Hello,

We're shopping for a 28-32' cruiser and are really attracted to a
flybridge style. To our dismay, neither Sea Ray nor Chaparral make
cruiser of this type/size. We've seen only one boat with the right
design so far - Bayliner 288 (formerly 2858), but average quality of
its construction makes us wish to have more than one boat to choose
from.

Can anyone suggest other flybridge cruisers of this size? Any tips
will be greatly appreciated!

WC

(Wannacat) wrote in message . com...
Hello,

We're shopping for a 28-32' cruiser and are really attracted to a
flybridge style. To our dismay, neither Sea Ray nor Chaparral make
cruiser of this type/size. We've seen only one boat with the right
design so far - Bayliner 288 (formerly 2858), but average quality of
its construction makes us wish to have more than one boat to choose
from.

Can anyone suggest other flybridge cruisers of this size? Any tips
will be greatly appreciated!

WC

We have an older ('86) 26' Carver flybridge. Carver stopped making
their wide-beamed 28' flybridges arouind 1990, gravitating to the
strange-looking-but-roomy Santego style. I receive many inquiries
about our boat because (almost) no boat manufacturer sells a smaller
traditional "cruiser" style anymore. I think the express designes are
great, but I'd guess there may be a market for the small trational
design. I've owned a mid-cabin express, and it was a good boat. We
sold it so we could have a boat whose cabin has real windows. I can't
differentiate between all the express styles anymore.

Good luck.

Coff

Coff wrote:
(Wannacat) wrote in message . com...
Hello,

We're shopping for a 28-32' cruiser and are really attracted to a
flybridge style. To our dismay, neither Sea Ray nor Chaparral make
cruiser of this type/size. We've seen only one boat with the right
design so far - Bayliner 288 (formerly 2858), but average quality of
its construction makes us wish to have more than one boat to choose
from.

Can anyone suggest other flybridge cruisers of this size? Any tips
will be greatly appreciated!

WC

If you are looking for a solid flybridge cruiser in that size range,
check out:

http://www.seasportboats.com


SeaSport makes some *very* capable ocean-going cruisers. Much better
than "average" quality of construction. I'm not a fan of the I/O power
offerings, but there are alternatives.



--
Email sent to is never read.

Willing to look at an older boat?

Consider Bertram. Built both 28 and 32 flybridge models.

Blackfin builds a new 32' flybridge boat- and it is probably priced around
$200k or so with twin diesels.

There's a new boat built by Halvorsen that looks promising. Built in Europe to
Lloyds standards. 32-feet, single diesel, probably in the 2 to low-2's price
bracket for a new 32-footer.

Looking for a builder where the 28-32 foot range is the "top of the line" may
also pay some dividends. Some builders consider 28-feet an "entry level" boat,
and they build
the products just well enough to get you by until you can step up to a "real"
boat for a few hundred thousand more....

Gould 0738 wrote:
Willing to look at an older boat?

Consider Bertram. Built both 28 and 32 flybridge models.

Blackfin builds a new 32' flybridge boat- and it is probably priced around
$200k or so with twin diesels.

There's a new boat built by Halvorsen that looks promising. Built in Europe to
Lloyds standards. 32-feet, single diesel, probably in the 2 to low-2's price
bracket for a new 32-footer.

Looking for a builder where the 28-32 foot range is the "top of the line" may
also pay some dividends. Some builders consider 28-feet an "entry level" boat,
and they build
the products just well enough to get you by until you can step up to a "real"
boat for a few hundred thousand more....



There's a lovely Bertie 33' sportfish with a flying bridge available for
under $100,000 down the road from me apiece. I believe it is a mid or
late 1980's model. I've only looked at the exterior, and the hull looks
very sound. The downside is that it apparently has a pair of 454
gashogs. If I were looking for a project boat (in terms of a diesel
repower), this would be the one.


--
Email sent to is never read.

The Pursuit 3100 Offshore looks like it might go it. They are popular here and
the quality is supposed to be excellent.

http://www.pursuitboats.com/

And then there's Luhrs... http://www.luhrs.com

Dan


Wannacat wrote:
Hello,

We're shopping for a 28-32' cruiser and are really attracted to a
flybridge style. To our dismay, neither Sea Ray nor Chaparral make
cruiser of this type/size. We've seen only one boat with the right
design so far - Bayliner 288 (formerly 2858), but average quality of
its construction makes us wish to have more than one boat to choose
from.

