682gold

I currently have a 2000 38' Lightning. Speed is ok at 81 but I want to go faster, 95 or better. My question is to the 42 owners. Did you have a 38 before the 42 or go straight to the 42? Also if you had a 38 before and a 42 now would you go back to a 38? I really like my 38 but not married to that length at all. I have plenty of truck to pull either and don't mind trailering to and from landings. A little back ground: I boat from Florida to Virginia and out to the Midwest. Poker runs and family outings. Have not overnighted in boat but my wife doesn't seem to mind the idea of staying on it for a short weekend. In the future a possibility of playing in the ocean but not right now, or at least I think not now. Look forward to your responses.

eddie

I had a flat bottom 1993 42, then a 2002 47 and now a 1999 42. It's hard to go from a bigger boat back down. I'd like to have another 47. I trailer all my boats, still would rather have the 47.

HyFive578

Up until two days ago, I had a 38 but when I was initially looking I really wanted a 42 and would have bought one if not for my marina telling me it was too big for the racks. I'd been looking to go bigger ever since and finally came to the realization that the 42 was not going to be enough of a step up over the 38 to justify moving out of it. My 38 did 88 all day long with staggered 525's. In a 42, you're not going to see better numbers than that unless you go to a 700 boat with #6's. We do a lot of boating on the ocean and my wife wanted more amenities, so I went for a 47... came this morning..

Beak Boater

We had a 38/700 with 6's. Loved that boat, fast, handled great and did what I needed it too. Ran Poker runs from Jax Fl to Northeast MD. That said have been in 3 different 42's they are much bigger boats, the cockpit and the cabin. They are the ultimate wave crusher. The still run plenty fast, 42/700 boat runs about 105, The 42 525/ bravo boat ran 90. The newer 42's 2006's on have the drives mounted very high. One friends boat was throwing blades from his props on a regular basis. It also managed to eat a prop shaft. They ended up putting on spacers to lower the props in the water to eliminate that problem. Slowed the boat down a touch, but dependability was more important.
You said Ocean......if you plan to run in the ocean, and don't mind towing the extra 4 feet go with the 42. I ran in some pretty sloppy water with some 42's they were a lot more comfortable than I was in my 38, We just couldn't run as hard in rough water as the 42's did.
Good Luck with your decision.

shark42

When I bought my 29' I wanted a 42, when I bought my 35' I wanted a 42. Bought a 42 9+yrs ago and still have it. It would be hard to go smaller unless getting into another type of boat all together (ski, fish,etc.). Bigger is better!

HyFive578

Couldn't agree more. If I had started with a 42 in the first place, I'm pretty sure I would have stopped there. A 42 with the right power is the boat to have. I went for the 47 though because I don't plan to trade out again and it's a good compromise with the wife to have some "cruiser" amenities and still have a 90 mph boat. And +1 on the ocean thing. If you get in anything bigger than 3 footers, you want bigger than 38... I couldn't get my wife out there unless it was pretty calm...

575cat

What kind of power are you running to do 90 ?

HyFive578

Triple 525 EFI's with sportmaster lowers and hering 6-blade props. On the sea trial last week, we got 89.7 mph with three guys on board, 3/4 full fuel tanks and glass-like conditions. Performance report from Fountain shows 94 as top speed.

eddie

Congrats! Do you have the 47 from Outerlimits?

682gold

Ok back on topic