My SeaRay 19 SPX does have that 10-20 mph dead zone, but it is very space efficient and has a nice walk thru transom. It has a deck boat bow so it dispels waves quite well. I live on a lake with many shallow areas but it’s 18” min draft is fine. All my friends have pontoons; needed something a little different. Love seeing my wife and her friends as ‘hood ornaments’ from the Captain’s chair. 😉
I have a 16' deck boat that has significantly more usable space and storage than my previous 19' bow rider. I'll never have another bow rider for this reason. We love our "little" deck boat.
Love my I/O Sea Ray 180 Signature....I took the 4.3L out and put a 5.7L in it's place with a 19p prop with trim tabs and have almost no bow rise and what bow rise I do have is only for like 2.3 seconds because she almost jumps out of the water at take off when at WOT....I have done a speed test from idle to 40mph and it's 9.8 seconds on glass slick water ;-)
Issues with bow-riders 1. Inverted bow (bow goes down instead of up) lets waves over the bow more easily 2.Bow riders allow too much weight up front means difficult to trim up in rough seas particularly following seas 3.very easy for passengers to be washed out in the event of stuffing bow into wave also if you fall out the front good chance you’ll be run over and maybe chopped up too 4.great big hole up front when waves come over the bow 5.in the event of a collision passengers in bow very likely to sustain serious injury 6.in the event of swamping which bow riders are at high risk from above points inboard engine will be swamped very quickly You can see any number of real world examples of this in Haulover inlet video’s of bow riders. Calling a 18ft or less bow rider a real boat is like calling a Big Mac real food
Bowriders aren't intended for big water, having said that I've had my bowrider in 3to4 foot chop no problem but I send guests to the back and drive slow. Also you should try cruising in a bow rider they are infinitely more fun, you feel much more connected to the water. In a cuddy cabin you can't even see over the front of the boat, you're up higher, doesn't even feel like you're boating. Granted in rough seas you don't want to be in a bow rider but duh.
Victor Schmidt I have a small sign in the cockpit of my boat. It reads “This boat runs on gas, not thanks”. A necessary accessory if you know lots of “moochers”. Lol
I own a YAMAHA 242 Limited S boat.......one of the best boats I've ever had. A bow rider with tones of features. Its also a twin Jet engine and really hauls ass. Amazing boat.......with none of those bow issues.......
Dave, boat pricing has gone up significantly over the last number of years, you are right. One thing i can assure is that there are reasons behind it that are legitimate. Market forces doesn't really allow for ripping people off in the long run.
@@dancindavey1515 look at yamaha sx190. You get a ton of features for the $30k they charge. One of the best value and least spendy 19 ft boats I can think of.
Had a deck boat and a bow rider. Both 22 ft. I’ll take the bow rider over a deck boat any day. In large waves water would come over the deck and wash away anything in its path. With the bow rider I just keep the bow up and we don’t even get wet unless it’s really windy then it’s just sprinkles from the bow splash
More likely to be a bow rider problem though. No problem at all in my 28’ center console! Definitely roomier and a lot faster!!!! But that’s like comparing a Chevy impala SS to a base Kia spectra
Hey Dave, we love the feedback. I think there were a few issues in there that really don't crop up in other boat styles...and yet I am open to a different opinion on that. Tell me more if you like as I am eager to make these better. You can do that here or email me at sean@lenscove.com :-)
Dang he is right. Don't end up like me. I had to have a Jon boat with a 15hp tired up to my floating dock, a Bayliner Ceira 2355 and a Stingray LS190 on lifts. To cover the different types of boating here on the lower Chesapeake Bay.
I had my 2005 Searay 180 sport with sun pad since new and I don’t know what this guy is talking about lol. I have plenty of storage. Performed almost like a jet ski. I love my boat and I get so many compliments. It’s just so good looking boat and I wouldn’t trade for any other boats. I wouldn’t recommend people with mobility issue to go on any type of small boats unless you’re looking for more injuries.
Hang on, my Cobalt CS23 has a walk through transom, and it's a bow rider. Yes I realize most people do not spend that kind of money, but it is a bowrrider with this feature.
The bow rise issue has nothing to do with a bow rider. It is cause by an incorrect length to beam ratio. The boats are simply too wide...designed to get a much room as possible in a boat and still fit it into a 2 car garage. So the garage determines the shape. If you watch boats, boats that are slimmer don't have much if any bow rise (if any) when going from slow to faster speeds. Boats with a L/B ratio of 3 or more are much better, no matter the style (bow rider, open, closed, etc).
