Talked to a FW rep at the Nassau County Boat Show

LouC · **Posted:** Mon Mar 07, 2011 7:08 am

I spoke to a FW rep at the Nassau County boat show, we were discussing the outboards and cuddys...he said they were considering putting OBs on bigger boats, say 20-22 footers and are going to bring back a cuddy in that size range too because they sell well in Europe...I told him that I'd like to see the OB on the cuddy as well!
I looked at the bowriders at the show and my assessment is the same, too much wasted space and difficult engine access...but at least the rear seat bulkheads are removable unlike the Glastrons where they are molded in fiberglass and you have to squeeze yourself into a little hole..no thanks...

Compared to my ancient 88 200 I'd have to go up to at least a 220 Horizon to get close to the same seating space, there is a lot of wasted space with the sunpad designs on these boats....

I also noticed more Etecs on boats than ever before, not as many Yamaha 4 strokes as before...and not as many Mercs except on the Brunswick boats....

I looked at the FW 180 OB and while it's a nice little runabout, it's just too small, the freeboard is low, the seats are low but there is more room in it for sure than the 180 with the I/O...he commented that the increase in cost for I/O packages because of Cat Converters helped bring back the OBs....

Jafo4U · **Joined:** Wed Jun 22, 2011 2:33 am **Posts:** 1026

I got the 2008 H220SS because all the other models were too small for what I needed.

ric · **Posted:** Wed Jul 06, 2011 8:47 am

My 2000 H180 has the standard seating not the "sunpad"... the boat is much bigger then the new ones. I would have to buy a new H240 to get the same interior room. That being said, the new H240 is only a 19 foot boat, they only call it a 24' due to the huge swim pad/sun deck that's now integrated. They don't even look nicer then the 2000 models, just a fancier dash otherwise identical. I can fix that on mine for a few hundred bucks of trim pieces and chrome bezels.

LouC · **Posted:** Wed Jul 06, 2011 9:58 am

Other than no OBs, the main complaint I have had with many recent FW models is too much wasted space, and bad engine access on I/O models. My old 88 has the sunsport seating and has as much if not more room than the 220 currently being made. I don't need a huge swim platform and sun pad, I want room inside to move around so people aren't falling over each other...
And that molded in fiberglass all round the back of the engine, the designer responsible for that, should be forced to change the manifolds and starter a few times, to learn the error of their ways. It is not needed for structural integrity, if you make the rear seat bulkhead out of 3/4 in plywood and the engine compartment dividers out of 1/2 plywood, and tie it all together with stainless screws and bolts (not wood screws into the deck, thank you) it's plenty strong.....

St. Louis Dave · **Posted:** Wed Jul 06, 2011 10:09 am

One of the #1 reasons I like my old 2001 is the interior room. It seems as if most of the boat builders are using MANY feet of the boat for large sunpads. Sure it can be nice to have, but it takes up way to much space. If I want a sunpad on my boat, I use the fill in cushions and have a huge platform. If I don't want it, stow the cushions and have much more room in the boat. I don't care if you have a 17 foot or a 310, more cockpit space is always beneficial.

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Talked to a FW rep at the Nassau County Boat Show

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