lid kirjoitti:
"Impractical"? How so? My only objection is the lack of means (in
some cases) to get past the windshield to the bow. Other than that, I
can appreciate a windshield that can keep you dry.

I wonder too... But if you contrast a runabout with a HT or DC, those
offer you better weather protection and you can sleep easily in them,
and the size of the boat is just a little bit larger. Or if you have
the open boat concept, you can access the boat easily from the bow,
load it more easily, etc.

the 26 foot boat from Bella,
http://www.bellaboats.fi/service.cntum?pageId=103225

How does one get to the bow on *that*?

Via the hatch in the front, or by going out from the rear and walking
around the cabin. Not as practical maybe - the smaller models have the
contemporary walk-through design:
http://www.bellaboats.fi/service.cnt...3220&picId=153

In certain areas among certain people, sailboats are *very* popular.
There's not much cross over among sailors and powerboaters though.
They take completely different mindsets and are like comparing soccer
vs golf.

It's similar here... Sails vs motors seems to be the greatest/most
apparent divide in our local boating communities, in the eyes of a
newbie.

To Butch:

Pricing... Well, if one looks at what they ask for new cruisers in the
same size from Bayliner, Sea Ray or Rinker, the price is about the same
as for Bella's Fantino. Some differences of course - somewhat different
style of the boat, the US boats are imported (one would think it
increases the price), and you can often get an about 100 hp larger
engine in the US boats if you like. Lots of ifs and buts here I
suppose... US manufacturers benefit from economies of scale, unlike
even the larger Finnish brands (there are smaller brands too, which
make a bit more expensive boats in similar style, eg. Marino,
Sailfish...). Selling the boats overseas could be a bit too large a
marketing effort for the Finnish companies (though I think it was done
in the 50's!).

For example:
Bayliner 265 Cruiser (8.23m) with MerCruiser 5.0l Alpha1 is listed as
69 370 eur
Bella 26 Falcon Fantino (8.17m) with MerCruiser 4.3l MPI Alpha1 is
listed as 69 800 eur

Both the above engines are rated at 220 hp. I suppose one should look
at what equipment is included as standard vs option etc to determine
which boat is the really cheap one :-)

One could suppose that there indeed is some common ground between US
boaters in say, Maine or Washington, or Canadian boaters, and Finnish
boaters. That might explain the thing that US boats have gained a
secure foothold in Finland. We are located just North of the 60th
Northern, but the climate in Helsinki is about halfway between Seattle
and Winnipeg when it comes to the seasonal variation in temperatures.
Of course there are many differences in local boating conditions - the
waters for example...

Risto