Zeus, IPS pod drive, is buzz gone?

Yeah I rode on it.

Went like a raped ape.

Bit skittish, but seriously noisy transmission.

That's a beautiful hull. Have you thought about making it in a fish-around configuration.

I don't think any sportfish should have the engines in the cockpit. It just sounds like a recipe for a rusty disaster. If you flood the cockpit backing down on a fish, or just the sloshing around and saltiness usually found in that area. The 50' Sportfish size/market seems very soft right now (for example Cabo only built 2- 52' FB's because that's all they've had orders for since they came out with the 52' which was I think 2006. I think you could get away with a shorter engine room with the pods, and possibly put other things in the cockpit like fuel tank etc......

I was in the Cabo/Hatteras Boardroom two weeks ago.

The Cabo 52 FB was dropped as it duplicated the Hatteras GT 54 FB.

I can tell you though, there is still some friendly banter from the Cabo people about the fact it should still be in the range. They spoke pretty highly about it.

I think it should. It had a nice layout. But it was a lack of orders that was the biggest deciding factor. I've run several 52' expresses but never a FB 52' boat. Considering the largest Cabo FB boat is only a 40' FB and there is nothing about that since I don't think they still do the 48'. Hatteras dropped the 50' FB so it didn't compete with Cabo several years ago.

I did build a smaller version 7 years ago but it had eggbeaters out back so it doesn't really count. Personally I prefer that layout on smaller boats but there seem to be a lot more than like the express version.

Shazam, New boats are disproportionally more expensive than the used market right now but the costs involved in building them have done nothing but gone up. I'm certain all builders are pricing their boats as low as they possibly can to the point of break even just to keep the shop open.

Depending on how nicely that 50' was done you are probably looking in the range of 750-1.2

A while ago the 43' was discontinued. That was one of their oldest hull designs. Cabo is only showing a 40' FB on their website as the only current model flybridge they're producing.

I would guess a 50' FB should go for around $1.2 nicely equipped.....(engines, furnishings, etc......) some 38' ish Interepids are pushing $750k with options. Problem is, many of those 50' convertible owners were small business owners that were hit the hardest.....many of those guys have switched to 25' center consoles these days......the guys that haven't been hurt with the economy are now running 70' + sportfish

I agree with Capt J about the small business owners being the buyers of the 50 or so SF and them being hardest hit. Even here in Australia, where many of the US boats were being imported, the market has dried up for that size SF. Last week a Salthouse 55, considered a high quality NZ built SF, which should sell for $1.2 up, went to auction and sold for just over $400,000. Now that is a sign, as if we needed one that our market is going South big time.
As for the CC attraction at those prices, crazy!

Things are different now. The 50's SF's are too much of a compromise, not really enough staterooms for the entire family, not really enough storage and freezer space to really travel for more than a week with one. The center consoles are much easier to take out, keep clean, and maintain and can be kept on a lift. They now have many more features than they used to and a lot more range and ability with modern 4 strokes. The 4 strokes have also allowed the center consoles to be a lot bigger and be fuel efficient. Total cost of ownership is easier and well you can get a hotel room all over the bahamas at any marina these days. The speed they offer also greatly extends the range of a 4 day weekend. And, you don't have to carry an entire house around with you everywhere you go. It's also a lot easier to clean up at the end of the day.

The other 46' Betram, 52' Hatteras, 50' Viking guys have moved up and onward as they are now grandparents and can bring the entire extended family with them. No longer want to get bounced around and like the bigger ride. Have made more money now their kids are grown up. Back in 2004, I worked on a 2003 75' Jim Smith SF. The owner had sportfishes for 30 years.....He went from a 55' Ocean (I don't know what he had prior to this) to a 54' Bertram to a 65' Monterey, to a 72' Viking to the 75' Jim Smith.........and that was his final boat.

Just look at how depressed all of those old SF boats prices are. I ran a 45' Viking that was a nice boat, I think it was a 1995 had rebuilt 6v71's, 2 navnet displays, good condition, clean.....it sold for $120k, I've seen numerous 53's sell for less than 100k, same with the others. Problem is how much it really costs these days to maintain (properly) one of those boats......bridge strataglass 4-5k, a rebuild $25k, a bottom job $4k, a generator $15k.......a new a/c $3k and how many systems they have on them.......Back in those days a 65' Hatteras SF was huge, and you were really wealthy if you had a 52' Hatt SF or 54' Bertram SF. And, fuel was less than $1 a gallon...... I maintained a 1987 63' Ocean SF since I was 18, when you pulled up somewhere back in the 90's with that boat, you got A LOT of attention...it didn't matter where it was........and it was an Ocean of all things.....

