Suggest a Boat please!!!

[underwurlde]

Me and the proverbial mate(s) are going to get a boat!!!

Some noob questions already answered, but now the ultimate question... which boat to actually strive for.

What do we need it for:
We're based in Christchurch on the south coast U.K. so perhaps looking to potter up & down the R.Stour, over the the Isle of Wight or launch from Beta Park in Poole and mooch over to Old Harry Rocks via Brownsea island or pop over to Bournemouth from Christchuch Harbour (Mudeford) to swan about & look at the fireworks... that kind of thing.

Who is it for:
to suit a maximum 'load' of 4 adults and 3 kids, seated in whatever arrangement.

The list we've guessed so far
70-80hp outboard engine, 4 stroke.
16 to 17 ft long
wide vessel for stability? say 6ft

Boats we like the look of so far (but only because we've seen them on ebay):
Bayliner Capri
Rascala FM17
Glastron (suggest a model).

We like the idea of the bow of the vessel being open to seating (i.e. maximization of space).

Budget
Not a lot. We have a budget of ?3,000 - of which we expect to fork out about ?500 for other 'things' (fishfinder, life jackets, VHF, flares etc).

Thanks in advance,

Andy & Stef

 

[RWilson2526]

Re: Suggest a Boat please!!!

Well, looks like you plan on doing alot of pottering, mooching and popping over from here to there

Good luck on your first boat purchase....I would say if possible you need to up your sizes just a few feet at least...7 people in a boat is alot. I would agree that for your first boat you dont want to go too big but at the same time you dont want to be crammed in unable to move with an undersized motor barely able to push you along.

18-20'
7'-8' beam
100-125 hp

Not sure what the boat market is like over there, but here you can find a ton of 18' bow riders with a 3.0L engine (130 HP) in that price range. (and many will tell you they prefer a bigger engine.

Good luck with your search