Bowrider

Al Action

Recruit
Joined
Jan 3, 2021
Messages
1
Hi everyone,
I'm looking to buy my first boat.
Want to have enough room to comfortably sit about 10 people on it, spending a day on the Hudson river.
Do some skiing and entertain guests.
Was thinking about bow rider such as Monterey Explorer 263 that also have a very large Bimini (shade is important for me).
What can you recommend? What Brand, size, etc?
Thanks
 

alldodge

Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Mar 8, 2009
Messages
42,064
Want a ski boat that carries 10 people. First thing is your going to need a lot of power. The 265 came standard with a single motor so do look for a 8.1 or 8.2, you will need every bit of the hp

The boat weights 5600 dry, add 10 people (1000 to 1500), 60 gallons of gas and a bunch of gear.

There is a lot of large bow riders, and higher end ones which will weight more
 

tpenfield

Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Jul 18, 2011
Messages
18,040
10 people, comfortable, water sports, day long outings . . .

I'd be thinking 28 foot bowrider with twin engines. Not sure you could actually do water skiing with 8-10 people in a boat. Tubing and maybe wake boarding . . .
 

KD4UPL

Senior Chief Petty Officer
Joined
Feb 13, 2010
Messages
671
We're a family of 5 and often take another family of from 3 to 6 with us on the boat for the day. This typically gives us 4 adults and from 4 to 7 children. We have a Rinker 232 with a 300 hp Mercruiser 350 mag. It's a crowded boat for sure but we have a good time. The engine is powerful enough but certainly not overly so. I specifically avoided boats with the smaller 250 hp to 270 hp engines. I would have much preferred an 8.1L big block but just never found quite what I wanted in the right price range. I can pop up a skier with 10 others in the boat no problem but it takes putting the throttle wide open.
Monterey makes a nice boat. I looked at them as well as Sea Ray, Chaparral, Four Winds, Cobalt, Bryant, and Ebbtide. I would consider those the middle to upper end boats for bowriders. I was not interested in Bayliner, Stingray, Tahoe, or other low end boats. I don't know if my Rinker is considered low end or not but I really like the boat. The last one I had was a Larson that I also likes. I didn't realize until after I bought the Rinker that the same company makes them and Larson.
I also was specifically interested in an I/O boat and not an outboard. We boat exclusively on fresh water and I don't want that big outboard ruining the rear swim deck. It would be totally in the way for swimming, jumping off the boat, getting on the tube, towable access, etc.
 

alldodge

Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Mar 8, 2009
Messages
42,064
I have a 232 with a 454 and have pulled 9 skiers up at one time (started with 11 and 2 fell off). The 454 in the 232 is a much better boat then the 350 or 383, just has more low end torque
 
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