"Gene Kearns" wrote in message

I don't know what to use as a standard. Good quality boat. High
price, but then Grady is too expensive anyway. Engine sounds like it
could have a lot of time ahead of it, but the boat IMHO, is
significantly underpowered.

I tend to agree with Gene on this. I had a 1991 Gulfstream with a 1995
Yamaha 225, and no Hardtop, and I was always wishing for more oomph. The
boat tended to plane a little bit slowly for my tastes, but top end was
around 38-40mph. The boat you're looking at has the added weight and drag
of the hardtop, which should slow things down...but has a *fuel-injected*
225 Yammie (vs. my old carbed model). That may make the extra weight
somewhat negligible. It also has a different hull design than my 1991
(which is a good thing since the pre-1992 hull was wet and hard-riding). I
suspect that the new hull design is more efficient than the pre-1992 hulls,
too. The only way to know for sure is if you take along a handheld GPS and
sea trial the boat. Make sure you bring a couple of your overweight buddies
with you on the sea trial to recreate real-world running.

As for the price...
Sounds pretty high to me. Dealers down here usually ask NADA value plus
10-15% for a Grady in very good condition. Gene says NADA is $33k. Add $6
or 7k for the motor, another $2-3 for the hardtop, and a 15% spiff on top,
and you get the guys' asking price of $49k, however. Still, I'd hit him
around $40k if it's a nice boat andyou feel that it's not underpowered.