing sun loungers. A tritoon over 30 mph is pretty impressive running.

All the major toon manufacturers have 3-4 different seat packages at all price points. You can get a S class Bennington for a very good price, and it has the same quality as the really expensive models. I also like Harris, Premier, Manitou and Cypress Cay.

For big water use, 22' or longer is preferred. If you don't pull tubers or skiers, you can get by on a 2 toon boat and 90 horsepower. I personally prefer the 115 hp motor over the 90 @ $1000 difference. If you have a big family, pull tubers/skiers or have young children, go for the tritoon.

But the big trick is to buy or order a boat with lifting strakes on the pontoons. Strakes and 115 hp will get the nosecones out of the water for another 5 mph and much better fuel mileage. A straked pontoon will also ride much smoother and is more seaworthy.

The whole thing is to get a boat that fits your present AND future needs. And get the biggest engine you can afford is the common pontoon owner's best recommendation.

Those rear facing loungers are REALLY nice and becomming a very common lay-out these days. i see more and more of them at teh boat shows the last few years. I think they work great especially on longer boats. My concern with them is that they don't lend to the space very well and are not very conversational.....I guess there is good and bad to that.

I am waiting for a toon maker to develop a truly convertable model that allows for different positions of furniture.