mike288 wrote:
I spoke to a Volvo rep about this very question except it was with respect to a 288. My 288 has SX drive. He said it is not really much of an appreciable difference on this size of boat. Don't forget if you hit something with one of those DP's you are in for a hefty repair (heftier than the normal hefty repair for any of these situations). I noticed more SX offerings lately than the duo-prop in the 26-28 foot range.
I guess if I agree if I had a single engine--go for duo-prop, but a 298 with SX drives may be a "find".
Good luck.
Mike
Mike,
Your Volvo rep is on crack! These are the size boats that benefit most from a dual prop setup, be it a Bravo III or DuoProp. Slow Speed Wander is gone with the dual props, the ability to maintain steerage at idle speeds makes docking a great deal easier, and these boats are much faster to plane with dual props since you have lots more thrust than a single prop can offer.
I had a single prop (BravoI) on my 23' cuddy cabin and since the boat did not weigh anywhere near what these boats do, it was fine, plus being mated to a 496 Magnum didn't hurt either. But I couldn't imagine driving my boat with a single prop and wouldn't buy one.
*Edit*
If you are speaking of TWIN single props then I can agree with what the rep said... But on a single I/O it's gotta be a DuoProp on these size boats.