Re: Deck or Pontoon
Bull. Most boats at your lake must be flat-bottom boats then. You will never get a pontoon to ride better in chop/rough water than a V-hull, even if it is closer to a tri-hull.
I have a 24' Manitou SHP. It has a center tube which is larger and set deeper than the two outer tubes. Gives me a virtual v-hull. I have 175HP on the back end. I sit higher in the water than a 2 tube and go quite a bit faster.
During one storm we got caught in I was behind a bowrider of some sort and had to keep slowing down as he was being tossed so much. (only 2' or so waves I thought but they must have been bigger as he was having a really hard time of it, bouncing just about out of the water. I was riding mostly flat.)
Ever see a pontoon loaded with people (8-10) hit a big wave in the front and end up with everyone standing ankle-deep in water? I've seen it a dozen times, and been on one once that did it and we weren't over capacity/weight.
Normally that happens due to bad or inattentive driving by the captain. Hit wakes and waves at a 45 deg angle and NEVER slow down before a wave.
The only time I've ever submarined even slightly was when I wasn't paying too close attention, had the boat loaded wrong (all my guests up front) and buried her nose in a wake. After a refreshing rinse of our toes we bouyed right back up and resumed our trip.
Maybe you have a high-end pontoon that resists this phenomenon, but in general I think they are just cheap ways to get a lot of deck space. Watersports are also nil with them unless you want to ski/tube at 20 miles an hour and have a terrible turning radius.
I pull a big 3 person tube at about 20mph at about half throttle. I don't feel comfortable dragging my passengers faster than that (for the most part). I can turn sharp enough to jump my own wake when it's still worth jumping (about a 50'-75' diameter. Not too bad for a 24' boat) Do a lot of donuts and then reverse course and whip the tube over the stacked water.
If you DO want to do he fun stuff, you have to shell out big bucks for the large outboards which suck fuel like none other. Even the few I/O-pontoons are major bucks.
The original poster did not give a price range. Since a pontoon will last almost forever with proper care, my cost per year will be acceptable (It was a 43K boat brand new complete with trailer and all options). I bought mine new as the hull design was new enough that no used boats were available yet. There should be some out there now.
I recall seeing something about a tri-toon that could hit 65mph, that would scare me to death on a pontoon.
I get around 37-38 MPH WOT. I know of people with the same hull design but a bigger motor who get 50MPH. (He's got a couple tweaks that he did that increased him by about 4mph. I figure I can get over 40MPH with them installed) The boat handles so smooth that I don't feel like I'm moving that fast at all.
So I get all the advantages of a deckboat but with the room and comfort of a pontoon. Remember these are not your grandpa's pontoon anymore.
As tashasdaddy said:
pontoon for fishing. deck for water sports. high powered pontoon for both.
