And the winner of the most ridiculous and overpriced boat award is.............
....Crownline, for building a 31.5 foot *Bowrider*!http://www.crownline.com/models04/models.php?id=316_ls_05 http://www.crownline.com/models05/bowriders/316ls/big/2.jpg http://www.crownline.com/models05/bowriders/316ls/big/3.jpg http://www.crownline.com/models05/bowriders/316ls/big/4.jpg http://www.crownline.com/models05/bowriders/316ls/big/5.jpg A 31.5 foot bowrider? What the hell were these folks thinking? |
Oct 11
2005
|
| That boat that capsized was a 30' bowrider??? |
atl_man2
Oct 12
|
| Not at all. Out west here, boaters refer to such events as "wakes", not
rogue waves. The tourist boat tragedy in NY could have been prevented
if the boat were properly staffed. (The owner was trying to get by
cheap and not hire the two crew members the CG required him to have).
With two additional crew members, the skipper would have been more
likely to maintain adequate "situational awareness" and adjust course
so that he didn't take that huge wake directly on the beam. If nothing
else, the port or starboard watch could say, "You do see that huge wake
approacing, right?" |
chuckgould.chu...
Oct 11
|
| I will accept your terminology. That does not, however, dismiss the possibility of such an event. Do you
disagree Chuck? |
Oct 11
|
| Actually, you should stop boating, drinking, and imagining yourself to be
old enough to leave the house without an adult. |
Doug
Oct 12
|
| I agree that a bowrider falls into the category of "open boat."
The operator of an open boat must remain alert to water conditions at
all times.
A bowrider has no business out in conditions where the wind is
generating breaking waves that are likely to swamp the vessel. As far
as wakes, or even a genuine "rogue wave", an alert operator will be
able to deal with 99.999% of them by slowing down a bit and/or
adjusting his course to quarter into the wave.
The danger to an open boat is not so much the height of a wave as
whether or not the wave has a propensity to break. You can go up and
over a pretty steep wave or wake, but if the crest is higher than the
gunwale *and* it starts to break you need to be lucky as well as able.
After enough of those, (as in "you've got no darn business out here in
these conditions") your luck will probably run out. I would always prefer a boat with a closed bow, myself, but millions of
boaters on inland lakes will choose a boat based on an entirely
different set of needs and preferances. (IIRC, that tourist boat was a catamaran, not a bow rider.) |
chuckgould.chu...
Oct 11
|
| Not at all. It was kind of a tubby, round bottom mono hull. The USCG
started to do a stability test on a sistership by filling barrels with
water on the gunnels. They had to stop about halfway through the test
because they were already at the safety limit for maximum listing.
USCG testing was not required for licensing because it was being
operated on an inland lake, and the New York State certification
standards were not nearly rigorous enough. Lots of blame to go around
as it turns out. |
waynebatrecdot...
Oct 11
|
| No, your problem *is* that you're a whiny little troll in desperate need of
a life. Was hoping your recent dramatic exit from here was the start of a
journey in pursuit of same. Apparently it was cut short. Suggest you
resume at earliest opportunity. And, at very little risk of being out on a limb, I feel more than
comfortable believing that the marketing types at Crownline have a much more
accurate bead on the domestic boat market than you could ever hope to have,
based on the sum total of boating knowledge you have demonstrated to this
group. |
RG
Oct 11
|
| Aha. Now I am better informed. Was there any truth to the radio news
story we heard about the boat only being certified for passenger use
with a crew of three aboard? |
chuckgould.chu...
