We were considering a purchasing a new boat after this season for a while and recently we pull a trigger to order a new boat….
It came down to between 2013 Horizon 260 and Crownline E6…. We hate to inform to FW community
but it will be a Crownline E6… We have not seen a new Horizon 260 but had a chance to go over H210 and H230 closely. Our conclusion came out sooner than we thought. New Horizons have great bow area. However, stern area is a big disappointment for us. We liked stern and sun pad area of SL and new Horizons resemble similar style. However, they are very different.
This sun pad is design for people to lie on side ways so need to move every time other people need to get in to the boat… This would not fly well with my Admiral and she would refuse to move when she is laying on the pad when anyone has to walk thru her to get into the boat… No bow ladder is another disappointment item for us since our kids hang around bow and use it all the time…. Windlass is not worth for taking space for critical area of bow rider for us… Overall we just cannot be used with their very “Euro”. Styling … (it is our personal taste….) We also took a deep look at SL 262 but latest options seemed lost little qualities compared to 2008 and 2009 models which had higher quality hardware including clear stern door, wood grain dash & wheel. These items are no longer available….
The last and the most important part of our boat selection is a dealer. As you all know Winnisquam Marine is no longer Four Winns dealer and is now Crownline dealer. Our brand royalty to Four Winns was largely supported by effort of Winnisquam services. They have been taking us out on water with Crownline E6 and we had chance to go over every details of the boat. Quality and finish of boat are excellent and everything is well worth of price we pay for....... We felt our time with Four Wind brand will end with our H260.
Anyway we decided to order a new E6 now since 8.2 MAG has a long lead-time now (backorder from Merc) so by the time we gat it will be in late August and will be a 2013 model.
After 2 boats with Volvo Penta we will be back on Merc since we like their closed loop cooling on big block as well as latest DTS & Smart Tow combination… Now my admiral can pull me on ski or wakeboard. Here are some details of our new boat:
2013 Crownline E6, Extreme Razor
Merc 8.2MAG BIII, DTS & Smart Tow
Arch/Tower
Performance Sounds package (Wet Sound)
Trim Tabs w indicator
Other typical upgrade options (wiper, bow fillers, vacuflash toilet etc.)
Boatmate color matching “painted” galvanized Trailer w Aluminum wheels
In the mean time we have picked up our H260 from storage and will be on water next weekend… We are looking forward to enjoy the last summer with it.
See you on water
