Newb in need of help choosing new boat

Hello baziado, Welcome to YachtForums. What is your proposed budget for your new boat purchase? There are certainly plenty of nice buys out there right now.

Good boat, but I disagree. The Cabo is a serious fisher, ready to make the canyon in almost anything. The OP sounds like he's talking coastal fishing with an occassional canyon run. The biggest drawback to any SF type boat as a family cruiser is the ladder to the bridge. Who's carrying the 8 month old up or lunch for 2 kids, a baby and dad & mom? I'd be looking more towards a sedan bridge, sport cruiser or cockpit MY for their usage. If Sea Ray has satisfied you to this point I might look to them as you'll find many available. At 700K you could easily make it to 50' and nearly new. That has 2 nice staterooms plus one kids SR with 2 bunks, laundry and a nice bridge. SR is not my first choice for quality, but not bad for the average boater.

The main drawback to boats in the 38-40' range is lack of space in the engine room. By the time you put in a pair of engines, a/c equipment and a generator the space is packed. If you move the generator to the lazarette it turns into a pile of rust in 3-5 years. If you step up to something in the 45' range it makes maintenance much easier. You won't get a standup engine room but at least you have some room to service the equipment. It looks like you could get a 6-7 year old 45' Viking in the price range that your looking.http://www.**************/boats/2004/Viking-Convertible-2141518/Panama-City/FL/United-States This would make a nice boat. I don't have any personal experience with MAN engines but, I'm sure that there are some people here that are.

MarineMax hires "salesmen's salesmen" if you know what I mean. Deals can be gotten, but you have to be good.

Don't like the 41 Bertram, not thrilled with the 50 either. Don't like the ride of the newer. 5'-8' in the ocean sent us home in an '02 50. Mid 1980s Tiaras nice boats, by spartan. Your 1st post notes: "once in a while go out looking for fish as well( maybe a canyon run for tuna)", but most of your post is about comfortable family cruising, travel, the kids and the wife. It now sounds like you may be leaning more towards the fishing in your mind. Make sure of what the family's priorities are before heading off in a wrong direction. I had one client who insisted on a SF with outriggers even though the boat never saw the ocean and never fished seriously. Meanwhile he almost had to hog tie his kids to get them to come aboard, and then they just hung out in the cabin playing video games. They mostly entertained which meant everything coming up to the bridge by rope and basket.

The Maritimo will be a well built boat, same with the Riviera (Alot of the new Riv's have lost a lot of weight as well). Australian building standards are high, they have to comply with pretty strick standards downunder... but it's the fit out and design that makes me cringe, more so the Maritimo... Hopefully there will be a change in the market soon.

If it was my money I would look at the Viking range, they have nice lines and entry, Bertram seem to be loosing there performance to comfort. Cheers

Far

Interesting thread. Your requirements are very close to mine, in that you are looking for a <45ft sport fisher with a bias towards cruising. Speaking primarily new boats, this is the list that I have been studying (no particular order):

a) Viking 42C: Superb build, decent layout (3 stateroom possible), nice looking, good ladder and fly space but it is rather expensive and it seems performance from zeus is not impressive. Front hatch window better for cruising. If this had shafts, would be first choice.

b) Riviera 43: Brill design and layout for cruising - probably the best of this group. Decent enough build quality. Expensive due to strength of aussie$ at the moment. Problem for me is IPS drives which do not work well in my waters (not sure why) with little local support. Full front window. Would be worth my consideration with shafts.

c) Bertram 410: Good heritage, but the jury is still out whether the quality remains as before. Nice engine room layout and new front windscreen is great. Flybridge a bit tight and low-sided for families. Possibly too spartan for cruising. Good basic specs.

d) Tiara 3900: Very cruiser friendly with options such as flip up seat in the transom and cruising ladders etc. Rather stylish interior, small window at front and good fly size. Quality probably on par with Riviera.et al Poor seller for Tiara though. Only question remains the hull which was re-designed after first launch.....some say it is excellent as a result, some say that it is deeply flawed. I have not ridden on one, so cannot opine. Decent basic specs.

e) Cabo 40 Flybridge: Fairly fishing focussed layout and design, although the facelifted interior is a huge improvement. Tight engine room and fly. Nice lines with the bow flare, and overall quality is beyond question. Expensive. Seems to perform much better than the Viking 42 with the same 600hp Zeus (hearsay only).

f) Ocean 42SS - The dark horse of the bunch IMO. Mixed history of quality, although if reports are to believed, they are now making excellent hulls with with higher than expected quality. If correct, then compare with an Audi 10+ years ago....not so common but the smart money saw the value and quality early on before the make became really popular. Pricing and layouts both appealing. Worth a look? certainly.

g) The Others: e.g. Meridian 391, 441: Sea Ray 450: Maritimo: All these not really my preference as they are too cruiser focussed (and I don't like enclosed bridges), but each have some fantastic layout and space.

So, those are the few that I've been mulling over for a while. I'm still no closer to a decision, although I was very very close to signing for the Tiara or the Bertram, before waiting for the Viking to be launched. Given the uncertainty in various global economies, the delay was probably a blessing in disguise!

Hope this helps some.

Cheers
Puf

Baziato, with that million dollar parts inventory and all that expertise in your back yard have you considered Viking SFs or SCs (Princess)? Very good boats and good people. It occured to me when I read Maritimo and Riviera. Think about where any parts you might need are coming from and how short our summers are. Next door or half way around the world and a different lanuage, Sorry those down under, but here a Barbie is a doll made by Matel. Seriously, do you want to wait a week, 2 or 3 for a repair and then another if the wrong part comes in or drive down the block in the morning, and maybe back down in the afternoon if you got the wrong part.

From what I see listed, it's the 440, 480 or 600hp. For e.g. the PMY test of the Open mentions 600hp on the test boat, but there was also some discussion online about this accuracy (can't recall the details).

Aside from the long time to plane, I have also heard that the engines will "lose load" in heavy seas. Again, this is through a friend, so you're better off trying the vessel for yourself.

Puf

Baziado,

Likewise, I also keep coming back to Cabo, at the end of the day. Am opening discussions with them on the 40 and the 43, although I am leaning towards the 40. After a few seriously bone-jarring thwacks on my boat while heading offshore on Sat (causing some bits and bobs to fall off the boat!!), I really want to move to something really solid and well-built.

Good luck with your search.

Puf