Indy

Many have touched on the high entry level expense...I agree without question. Throw in gas, storage, lifts/rack, insurance and you have to make a better living than many to get into a late model offshore boat. There's always the used market which I tapped for a while but then you're into expensive rebuilds/repairs and you're back to square one. I'm one of the segment that will be into a offshore style hull in a CC with some Etecs or similar so I can just enjoy reliability and time on the water as I wish with a modicum of performance.

Gunrunner72

Add to that how friggin UGLY it was and, well......good luck checkmate .

Pete280

Then go buy a $300K boat, what are you waiting for?

turbo rr

In the salt outboards are soooooo much easier and less costly. I think center consoles are so much more popular these days because there are literally no late model cabin v hulls in the mid thirty to forty foot range. If there were more of those types of boats available we would see just as much of them as the center consoles. If you got the bucks to pay a marina to flush and clean everytime you go out on your 2k hp boat, your boat will last much longer. If you are a do it yourselfer and have to go to work on monday and ocassionally come in late on sunday and then you miss a flush..........you know what happens next. Try to start before you go out... turn key....click...click...check batt 12 volts....hope to god it is the starter....get the screw driver....jump solenoid...click.....no start. Then the reality clicks in....leaking header. Boating done for the year. Dammit. Wish there was an easier way.....While contemplating the cruel realities of life 20 center consoles pass you on the way to the water. Some engines 15 to 20 years old....a little smoky but they go out have a ball and come back still with a smile on their faces.

I love the big block sound....Aint nothing like hearing a huge cammed blower motor docking up...nothing. But being able to go out every weekend with minimal maintainance...pricless.

thirdchildhood

I have what I want. Want to race across Lake Erie?

Indy

I also think there is an aging fleet for the used market, at the turn of the century there were still plenty of older model go-fasts with life in them, but now with production drops those older boats represent a shrinking inventory. The ones on the market that are affordable have little life left in them and you're pumping big bucks into a hull that might not be worth it. Rebuilds (rebuilds that have integrity anyway) are big bucks, coupled with some headers, drive refreshes/rebuilds and interior updates just push these things out of reach for the average boater.

I got rid of my PowerPlay because in the not too distant future I would have had to sink serious money into the engines and replace the exhaust, drive rebuilds too. When the economy crashed it was money that I didn't want to put into a boat, the downturn hit my industry hard, that money would have been spent irresponsibly screwing around with a boat.

314joey

Bingo.

Gunrunner72

.....One lesson I've YET to learn in life.lol

Jupiter Sunsation

One thing folks are forgetting.......go fast guys are getting older! Sun, wind, climbing in the bilge are way less desirable to a guy that is 60 than a 30 year old.

Also consider that a 35-38 vee bottom back in the 80s was lucky to hit 60-70 mph.......today any triple engine CC hits that, some twin engine ones are hitting those numbers!

Wildman_grafix

Some questions and comments.

First I got into all things with engines when me and my dad build my first Go-Cart when I was 7. From there it was on, minbikes, dirt bikes, hell I even made a banked dirt oval track behind our house when I was a kid.

For me something has to look good but it has to be fun to drive/ ride. I here people saying the sound of big blocks etc.

So when it comes to CC's I have some questions, and I am talking more about the ones that most people may be able afford, you know twin engine 30-38 foot boats.

First, every one keeps talking about flushing, why would a aluminum block outboard not need to be flushed and a closed cooling I/O harder to flush? Assuming it has a flush kit. What do they do so that the outboard doesn't have to be flushed?

My buddy has a 36 Concept with twin 250 Merc 4 strokes, we still flush them after a day on the water, wash the boat down etc. As for performance,,,,,,,,,,,,, we have never rung it out but I don't know if it would hit 70. I was surprised about the ride, not bad but feels VERY light, and windy. Kind of like riding in a bath tub. Lots of room but again maybe its my age but I don't want 12 people with me and the wife on my boat.

Doesn't seem to be as much about driving it as just cruising around.

Operating cost hands down the outboards are less, at least when you are talking twin 250-300's. I would think 3-4 300's would be up there.

Does anyone think if they brought back performance offshore outboard powered boats that people would move to them?

Just to be clear, my wife would rather have a single outboard walkaround,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, I doubt if I ever get the fountain done that it will touch salt water. Someone will get a hell of a deal.