I am a recent boating Newbie who was being tossed around in a 1987 165 Glassport. Of course I decided to upgrade and have spent the better part of the last month checking out 20 foot bowriders in the 25-30K range. I had narrowed it down to the Glasstron GX205, the Caravelle LS207 and the Yamaha SX230. Because I have two young kids, I liked the layout, the fantastic swim platform, and the no-prop drive of the Yamaha hands down over the other two. The Yamaha dealer would also take my Yamaha motorcycle in trade. So - despite my reservations about buying the Yamaha without a test ride, I bought it. BIG MISTAKE! The no-wake handling is worse than I expected and the noise level is un-acceptable. I sure wish boat tests were more honest. All they mentioned about noise was that "it's un-nerving running at 10,000 rpm." I can "learn" my way around the handling but I can't live with the noise. I still love the layout and the swim platform but the noise will drive me crazy - any help is appreciated. I'm no longer 2bigformyboat now I'm just deaf. Buyers remorse sucks. 