Bowrider in the Solent?

[tim.holling]

Hi all. New to all this so be gentle with me. Live on the Solent and looking to get into motor boating next season so looking to buy over coming months. Liked style of bowrider config, room for friends, bimini cover etc plus quick enough to tow toys or wakeboard. Queried inboard or outboard options on another forum but had more replies saying bowriders no good for the Solent conditions and should go for a cuddy. Cuddy config seems a little out of price range (£5-£7k) apart from fishing style boats. Didn't really want cheap Fletcher style speedboat. Any thoughts from you experts? Would leaving bow cover on bowrider help in rougher water? Naive question probably. Will be doing rya level 2 before i venture out so will be doing it properly.
Will also be trailering on my drive btw. Appreciate your help.

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[mark101]

Welcome to the forum Tim?

Bow riders are generally considered for inland waters, such as lakes or calm seas. The issue is, if you take a gulp of water on the bows, that configuration can consume a lot of water in one go. Having said that, one or two people on here and one former member has great fun with theirs. I would consider a closed bow, doesn't need to have a cuddy but certainly that is more suited to the sea or Solent in your case. Alternatively, have you considered a RIB? I am on my 23rd boat, from dinghies, to yachts, to sports boats and now own a little RIB and loving it. Good luck in your search. PS: nothing wrong with a Fletcher and you will get a mint boat for your budget.


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[Xboatboyx]

We have just gone from a bowrider to a cuddy and if you can i would try and get a cuddy. We found the bowrider slammed around the solent and gave us a wet ride unless it was really calm under 10mph wind. The bow cover won't really make much difference if water is coming over but is useful to keep the breeze out. If you can't get a cuddy in your price range then a decent Bowrider will be fine. I know you said you don't want a fletcher but they take the water very well for their size due to their deep V hulls unlike the american bowriders.

[tim.holling]

Welcome to the forum Tim?

Bow riders are generally considered for inland waters, such as lakes or calm seas. The issue is, if you take a gulp of water on the bows, that configuration can consume a lot of water in one go. Having said that, one or two people on here and one former member has great fun with theirs. I would consider a closed bow, doesn't need to have a cuddy but certainly that is more suited to the sea or Solent in your case. Alternatively, have you considered a RIB? I am on my 23rd boat, from dinghies, to yachts, to sports boats and now own a little RIB and loving it. Good luck in your search. PS: nothing wrong with a Fletcher and you will get a mint boat for your budget.


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Hi. Thanks for the reply. Will certainly take on board what you've said. Had originally thought of a rib but like the refinement of a proper boat (want to be able to take family out of all ages). Will look again at Fletcher style boats. Reason i discounted them was that they looked a bit basic with not much room and the bowrider looked classier. Not much good if it's full of water though!

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[tim.holling]

We have just gone from a bowrider to a cuddy and if you can i would try and get a cuddy. We found the bowrider slammed around the solent and gave us a wet ride unless it was really calm under 10mph wind. The bow cover won't really make much difference if water is coming over but is useful to keep the breeze out. If you can't get a cuddy in your price range then a decent Bowrider will be fine. I know you said you don't want a fletcher but they take the water very well for their size due to their deep V hulls unlike the american bowriders.

Thanks for the reply. Will definitely consider other styles now. Don't mind getting a bit wet but i don't want it to become a danger. Cheers

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[Carl]

Hi Tim ..
Welcome to the forum, ...
We've got a little Bayliner 175gt Bow rider. .. Great little craft that does exactly what it says on the tin.
It's awesome on the flat sea when there is very little wind ... but it doesn't take much to upset it.

there is a short video on it's way once it's uploaded .. to demonstrate this. .... we were just coming out of the river Exe at Exmouth

[Xboatboyx]

Don't get me wrong the bowrider was a great boat and never once did we feel in danger that we were going to sink. We only took a wave over the front once in the solent which i think was due to driver error. Bowriders are not dangerous boats you just have to know yours and the boats limitations, usually you will chicken out before the boat does.

You can see some videos of our old boat in action here https://www.youtube.com/user/martinlines1961/videos

[Carl]

Here is the little video of us coming out of the river Exe at Exmouth. ..

[tim.holling]

Here is the little video of us coming out of the river Exe at Exmouth. ..

Cheers Carl. See what you mean. The sea didn't look particularly heavy. The Solent looks like that half the time. Probably 90% of our boating will be on the sea. With that in mind do you think an open bow would be more trouble than its worth? Tim

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[tim.holling]

Don't get me wrong the bowrider was a great boat and never once did we feel in danger that we were going to sink. We only took a wave over the front once in the solent which i think was due to driver error. Bowriders are not dangerous boats you just have to know yours and the boats limitations, usually you will chicken out before the boat does.

You can see some videos of our old boat in action here https://www.youtube.com/user/martinlines1961/videos

Thanks again. Has certainly given me something to think about. Off to the boat show next month. Can always dream.

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