www.iFourWinns.com

I'm curious....why did everyone choose Four Winns for their boat? I don't know if I have a solid answer to that question. We've been looking to upgrade for a while now and have checked out just about every brand out there....Rinker, Chaparral, Monterey, Sea Ray, Cruisers, Cobalt, etc but we always kept finding ourselves going back to Four Winns....the cockpit and cabin layouts, the quality, the attention to detail, the lines, it just all seemed to work for us. We loved our Chaparral and seriously considered another one but something about Four Winns kept drawing us back to them. So with all of the quality brands out there, why did you all land on Four Winns?

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'01 Vista 298

For me it was the layout of the cockpit, it seems as though Four Winns does a better job of maximizing the space. There is a Sea Ray 320 docked right behind me which is 3 ft larger then mine and they fit no more then I do. I also think Four Winns is ahead of the curve when it comes to looks on the outside of the boat. Last but not least I find the large swim platform to be very useful, I have many boaters with larger boats then mine comment on how they are jealous of the swim platform. I know the swim platform may seem trivial to some but if you like to anchor and hang your feet in the water, or like a place to put a cooler...leave shoes...or a firm place to step on the boat then it makes a difference. and last but not least...I like that there arent too many around..at least where i boat in lake erie I have only seen a few and mine is the only one where I dock...Sea Rays are everywhere.

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1999 298 Vista [color=#FF0000]Sold!!!
twin Volvo 5.7GXI

Woody: Pour you a beer, Mr. Peterson?
Norm: Alright, but stop me at one...make that one-thirty

When we were considering trading in our crownline we looked at sea rays, maxxums, cruisers and Four Winns.
Four Winns, we loved the lines, cabin layout (U-shaped seating with dinette), swim platform and the camper canvas.
Sea Rays, not a fan of the cabin layout and angled canvas so you lose seating in the rain with the canvas up, plus there are a LOT of them on the water.
Maxxum, we found ourselves saying..."the vista has this" or "this looks a lot nicer on the vista.
Cruisers, we thought they were trying to cram too much into the cabin for the size we were looking at, to us it felt cramped below.

Bottom line we kept coming back to Four Winns and the Vista, still happy we did!

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Michael Bova


"Swept Aweigh"
2003 Four Winns 328 Vista

Previous Boat
2003 Crownline 230CCR

Much of what you already said. After about two years of serious consideration I narrowed it down to Ebbtide and FW. I simply chose the FW because they could get me more boat for the money at that particular time.

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Walt B
"Debt-Charged"
Black '07 H210SS
6.2L Bravo One turning a 21P HIFive
Wakeboard Tower with Perfect Pass Stargazer version
Missouri River; Kansas City, Mo.

I think the price / quality is much better with Four Winns than with most other brands. Or at least the perception - the Four Winns look a lot more loat than most other brands.

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Richard - FL - 2005 Vista 248

First boat after 25 years out of boating was a Four Winns, following a visit to the London Boat show in 2001 and comparing a lot of boats

4 year later the second was a Four Winns, again after a visit to the London Boat Show. but in 2005, Generally happy, but I think all boat builders including FW could build much better quality boats with a little more attention to detail and it would cost them virtually nothing to do so.

Next boat, I'd like to think it would probably be another Four Winns, but maybe not as they don't make Sundowners anymore, whereas ther boat builders still make big cuddys.

Graham

This is our 2nd Four Winns boat, we too looked at them all before buying any of the 3 boats we have had. We really like the FW style.
When we upgrade again, we will look at them all again, but this time price will be the # 1 factor. We just don't use the boat that often to really care about much more than if it floats, and the motor runs!! Now, dont take that as I will settle for a bayliner/sea ray either, that just wont happen.

Want a wider beam and no V-berth, more of a real bed. A used 318 thru 338 would work very nice, but wouldnt ya know, FW hold there value too well.

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2000 248 5.7L DP
'92, '94 SXI 750, '08 STX 15F, '12 Ultra LX 300
Videos

Biggest and best boat for the $ when I was in the market to buy. Great name here in West Michigan and lots of good dealer support if needed.

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2001 Horizon 260 - 7.4 Volvo GSI DP

I bought new - at the time narrowed it down to either Crownline or FW. Sure the Crownline had some nicer fittings in it than FW, but I liked the FW layout withh the sunsport seating, the killer deal I got at the time, and the size of the dealer/support network across Oz.

Oh, and of course, this web site.! Seriously though, I went to the boat show here in Melbourne the other month, and looked at all the brands, but saw nothing better than my current FW so no reason to change.

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Alec

2006 Horizon 190
VP 4.3GL/SX, Sunsport

We all know why we like a Four Winns cruiser but to be fair to the OP, I think we need to hear from those who left Four Winns and went elsewhere (i.e. Cap'n Morgan & others). What sold you on the other brand(s)?

