Stormrider

Depends on what kind of HP boat you want.
Something a bit more cruise, or rocket.
There is a nice older 27 activator that may still be for sale w/ great hardware. Should run 80, and defintely upgradeable.
I'm guessing you dont need much of a cabin considering the size you are looking for. How important is speed over comfort? I personally prefer the custom boats over the production boats.

rlj676

Welcome to the board.

I prefer something that is easy to drive and handles some rough over all out speed, especially for a first boat. I'd look at 24 Panteras, 25 Active Thunders and 25 Powerplays.

Also, speed costs a lot more on water than land! Be sure to get valid insurance quotes before you get your heart set on anything. Once you exceed 70 the insurance can get real pricey.

spyder1337

Thanks for all the input guys I really appreciate it. As I remembered in my dads boat was it's almost like once you hit a certain speed you almost needed a larger boat to handle it if the water wasn't like glass. Which at my age right now I don't want to spend 100k on a boat to try to get 100mph as someone will always be faster and in the area I live in people have stupid amounts of money. As sad as this sounds i've even considered a smaller jet boat since it would work a lot easier where I live off my dock with the water being so shallow but i've always felt those boats to sort of be looked down on as it's not the real thing in my book for speed and sound. I realize that modding boats vs modding cars is night and day and much... much more expensive and as one person pointed out I should go for the "out of the box" which is ultimately what I would want and then down the road if I wanted a little more see what a procharger or twin screw blower could do. Cabin space isn't all that important either, I normally have myself, girlfriend and a few other couples or my girlfriends friends and they were scared ****less of the boat my friend kept at my dock (22ft bay boat with a 225 4 stroke).

I definitely liked the baja 25 and it seemed in the price range. One thing I also just found out too is i'm going to be possibly needing a boat to run seafood back and forth from my house to crab island and might use this boat for that if at worse case.

Nightlife1970

Your dads boat looks to be a 226. That boat with a 502 would certainly be a rocket. I belive that boat took alot of skill, hydrolic steering and tabs to handel that kind of power.

A 25OL or similar staight V would be a very different ride from your dads boat. Very predictable ride, handles decent water and easy to drive. Not gonna be that fastest boat for the power, but alot of room and comfort.