Oct 11
|
| Coming to a newsgroup near you soon, an Ohio Whiner hectoring RG for
weeks, demanding an apology. |
Harry
Oct 11
|
| If you keep it in a marina, you might pay for a few extra feet that
Crownline decided to market it as. I'd rather let a marina see the
number 261LS than 316LS before they quoted me a price. That piece of
bigger is better marketing might cost me 5 more feet or almost 20%
more. John |
John
Oct 11
|
| I couldn't find any rod holders. Boo. --
John H "The trouble with our liberal friends is not that they're ignorant: It's just that they know so much that isn't so." Ronald Reagan |
PocoLoco
Oct 11
|
| Let me give you a hand interpreting the data you've discovered. First, it doesn't matter what the nominal length appears to be based on
the model number ("316 LS"), you need to check the actual LOA. That brings us down to 30-feet. Then you need to actually evaluate how the boat is configured.
In this case, that 30 foot LOA includes an extended swim step of rather
exaggerated size. It appears to be at least 32", maybe even a 45-48"
swim step. Looks like Crownline is offering about a 26-foot bowrider with an extra
large swim step (some people might find that rather handy, depending on
application) that stretches the boat to 30 feet LOA. No doubt they'll
catch a few folks who think the boat is over 31 feet long based on the
model number, or who don't take the time to evaluate the design as they
look at the boat. Bowriders are fine for inland lakes during settled weather; and that
describes the conditions under which about 90% of boaters use a boat. BTW, Crownline is building a pretty decent boat these days. They have
two very elite "C" brands glancing nervously back over their corportae
shoulders. |
chuckgould.chu...
Oct 11
|
| Yep. I was mistaken. From their website: LOA 30' yet marketed as a 31.5 |
Oct 11
|
| *Jim*, you might want to take another vacation. I don't think Chuck was
arguing with you. He *did* address the use of a bowrider in "open water", etc. by simply
saying "Bowriders are fine for inland lakes during settled weather". Why are you picking a fight here? Dan |
Dan
Oct 12
|
| Because I don't boat on inland lakes during settled weather? |
chuckgould.chu...
Oct 11
|
| Rogue or not, I guess you missed the recent tourist boat tragedy in NY. |
Oct 11
|
| You are correct. |
Oct 11
|
| Didn't you claim to own some sort of bubbleboat? |
Harry
Oct 11
|
| I think it's just a sign of a changing market. More people are interested
in a fair weather day outing. In that situation bow riders have more usable
space. Bigger just means you can take more friends. Imho boats with cabins
are clastrophobic in anything under about 28 ft anyway. " *JimH*" <me1@aol.com> wrote in message |
JamesgangNC
Oct 11
|
| It seems imminently impractical, to me. I don't think it will
reasonably carry any more people that the 19 footer... unless they are
below decks... and below the aft seating area... next to or above the
engines doesn't look good. Anyway, that aft area looks dangerous for
use while under way. I think I'd be more prone to claustrophobia back
there than I would in a cuddy. 640 HP with 150 gallons of gas? About
3.5 hours of joy at $500 plus? I think I'll pass on that little
$127,000+ bundle of joy.
|
Gene
Oct 11
|
| It's the nautical equivalent of a Lincoln Navigator, which proves once again
that P.T. Barnum was correct. |
Doug
Oct 11
|
| Guess you've never been in a cabin, in summer, in the south, huh? |
atl_man2
Oct 11
|
| A bowrider is an inland lake boat and is not fit for even the Great Lakes
because of the possibility of the bow driving down in large seas with water
filling the bow and swamping the boat. The boat is not self draining but
relies solely on a bilge pump. The aft seating, as you noted, is a total
waste of space. I do not see the benefits of this boat as compared to a basic 21 foot
bowrider selling for $75,000+ less. |
Oct 11
|
| There you go :-) <atl_man2@yahoo.com> wrote in message |
JamesgangNC
Oct 11
|
| Thought you just bought a bowrider and use it in the great lakes? Aren't
you up there in the great white north as we southerners call it? Not that I don't agree about a bowrider and waves, a bow rider is a fair
weather boat only. When the waves are so bad that I'm worried about taking
them over the bow then I'm not boating. " *JimH*" <me1@aol.com> wrote in message |
JamesgangNC
Oct 11
|
| " |
Oct 11
|
| Guess you never heard of air conditioning, huh? |
Oct 11
|
