Took a Nitro Z9 out for a ride yesterday, a Stratos 294 XL, a Triton
21X3 out for test drives yesterday - three dealers in three states -
pretty cool.

I liked them all actually and it was very interesting that Nitro has
picked up the ball and run with it - much better builds than the
earlier Nitros - everything fit, the finish was very nice, seems to be
quality materials used, although it's lighter than the Tritons and
Rangers. They still haven't worked out one hull problem though - at
speed, the hulls have a tendency to chine walk.

The Triton and Nitro had mid-sized 6 cylinder Verados - 200 hp and the
Stratos had a 200 E-TEC. The more I play with the Verados, the more I
like them - power up the wazoo, plenty of straight line speed.

It's still looking like a Ranger Z-21 though - I've owned a couple of
them now and being a "brand loyalist" type, that's probably the way
I'm going to go. If you're going to spend that kind of money, might as
well go with the best. :)

It also looks like I might have a buyer for my Ranger bay boat - in
Tennesse of all places. Guy called yesterday and he's very interested
- asked a lot of questions. He's coming up next Monday to Boston for
a business meeting - he's making some time to come out to the house
and look it over. Says the price is right, so here's hoping.