Advantage vs. Kachina...Help?

[ecoast]

I am looking at buying either the new 28' Advantage or the 30' Kachina with the 496 HO Mag. Does anyone have an opinion on either boat. I am in South Florida and will be in salt water and am concerned with reliability and service as these companies are out of Az. Any recommendations on storing the boat in the water as well. Any help is appreciated.

[rivercrazy]

I'd pick the Advantage. Its a better built boat overall. Also I believe it has a full fiberglass interliner.

[Steamin' Rice]

Out of the two you listed, I'd probably pick the Advantage as well.
Just curious, have you looked at the other west coast builders? There are other west coast boats in the same size range that you are looking at that are very high quality. Also, it seems like there are some builders ot your way that build some good Ocean boats, like Pantera and Active Thunder...

[ecoast]

I'm still looking both here and on the west coast. What other west coast builders do you have in mind?

[Steamin' Rice]

OK, since you asked.....I recently got a new Shockwave 29' Magnatude and have put about 35 hours on it in the past 6 weeks. About 20 of those hours are in the ocean off the SoCal coast. The boat handles the rough water great and I have not had any issues with it. That is obviously my first pick, but I'm biased of course. You can find more info out at www.shockwaveboats.com (http://www.shockwaveboats.com) or ask me and I'll try to answer questions for you. The guys at Shockwave have been great to deal with and I have received as good or better sevice from them after I picked up the boat.
Eliminator's 30' Eagle is nice, but pricey and doesn't have as much room as the Shockwave. Hallett has a nice 27' and 30'. DCB's 28 Extreme is nice, but again not as much room as the Shockwave. Lavey Craft has a nice 27 and 29 that seems to work well in the ocean.. When I was shopping, I looked at the boats I listed above and picked the Shockwave ecause of the impression I got from the company and also because of the amount of room on the boat. Some of the other boats may e slightly faster with the same power, but they don't have the same amount of room as the Shockwave so I guess it will depend on your priorities for your boat. My wife can stand up inside the cabin of or boat, and she was not able to do that on any other boat in the 28'-30' size range we were looking at.
[This message has been edited by Steamin' Rice (edited July 12, 2002).]

[Instigator28]

You could check out the Nordic 28 Heat. Here is a little movie clip on the manufacturing process. They do some special things. http://nordicpowerboats.com/video.html

[ecoast]

That's the stuff I'm looking for. Thanks. Roominess is at the top of my priority list, so that helps a lot. I'm going to Sonic, Velocity, and Active Thunder tomorrow. Has anyone bought from across country? Pros and cons besides the obvious?

[ecoast]

great video clip by the way!!!

[ecoast]

Steamin'Rice......
Just spoke to Barry at Shockwave. We were wondering if had any digital pics of the inside of your boat, both cabin and deck. The website didn't have any. If you do, would you mind e-mailing them to me? I would appreciate it.

[Steamin' Rice]

Barry at Shockwave is good guy to deal with...He doesn't really give you any BS, which is nice.
I don't have any pics of the interior of the boat right now, but I'm going out in it tomorrow and will get some pics and then post or email them....

[B-rad502]

I'd go 28' Sleekcraft or 29' Magic over both of those, anyday!! Wish I was shopping seriously right now! http://free.***boat.net/ubb/smile.gif

[Steamin' Rice]

ecoast,
A little bit delayed, but here are some pics of the interior/cabin of my boat. I wanted to stick with a fairly simple cabin, so I don't have a sink, head, etc.... but there is room for all of that inside the boat. Out of all the boats that we looked at in this size range (Eliminator, Advantage, Hallett, Lavey, and most other west coast builders), this was the only cabin that my wife could fully stand up inside of. The V-berth is large enough so that I can fully stretch out and my feet don't hang over the edge...
If you want more pics or have any questions on this boat just let me know...Good luck with your search.
http://free.***boat.net/gallery/Reader_Rides/Stern_Drives/P7140243.JPG
http://free.***boat.net/gallery/Reader_Rides/Stern_Drives/P7140242.JPG
http://free.***boat.net/gallery/Reader_Rides/Stern_Drives/P7140235.JPG
http://free.***boat.net/gallery/Reader_Rides/Stern_Drives/P7140231.JPG
http://free.***boat.net/gallery/Reader_Rides/Stern_Drives/P7140230.JPG

[rivercrazy]

SR thanks for posting those pics. Congrats. That boat is frikken awesome. I bet my 21LS could fit down there in the underbow area. LOL! http://free.***boat.net/ubb/biggrin.gif

[Steamin' Rice]

Rivercrazy,
Thanks for the compliments on the boat...We really are happy with it.. You've got a nice boat also!!
Are you going to the Shockwave regatta in a couple of weeks? If so we'll see you there!!

[TCHB]

From my recent experience the Advantage people are pretty good people and the boats are clean. I took a tour of the site last week and they are building very clean boats. I am looking at the 25 open box citation. I have talked to Sleekcraft boats and they are very disorganized and do not follow up on anything. They remind me of used car sales people that will tell you anything and then good luck. I spoke to two new owners of Sleeks and they confirmed what I experienced. I hope this helps.

[Havasu Cig]

SR,
Your boat looks great. What kind of steering wheel is that? The Gladiator at the ski race had the same wheel and I was think about getting one.
Ecoast,
I bought my Cig here in So.Cal. but have dealt with Cigarette over the phone and they have been great so far. If you choose a good company I would not think it would be a problem buying from across the country.

[1ASKYDV]

TCHB...
I know this is a little off topic but could you elaborate on your opinion of Sleekcraft? I have been considering them as one of the possibles for the new boat and would like some feedback. ie: Which salesman have you talked to? etc?
Thanks

[Steamin' Rice]

Havasu Cig,
Shockwave got my steering wheel through Gaffrig, but I think that it's actually made by Momo. The link below should take you to the Gaffrig site with some info on the wheels. I like it because it's a little bit different than most of the steering wheels.
http://www.livorsi.com/Wheelsmomo.htm
That Gladiator at the ski race was pretty nice. Cigarette makes some awesome boats.
Are you going to be at the SCOPE poker run?

[Havasu Cig]

No we won't be able to make the run because of the out of state delivery, I don't want to screw around and get caught. We have a couple months left until we can run it in the ocean again.
The Gladiator at the ski race was awesome, I was drooling over it. The no rub rail, capped look really added to the lines and awesome paint. We talked to the owners son and he said it was running 92 mph with the new 525 closed cooling system motors (staggered), not bad for a 37' boat. They have a place at Havasu so it should be out there from time to time. They also have a 32 Shiada.
Thanks for the info on the wheel, I think I will order one.
[ August 15, 2002, 03:01 PM: Message edited by: Havasu Cig ]

[Havasu Cig]

After going to their site I realize I have a Momo wheel on the boat right now, it is just a different style. I think I still like yours better.