Larger Bow Rider

[75TowerOfPower]

Well the search begins to please the old lady and myself. I know we want to be able to seat 8-10 adults legally on a bow rider. I have been looking and this seems to be only possible on 21' or so and up boat. We have a 10k ish budget for it. And more than liekly will be purchasing over winter/ super early in the season. Also, we need a I/O inorder to trim up in shallow ramps.

I found that Bayliner makes the 2050 and a 2350 and they are alright but isn't every Bayliner blue? Not a super big fan of blue but i could always change than but I don't know if I liek the styling. (yes, I know some people say build quality isn't so great.) We were looking in th '98 - '02.

I like the looks of Maxums, plus red helps. I think i have figured out their model codes with SR being their bow riders.

I haven't looked into SeaRay, Cobalt, or Regal too hard.

i was hoping you guys already knew some good models that meet these criteria. Obvisously v6's and up and hopefully Merc's.

Anybody got one of these suckers?

 

[Chris1956]

Re: Larger Bow Rider

What about a 21' bowrider with an outboard? You will need 150-175HP, but there are all kinds of makes and models to choose. A deckboat is another choice.

 

[75TowerOfPower]

Re: Larger Bow Rider

No outboard I/O

 

[Kracken]

Re: Larger Bow Rider

That is going to be a tall order. While many 21ft state 10-12 passengers, the actual weight capacity will range 1100-1500lbs. Those are some pretty skinny people.

For 8-10 adults I would think a 23' at an absolute minimum. that makes your pricepoint difficult.

 

[korygrandy]

Re: Larger Bow Rider

I think you should look at a deckboat or pontune boat if you are going to have 8-10 people often. With a bowrider it will feel cramped with that many people. On average around here the 17-19' used bowriders go for $10,000 and those definitely do not fit 8 people comfortably.

Good Luck!

 

[Utahboatnut]

Re: Larger Bow Rider

My brother in law has a Larson 230 lxi that has a 12 person capacity, 350 mpi B3 drive. It is a very well laid out boat I have been on it with 10-11 people and it holds them well, not like sardines at all.

 

[redone4x4]

Re: Larger Bow Rider

also, bayliners come in read too from what ive seen. There are companies that make huge bowriders, up to 26-27'. Ive seen a few, they are massive!

 

[mtrainTurbo]

Re: Larger Bow Rider

That is going to be a tall order. While many 21ft state 10-12 passengers, the actual weight capacity will range 1100-1500lbs. Those are some pretty skinny people.

For 8-10 adults I would think a 23' at an absolute minimum. that makes your pricepoint difficult.

Agreed, and as far as I know, Bayliner was the only mass market builder who regularly produced larger bowriders. Especially at his price point.

The largest bowrider they produced up till 2003ish was the 2450 Ciera Sportcruiser, ONLY made for 1986 and using the 2450 Ciera cruiser hull. I searched for 3 years to find mine, and I probably had the best example. THis boat suits your needs if you're willing to go old, but you won't find many left that are worth saving. I would routinely put 8 people on mine, but 10 was asking a lot. I maxed it out at 12, and nobody had much wiggle room.

The 2350 Capri was known in the 1980s as the 2150 Capri, and then in 1990 it became the 2250 Capri, and later the 2350 as of 1998. This is probably what will fit your budget and age requirements. They tend to have an enclosed head compartment and some of them have water systems. 1998 models had an SS package that had a red gelcoat color, and all of them were available with 7.4L MPI Bravo 3 power (good luck finding that...)

This would be a vintage 1996 SS I believe, and a 2250:

http://www.bootnederland.nl/images/bayliner_2250_ss1905.jpg

In 1998, they had blue and the SS red package. Here's a 2050 SS to show you what it looks like:

http://www.lakeraystownboats.com/boats/bay_2050/01.jpg

In 1999 they switched to am emerald green setup and the SS became a Sport. In 2000 they had a nice teal/silver (I had a 2000 1850 Capri). Here is a nice 2000 for sale in OKC:

http://www.boattrader.com/listing/2000-Bayliner-2350-Capri-LS-97080439

Maxum used this hull as a basis for their boat, so we can call the two of them the same boat. At your price point, you're most likely shopping a Bayliner 2350 Capri (or the Maxum equivelent), but you ain't getting 10 people on it regularly, or comfortably.

 

[tmh]

Re: Larger Bow Rider

Not sure why an I/O for trim up reasons - outboard is BETTER for that. Other reasons you might want an I/O but not trim up in shallows. Jet or outboard is much better for that.

