Looking for motorboat info???????

[MarioCoccon]

Hi Iam looking for a 21 to 24 walk aroundboat with outboard (like Sea pro, wellcraft etc) and a cuddy cabin 21 to 25 like (mariah, chaparral, four winns etc) Iam afraid in inouts motors for two reason more mechanical time and fuel consumption. If anyone there can comparable a little bit if an a outboard 150 to 225 if more economical than a 4.7 5.7lt inout motor? Thats the only thing that dont let me to make a desission. I like a lot the cuddy cabins mire roomy and pretty but not to many with outboards, if some can help me with that how much one vs the other maybe in hour and rpm or miles? Thanks a lot. Mario

[KCook]

Most builders stick to either the OB or inboard type. One of the exceptions is Seaswirl. They offer both OB and I/O for most of their Striper fishing boats. -

http://www.seaswirl.com/Index.asp

Talk to a Seaswirl dealer and he may have a "fact sheet" with the fuel figures for both types.

Kelly Cook

[marshmat]

Grady-White has been known to offer walkaround-cuddy boats in the 20-30' bracket with a choice of outboard or diesel/sterndrive power. There's a review in Boating magazine 72.8 of Grady's 272/274. The conclusion was that the outboards were faster and performed better, but the diesel used far less fuel and so had much greater range. The same conclusion cannot be directly extended to gas sterndrives though.
Not all hulls are suitable for both. Some hull shapes can't handle having outboards hung way off the transom; others can't take the weight and bulk of a sterndrive. And cockpit space is a concern too- outboards can really get in the way of fishing gear, while a well-hidden sterndrive motor doesn't obstruct the transom as much. As for maintenance, the sterndrive engine is in many ways similar to an older car engine, while modern outboards are a totally different breed that require very different expertise. Both seem to die with about equal frequency; the make and model seem to matter more than the type in this respect.