Sorry not correct at all. It is a combination of misaligned centres of thrust and drag, which create a torque moment, as well as not enough hull lift at the stern. I/O's and outboards have the propeller deep in the water, so it is pushing the boat from way underneath where the drag in the water is coming from. With the water drag above pull back, and the propeller way below pushing forward, the hull will have a tendency to rotate bow up/stern down until the forces are equalized. They generally become equalized when the the boat gets up on plane, which moves the center of drag down towards the propellor. The second contributing factor is not enough hull lift at the rear, relative to the boat's center of gravity. When you get the imbalanced drag/thrust centerlines in combination, of course the bow rises and the stern digs in -- that can be counteracted with more lift at the stern -- either through trim tabs, which provides stern lift by creating more total lift at the stern, or by moving weight forward. Moving weight forward moves the boat's center of gravity forward relative to the hull's center of lift, which has the effect of moving the center of lift aft. It has nothing to do with l/b ratio.
These issues are specific to very small bow riders. Look at Formula (CBR line), SeaRay, Whaler (Vantage line) and other quality brands and all of these “issues” are non-existent.
We had a SeaRay 19.5 foot bowrider for 3 years in central Florida. I personally would not recommend it for that area. With a 5.7L it drew 34 inches and a lot of the waters there are very, very shallow. Getting up on plane in the intercoastal was a crap shoot as the oyster beds and the tides could be safe or just waiting to tear off the bottom. And you'd have to be psycopathic to take that low bow out an inlet into the open ocean. If you're in an area with decent depth and not too much chop it's a comfortable, fast option. But personally I'll never own another inboard motor again.
Many new bowriders have very wide bows, for example yamaha, sea ray, and bayliner all carry the full beam width as far forward as possible. This provides optimal space, plus the added performance benefits that a bowrider has over a deck boat.
*Sorry but this guy sounds like he's had a few cocktails before shooting this video. I can tell you from 1st hand experience if you change your prop from a 3 blade to a 4 blade that planing problem goes away instantly. My 19' Crownline with a 4.3 Mercruiser barely pops the nose up anymore after going to a 4 blade prop and gets on plane nearly instantly and it stays there.*
You are right that the acceleration of a 4 blade is improved over a 3 blade (all other things being equal). That will not change the hull design/bow rise at certain speeds though...it just gets you from off plane to on plane more quickly.
The main problem is safety in rough water. The open bow is a risk and they can be easily swamped if the operator is not careful. Many of them are not self bailing and come with an inadequate 500 gph single bilge pump. I have an '88 Four Winns H-200 so I'm familiar with this issue and keep the bow cover on with a support underneath in rough water. I would like the option for a semi-rigid cover that allows access to the bow for mooing or anchoring to add to safety.
Okay two questions from a brand new boat/bow rider owner. 1. Can't you adjust trim to reduce plane? 2. You said Rinker (insert years) were great boats. I just bought an 1987 is that not a good year for Rinker or were you just looking at >20 year old boats?
Matthew. 1. Do you mean that you want to reduce the speed (at the low end) that your boat stays on plane? 2. I just picked certain recent examples, and the list is not in any means exhaustive. Ironically 1987 is the year we became a Rinker dealer and I was 13 🤣
Hello all, what do you think of a 1995 Sea swirl cuddy 201 as a first time boat?? They are asking 8k and I am asking for a boat mechanic to check it out first, they say, not a problem they are confident it will check out and also inviting me to test it out! Had a guy who let me test a 1999 sugar sand mirage drove pretty good but he didn't know much about the motor other than it's in good shape, was asking the same 8k, my gut was it was absolutely over priced as he said he paid 11k a few years ago, was asking for 10k, I'm looking for something to cruise the sound or on american lake on base with my wife and 15 year old daughter, I learned a lot from testing out those two types of boats
That old probably has wood in the hull and coring. Any boat with wood will need replacing no matter who built it. The industry now knows that fiberglass is not waterproof. Even the best of the best cannot stop water intrusion to the wood.
Great video. about the Bowrider, so. Now I am just curious, should I continue with the choice of a 16' Donzi vs a Bowrider or a Rinker? Which one would be the winner???
@@bryonslatten3147 Thanks, B. I hesitate to spend much time on a 30 yr old boat... but somebody seems to have taken pretty good care of this one. www.boattrader.com/boat/1992-sea-ray-200-bow-rider-7948281/
A bit of a silly video. You should rename the video “modified planing v-hull boats vs pontoon boats’. And then you need to remind anyone watching that a pontoon sucks in waves larger than 1 foot. Pontoons are for old people who live on rivers.
