Boat Recs for a newbie?

[Deuce]

....and I don't know the price, but this boat is SUPER clean and is read to go out the door(read his bottom post related to what is going with the boat). Added bonus....a tower system that could build a wake all by itself. May be worth an e-mail...

http://forums.wakeboarder.com/viewtopic.php?t=43769

[redelf75]

I'm not sure I agree with the majority here. CC's are designed for waterskiing and wakeboarding, so are MC's and BU's. Why take the compromises that come with them if their advantages are not a priority? I can argue for CC as much as anyone, and even if I were not into watersports, I would buy CC. But I consider myself an exception because I particularly like the feel and ride of a DD. But I admit, a deep V bottom like on a Cobalt would be much more desirable in rough waters. And that's important to a lot of people, expecially to new riders and drivers that may not be so adept at cutting through the waves, alwasy adjusting throttle. And backing up takes a lot of getting used to. Again, no issue for me, but to someone else...

It's like comparing a manual shift car to an automatic. Why shift yourself if the car can do it for you? There are plenty of good, even great, cars with automatics, but I drive a manual. What does your brother-in-law drive? If it's an automatic, I recommend the Cobalt, they are built equally well to the CC.

[Mikeski]

Moomba makes a good price point boat...

[Deuce]

Miljack....if they do choose an I/O is the way to go, personally I think Cobalt, Chris Craft(though I am not sure I love the retro look they have taken, but that would not be a problem if they are looking used) and maybe even Chaparral are in a class above Sea Ray.... Cobalt being the standard others are compared to.

Just a personal opinion, not trying to offend any Sea Ray owners. I do think the Sundancer series is a great cruiser, but I would then move to Doral. Maybe I just have a problem with Sea Ray.... :???:

Anyway...for whatever that is worth.

[OKWAKEBDR]

Sea Ray is owned by Bayliner - I've seen a big shift in the quality of their boats since the acquisition.

(My parents are I/O people)

[redelf75]

Is the shift for the worse?

[ag4ever]

I have never been very fond of sea rays.

When we were looking at I/Os in 1999-2000 we liked the ChrisCrafts, Four Winns, Donzi (runabout not cig boat).

Then our budget was a little lower, so Cobalt was out.

With the price of the ChrisCrafts (different company) today, I would say go with a Cobalt.

[66Skylark]

Actually, Bayliner does not own Sea Ray. The two companies are owned by the Brunswick Corporation. (You know, the bowling ball company!) They are part of Brunswick’s Boating Group, along with brands like Boston Whaler, Baja, Crestliner, Maxum, Princecraft, Triton, Trophy, etc. Sea Ray has been owned by Brunswick since the mid 80’s… I think Sea Ray has done well in those years.

When I go to the boat shows I see a HUGE difference between Bayliner and Sea Ray. Sea Ray is a much better boat!

A few years ago my boss bought a 2002 Sea Ray 260 Sundancer. I was very impressed with the quality of his boat. One of my trips down to visit him, his neighbor on the dock took us out on his 2003 34’ Bayliner. It didn’t handle the waves as well as my boss’s 28’ boat and the fit and finish was no where near as nice as my boss’s boat. This year my boss moved up to a 300 Sundancer. The guy with the Bayliner blew both his motors when he put it in the water. (Ouch!) While his boat was being fixed my boss took him out on his new 300… He drove it for 10 minutes and asked for the salesman’s name at the Sea Ray dealer.

If I could weight in on Chris Craft… I LOVE the retro look Chris Craft has incorporated into their boats. The new 20’ Speedster is very nice. Though, I would not want to have to maintain all that wood trim!

Finally seeing the sun here in the northeast. (After about 6 weekends in a row of rain.) Hoping to get the old 66 in the water this weekend.

Have a great day!

[OKWAKEBDR]

Okay...same parent company...I appologize.

Sea Ray is undoubtedly a better boat than Bayliner, and I know that the larger "Sundancer" models are built well. There are a lot of similarities between the SeaRay and Bayliner in the smaller boats "runabout" type boats. I don't know much about the "cruisers". The SeaRay and Bayliner runabouts are marketed to the same "boatgoers", with the SeaRay as a step up from Bayliner.

They still really cannot compete with Cobalt or Chris Craft - they are targeted to a completely different market.

As always, $$ is a big factor in any boat buying decision. The difference in a Bayliner - SeaRay - Cobalt can be compared to Chevy Cavalier - Impala - Cadillac.