help on buying a boat

[sanchoco]

I am looking to buy my first large CC boat. I have owned 30 and 32ft express boats and work as a professional captain on a 70ft custom S/F. I am looking at a 30-32ft CC with outboards. the boat will be trailered to Cabo San Lucas and used there and in Central America. I have no exp on these type of boats and would like some input.

I am looking at 31 contender(1998),31 island runner(2003) and 32 intrepid(1995). I know all you contender guys will want to bash all the other rigs but give them a chance too.

All the boats can be bought for about the same price range(50K).

Are there any bad things about these boats I need to know?

The island runner gets 2mpg vs the contender 1mpg and the intrepid 1.4mpg. so the Island runner being newer,more fuel efficient and the same price is making me lean in it's direction.

Any opinions.

BTW - no fighting please

[thejack]

Get your foul weather gear on for this thread!

[Dreamininjersey]

I am looking for the same range rig....your gonna get some good input, the usual suspects, regulator, cape horn, contender....But of all the input I recieved, I decided to look more into an Ocean Master. One I have not heard anything about is a Century, anyone?

[sanchoco]

which rig are you looking at?? for me the regulator,cape horn and ocean master are out of the picture. either none in my price range or just don't like the layout etc. All I am interested in is the three rigs I asked about. I have spent about 1 month looking at boat layouts,specs,fuel use, etc. on the internet. I am flying to florida on the 17th to buy one of these rigs after running them.

[Dreamininjersey]

Im looking at the Ocean Master. Something a little older, set her up with 2 new outboards and go. I think if you are looking at just those 3 I would go with the contender. I have never had one but everything I have heard, thats a nice ride. Good luck, I am sure either of the three will be great.

[micchip]

Hey Guys,
Just something to think about from an ex-OM owner. Fuel economy is not going to be as good as the other two rides as she is twice the weight of the contender and regulator.
I saw 1 to 1 fuel burn with twin yamaha SWS II OX-66 250 hp.
Chip

[Questsportfishing]

very sea worthy and they are well laid out hulls with storage and fish box... still holds that value also for a cpl years.. they built a great boat.

PS; on any of those boats on your list... buy a good rack of Isen glass right away! You will be happy you did.. plus rain hurts anywhere past 36 knots!

[flatbottom]

I would spend a little more on a great trailer to go along with the xlarge CC.

[marlineer]

Intrepid, Intrepid, Intrepid.

[LuckyLady]

I am looking for the same range rig....your gonna get some good input, the usual suspects, regulator, cape horn, contender....But of all the input I recieved, I decided to look more into an Ocean Master. One I have not heard anything about is a Century, anyone?

To answer your question in regards to Century, they are a decent boat but from what I have felt and seen I would steer clear unless that is what your budget provides. They are by no means in the same class of some of the others mentioned. The deck hatches flex pretty bad, the hard tops are pretty flimsy. Grab ahold of an antenna mount and shake it, and it wiggles like jello. The express/walkaround models there are a few quirks that bother me. The step down from the helm area in to the pit is pretty steep, it bad weather conditions or with kids in my opinion would be very dangerous. The gen set is mounted in the bilge area and will be a long term disaster. The overall layout is not so bad there is a few things that get in the way and would be a shin buster or tight.

The wiring thru out the boat is pretty shabby loose ends here and there and not very neat.

What separates a lot of boats is their wiring and overall setup. One manufacturer mounts all their batteries, battery chargers, trim pumps the whole nine yards in the bilge. Causing premature failure. Granted most of the time warranty would cover such but it could also be considered lack of maintenance and even some may say the boat sank. Most of the higher end manufacturers mounts the mainframe components in the console where its dry. It costs more money to run everything up in to console but it saves you money in the long run.

There is many things that separate all the boats.

Hope this helps