The min. 23' suggestion sounds right to me as well. Now, if you're talking 2-4 normally but 10 or so including little kids occasionally...then maybe 21-22 would be OK. There are lots of variations of "deck boats" - some are based on a bowrider and run like one, some are from the pontoon family. They are certainly a good choice when you expect a crowd often. For a large group, entertaining or just hanging out/cruising a pontoon fits better.

$10k is tough for a 10 year old well-powered bowrider or bowrider based deck boat of decent quality. You MIGHT get it in your range though... prices are great now. Narrow down what you want more then look around some more. Regal makes nice deck boats, not sure if they did so 10 years ago. Larson and many others as well.

 

[TimBobCom]

Re: Larger Bow Rider

My Regal 2200 (22 feet) is rated for 10 persons or 1500 lbs. The most I have had on it are 7 adults, and it was a tad cramped. If I tried to put 10 people on there they would be sitting on laps.

 

[Huron Angler]

Re: Larger Bow Rider

Starcraft manufactured 22' aluminum bowriders that came in OB and I/O packages, that would meet your needs on capacity.

 

[Kracken]

Re: Larger Bow Rider

My brother in law has a Larson 230 lxi that has a 12 person capacity, 350 mpi B3 drive. It is a very well laid out boat I have been on it with 10-11 people and it holds them well, not like sardines at all.

I don?t want this to come off the wrong way?not meaning to question your experience either.


But like I said 23' at an absolute minimum.

With 10-11 full size adults on a 23' bowrider, while it still may be comfortable, it?s very close to capacity. Depending on the boat, layout and conditions, a 23 ? boat with 10-11 adults + gear and fuel the boat could be 1 or 2 good waves away from giving all the passengers a bath.

Second point. 10K for that boat? pretty hard to do.

We just had a 21' bowrider go down last week with 12 people on board


http://www.unionleader.com/article.a...2-b081108daa25

 

[spikeitaudi]

Re: Larger Bow Rider

Chaparral makes a bowrider that has a Yacht seating plate. Not sure what size that is as it most likely bigger then a 24. But man that think was sure nice.

 

[Utahboatnut]

Re: Larger Bow Rider

I agree that $10k probably isnt going to get you what you want, more stateing the fact that there are bowriders out there that will accomidate the request given. The horseshoe style seating out back is very nice for fitting people on board. With 10, 11, 12 people(max capacity as per plate) you arent going to be hauling any gear. A few years ago we all loaded into his boat(10 adults) and went to Rainbow Bridge 50 miles each way the ride down was nice cause it was early in the morning. The ride back the water was much worse just how it gets in the main channel at Lake powell. I was pretty impressed at how the boat performed, seems like worlds bigger than my 20' crownline open bow. It says max 8 people and unless 4 were kids it would be TIGHT but I do like the 5.7 in a 20' open bow it gets right with the program.

 

[Insteada]

Re: Larger Bow Rider

We've got a 2007 Bayliner 245 Bowrider and we've had 10 adults on it, with gear, etc and it's pretty stable. We're boating the Mississippi and not the coasts, but even with other wakes, etc it is very stable and lays out great for a bunch of people. But we didn't get it for $10k. I do know that they made some that were a black and white paint scheme that looks great, but mine is blue. Good luck.

 

[seabob4]

Re: Larger Bow Rider

The Formula 310 oughta do ya...

 

[nate1220]

Re: Larger Bow Rider

I wish you could pick one of those ^^^^^^^^ up for $10K

 

[75TowerOfPower]

Re: Larger Bow Rider

Well thanks for the responses. I think I am going to shoot for a 8 seater with a higher weight capacity. I know some models are out of our price range but hopefully I can get some brands and models in mind.

We aren't pontoon boat people and I don't think we can affroad a deck boat fast enough for us. So I was looking into boats and I was finding that most are 2k over the NADA value. I know the NADA doesn't include the trailer price.

 

[75TowerOfPower]

Re: Larger Bow Rider

Also I noticed that NADA doesn't have capacity numbers on their site, is there a site out there that does?

 

[lkbum]

Re: Larger Bow Rider

I've got a Chaparral 280 SSi, 10 or so adults in a 23 footer is going to wallow around and handle like a dog. The 280 is 30' with the platform, with a 9' 4" beam. I've had 12 adults on board and even this boat is very sluggish with that load and I've got twin 305 mpi I/O's (440 HP). If you shop, you can now find these boats with a single screw in the mid 20's, but you will have to shop around. check the photo's below to see this boats capacity... My yougest daughter and her friends on two different outings... I really like this boat...

http://i221.photobucket.com/albums/dd192/lkbum/myboatlores1.jpg

http://i221.photobucket.com/albums/dd192/lkbum/Picture010small1.jpg