I really don't think that a person considering a Bow-rider would even be looking at a Pontoon. So I think this is not a particularly useful video. A Bow-rider will out perform a Pontoon in all performance areas. They are just not comparable. I give this a thumbs-down.
Totally misleading video! Bowriders, cutty cabins, center consols, fishing boats are similar to each other and in a different category than pontoons and is comparing apples and oranges. Also, deck boats like Hurricane boats do not have significantly more room than bowriders. Misleading video.
Len’s cove marina sells all kinds of boats. We bought a 1999 Four Winns cuddly with a 5.7 Volvo Penta bravo 3 from Sean, and had it for 10 years,best boat we’ve ever had. I wish I didn’t sell it for the larger cruiser we have now.
Ironically, that FourWinns is a 2008! It's a good question though, and thank you for asking. The purpose of the video was more about limitations (shape, style, etc.) which really has not changed since the bowrider was invented. The other factor was that boat was in the shop and warm and given the December recording date...valuable ;-)
this guy does'nt have a clue ! He sounds like someone that went on a boat for his first time yesterday find something you know about im sure you were a helmet on your pontoon boat !!!!!!
I've had my 2007 Bluewater Shadow since it was new. We LOVE it. But I always see another boat I wish I owned, be it a pontoon, bass, alumaweld, cuddy, sail, kayak, or FIB. I think the bow rider is the most versatile of them all. And the extreme bank turns and tubing wakes are a huge hit.
Valid points. When you compare pontoon to bow rider. I think the bigger question for a new boater needs to be where they plan on boating and what are the lake conditions. I’ll sacrifice space for ride comfort in chop.
Not to mention docking/maneuvering with bow riders is easier, plus putting a bowrider onto a trailer is a lot easier as well. Additionally if you, like many of us, are speed demons, have to spend big money like $60k+ to get a pontoon that can go 45 mph, whereas most $40k bowriders can hit 45-50 easily.
Anyone who complains about these problems should just stay inside on the couch, watching Family Feud on syndication and eating a big bag of Doritos. That way you won’t have to worry about being outdoors; dealing with a moving mechanical object; fluid dynamics, or the sun ☀️.
comparing a bow rider to a pontoon boat? With respect, I listened with an open mind but I do not think this and other compromises as you see them helps people out much when looking at a bow rider style of boat.
this is more of a V-hull vs. deck boat vs. pontoon boat comparison... I didn't really see much specifically pertaining to bow riders... but you put people/weight up in front & it's gonna plow... and take some effort to get on-plane. My dad used to have an 18' runabout (closed bow), but it had the fuel tank up in the bow, & with a full tank, it WOULD plow quite a bit. It was so much better after he switched to rear-mounted tanks.
The ending was cheesy as hell, but dang I love it when people don't take themselves too seriously! Looks like I'll be watching more of your videos today . . .
Was gonna buy one of these but when I saw videos of them sinking at Haulover Inlet in Florida I decided not to. The bow acts like a spoon and holds water in rough conditions. Now I'm looking at the Sea- Doo Switch.
Hello, From oz. This video told us nothing about bowriders. We talked about pontoons Boats with long windscreen If fibreglass is good That's it Nothing about bowriders Like why?
As an avid skier/boat owner for over 20 years...bow riders are stupidest form of boat. Having human beings in front and in your line of sight is a very bad idea...if you are safety minded. Bad, bad idea. I had a closed bow boat and always savored having a place to put skis, ropes, bags, vests, personal items, that were out of sight when you left the boat at a dock. Boating can be "unsafe enough with all the idiots out there." Why impede your vision?
I have a 1997 17ft Starcraft bow rider with a 90hp mercury outboard. First (real boat). Had a 10ft job before, it I love my bow rider. Converted front seats to a deck for fishing that is interchangeable for the seats
As a keen boater I have never understood why bow riders exist. In my opinion they are about the most unsafe vessels on the water with the bow acting like a giant sea scoop. You only have to troll the internet to see many examples of bow riders quickly filling with water after ploughing into a large wave. It's also a good place to get chucked out of the boat and it seems first place most people store their children, at the front. I wish your video had of been more comprehensive, talking more about the safety aspects as opposed to talking about how to get on and off? In short and not wishing to be rude this video was tells me very little.
Richard - your points are valid. In small inland lakes bow riders can be very safe and just like all boats, most of the safety issue arise from the pilot :)