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Current Boat: 2000 Four Winns 298 Vista
Previous Boat: 2000 Carver 406MY

A good quality mid-range boat with lots of storage, good layout, much of the same hardware and accouterments of Cobalt without the price tag, and decent warranties. At the time, I also had a great dealer and dealer support. Who knew.

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Mike
2005 Four Winns 230/240
VP 5.7GXi/DP
1998 F-150 XLT
Boat Pic

My wife and I owned a 25 foot Doral Citation for about 6 years, then moved up to a 30 foot Doral Prestancia for about 7 years. We very much enjoyed our Dorals. When my wife was expecting we thought it was the right time for us to move up into a 32 - 34 footer.

We looked at a 342 Rinker, 320 Rinker, 330 SeaRay, 340 Searay, 31pc Formula and 34pc Formula, 3375 Cruiser, 3372 Cruiser, 3260 Regal, 330 Larson Cabrio, some newer Dorals and last but not least a 328 Four Winns. I've probably forgot one or two models now.

Anyways, we boat in the fresh water Great Lakes so we preferred sterndrives and preferred to try and stay with the small block chevy engines as long as the performance was still there.

Overall for the majority of what we felt were our priorities, the 328 Four Winns was the top pick. Specifically, we liked the layout of the boat, large U shaped dinnette in galley, port side lounge, large U shaped seating at stern, large swim platform that is about 1 1/2 feet off the water and not 6 inches above. Walk through windshield and wide side decks. Boat cruises nicey around 27 - 30 MPH and tops out around 45 MPH. We liked the Four Winns had a solid core hull (no coring). The forward sloping radar arch and exterior profile looked at least as good or better as compared with the other above listed boats. Nice wide beam of 11' 9". The full camper top as compared to a sloped down one was a big plus to us. The overall fit and finish of the Four Winns and cherry laminate cabinets compared very well to any of the above boats.

We were fortunate this spring to come across a one owner fresh water 328 in excellent condition with the upgraded Captains Gold interior with generator and have very much enjoyed using our 328 this season. We are quite satisfied with our purchase and have had a number of compliments on our boat from long time boaters at our marina.

Mike

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Current Boat
- 2001 Four Winns 328 Vista "Hour Decision"
- 2010 310 Mercury Inflatable

Previous Boats
- 30' Doral Prestancia
- 25' Doral Citation

Long story short? Everyone tells me I should be in jail for stealing my boat.

I have been boat window shopping for years. I always wanted one but was never in a financial place to be able to afford one. By the time I was stable enough to be3 in that position, we started having kids. It then got put on hold again. Once I was set to buy again the wife said no boat until at least 2 of the kids know how to swim. When that day came the search was on for what I had been looking for all those years.

I had it narrowed down to Crownline, Rinker, and Four Winns. I wanted stable in the water, big enough that I would feel safe around the river barges, deep enough that I didn't have to worry about the kids falling over the side.

The day I found my 205 Sundowner on Craigs List I told my wife that this was the boat we were going to buy. I picked up this gem last fall for a mere $1800. All it needed was a buff job and some fresh registration stickers. It had sat in storage for 3 years.

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1989 205 Sundowner
5.0 HO OMC Cobra

It was an accident for us. We had a used 89 Sea Ray as our first boat. It has a 100 horse OB 2 stroke. So it was smelly and loud and finicky. However we loved it. The boat was well built and I am fanatacal about keeping my vehicles in pristine condition and this one was a cream puff when we bought it. As it was our first boat I figured I could not go wrong for $3800. So after deciding we really are boaters we knew we wanted something more modern, with an I/O. We also wanted something that was bigger. Since we do not have a house on the water with a dock and boat lift we tend to spend 3 to 4 hours or more on the lake when we get our chance and we wanted something we could stretch out in. The first thing I actually did was buy a new tow vehicle since our previous was limited to 2500 lbs. After that we totally stumbled into a very low hour and extremely clean 2003 FW 240 with 5.7 Volvo single prop. I figured they were asking $30,000 which was more than I was planning on spending for an upgrade boat. However they only wated $15,000!!! Sold the Sea Ray on Craigslist for $3500 ($100 per year cost to own was not bad!). We got our dream boat for 15K!

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2003 Horizon 240 With 5.7 Volvo Penta

Simple. . . Right deal at the right time. I wasn't too particular on brand, with some obvious exceptions. I was looking mostly for a 4-6 year old 24' to 26' open bow with a big block motor. It was a FW H260 that told me exactly what I wanted in a new to me boat. My buddy keeps his 2002 H260 in my toybox. After skiing behind, riding in and driving his boat, I was determined that my next boat would have a big block motor with a DP or BIII drive. I was mostly looking at Rinker & Crownline as those are the most popular brands in our area. It just so happened I ran across my H250 online and it was only 500 miles away. It had everything I was looking for and then some, and at the right price. I sure am glad I found my H250 because I truly love this boat.

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2005 FW Horizon 250
8.1L VP DP