Can anyone suggest other flybridge cruisers of this size? Any tips
will be greatly appreciated!

WC

Gould 0738 wrote:
Willing to look at an older boat?

Consider Bertram. Built both 28 and 32 flybridge models.

Blackfin builds a new 32' flybridge boat- and it is probably priced around
$200k or so with twin diesels.

There's a new boat built by Halvorsen that looks promising. Built in Europe to
Lloyds standards. 32-feet, single diesel, probably in the 2 to low-2's price
bracket for a new 32-footer.

Looking for a builder where the 28-32 foot range is the "top of the line" may
also pay some dividends. Some builders consider 28-feet an "entry level" boat,
and they build
the products just well enough to get you by until you can step up to a "real"
boat for a few hundred thousand more....


Halvorsen; lovely boats, including mine :-)

K

On 28 Nov 2003 00:34:00 -0800, (Wannacat) wrote:
We're shopping for a 28-32' cruiser and are really attracted to a
flybridge style. To our dismay, neither Sea Ray nor Chaparral make
cruiser of this type/size. We've seen only one boat with the right
design so far - Bayliner 288 (formerly 2858), but average quality of
its construction makes us wish to have more than one boat to choose
from.

Can anyone suggest other flybridge cruisers of this size? Any tips
will be greatly appreciated!
=================================================

The Bertram 28, 31 and 33 are all very nice flybridge cruisers.
Although no longer in new production, they were built to last and
there are many good used ones available including my 33 which is for
sale in Stamford, CT.

Pictures at http://tinyurl.com/wyaq

Broker listing info and more pictures at:

http://tinyurl.com/wybn

Hello,

We're shopping for a 28-32' cruiser and are really attracted to a
flybridge style. To our dismay, neither Sea Ray nor Chaparral make
cruiser of this type/size. We've seen only one boat with the right
design so far - Bayliner 288 (formerly 2858), but average quality of
its construction makes us wish to have more than one boat to choose
from.

Can anyone suggest other flybridge cruisers of this size? Any tips
will be greatly appreciated!

WC







I'm not sure who out there other than Bayliner currently makes a 28' to 30'
flybridge model cruiser but someone mentioned Carver and in the late 80's thru
the early 90's they built some Santego models that were very roomy although IMO
styling left something to be desired. They are quite roomy with very adequate
storage and seem to be pretty solid. Some close boating friends of mine had an
87 27' Santego and it was a great boat for them. They moved up to a 2000 352
Silverton sedan model that they like very much. I have also seen some 30'
Santego's here on the Great Lakes they are built in Wisconsin and are very
popular in this area.

Good luck.

138 days to go..

On Fri, 28 Nov 2003 00:34:00 +0000, Wannacat wrote:

Hello,

We're shopping for a 28-32' cruiser and are really attracted to a flybridge
style. To our dismay, neither Sea Ray nor Chaparral make cruiser of this
type/size. We've seen only one boat with the right design so far - Bayliner 288
(formerly 2858), but average quality of its construction makes us wish to have
more than one boat to choose from.

Can anyone suggest other flybridge cruisers of this size? Any tips will be
greatly appreciated!

WC

Donno where you are, but here on the Wet Coast there's billions of "flybridge"
(we call them Command Bridge) boats. I think it may be because we have a lot of
flotsam in the water, and getting up high makes it easier to spot. Bayliner does
seem to be the most popular, but others a Bertram, Uniflite, Monaro, Double
Eagle, Reinell (wouldn't buy one), Tollycraft (VERY nice!), and the Campion
Zeta. Some of these are pretty old and may no longer be in business, but you
might pick up a nice used one.

Here are some ads:
http://www.buysell.com/showad.asp?id=24975914
http://www.buysell.com/showad.asp?id=24975816
http://www.buysell.com/showad.asp?id=25070143

One thing: the smaller CB's (under 28 ft) had some stability issues, which may
be why you're having problems finding that style.

Good luck!

Lloyd Sumpter
"Far Cove" Catalina 36