The 63' Ocean owner (now in his 60's) sold the boat in 2009 and kept his 34' Marlago CC. A 55' SF owner I know sold 2 years ago and now has a 28' dusky.......a 61' Viking owner I know sold the boat and bought a Yellowfin CC.

$400 ... Wow.

Salthouse makes a nice boat too.

Stunned me as well. The 55 has a great layout and ER.
It was the Ray White Auction last week:
http://www.raywhitemarine.net/auction/

Pity it was RW!
Cheers,
Kafue

.....and the biggest "yacht" I saw was a 65-footer!

Shazam, you and Capt J are both right. While at the Annapolis Power Boat show last weekend, I saw newly minted cc's everywhere, and they're growing bigger. I saw one 34-footer with triple 300-hp outboards. Hard core! And the SF that Viking and others were showing were smallish - 40' to 50' and staffed by very anxious-looking salesmen. Market-wise, it's a different world out there today.

Good comments by all with another force at work, SF boats are purpose built - to fish. FL fishing is not like it used to be with sizes and numbers way below a few decades and more ago. Declining fish stocks and reasons for are not lost on the family SF owners and charterers. DIfferent times and a greener population indeed plays a role.

I think the comments are reflecting the changes in leisure activity for those in the 40' - 50' range. Buyers are trading comfort for speed, because the consumer in this size range has less time available to be on the water, and the creature comforts of a 50' Convertible are less attractive. The small business owner has more demands placed on his time as well as just trying to survive today's business climate.

This used to be a strong middle class/self-employed/family market, and let's face it, things have changed considerably. Look at the marinas and you just don't see the kind of year round activity in the past, it is highly seasonal and selective. I know some people who have their kids in travel sports year round, with some youth baseball players who play more games per year than the professionals do - where do you find the time to go fishing?

Why spend $1.2M on a new 52' whatever when you can buy and refit a used 54 Bertram for under $200K and refit it for $600K (or more) and save the balance of $400K or buy a small Condo on the water with dock priveleges at the location of your choice?

I agree with this entirely as I grew up in Fort Lauderdale, and have been fishing here since say 1980. Back in 1990 when my friends and I used to go fish, we'd have lines in the water at 7am, and be coming back at 11am with 4 fish each (even then we only kept 4 per person and weren't greedy), and it was an extremely rare day we came back with 1 fish. Now you go out and a good day is 7 fish for the entire boat (dolphin, wahoo, kingfish, snapper, grouper, etc.

Also the fishing in FL has changed. It's now a live-bait fishing to produce good fish. Trolling is very hard to produce the numbers it used to. Live-baiting from a SF is a royal pain, as is drifting for swordfish, you have to constantly keep putting it in gear to keep the lines behind the boat, add a kite to the mix and it's more work than fun...... A center console, you run out to your desired depth, shut the motors off, and just drift, the kite stays pretty much the same altitude and the boat drifts sideways and you use the entire side of the boat and there's no work or much less work until you decide to setup another drift.

Another aspect is many new owners feel more confident running a 35'ish+ center console themselves than a 50' SF, and a 35' center console can be run in the ICW and taken away from the dock by 1 person, and it isn't a 2 person project to take it to the fuel dock and 20+ minutes to get off the dock.

The days have changed. I knew one guy that used to have a full time Captain on his 41' Viking SF for 2 decades. Many 50'+ sportfish' had a full time Captain back in the day.....which you just don't see much anymore. It's another expense newer owners have avoided. Another reason is chartplotters, many owners feel more confident running the boat on trips themselves and navigating with the advent of good chartplotters, that would never think of it back in the 1980's. The other is having a good yacht manager or management company to maintain the vessel, which 10 years ago or so you either had a Captain or did everything yourself and hired every sub-contractor yourself. I remember as a kid, going to Bimini was considered a HUGE deal, granted it's only 48NM of ocean to cross, now people with a fast center console and deep pockets think nothing of running over just to fish for 1/2 a day and run back.

Cat W/Pods

I'm wondering if anyone has seen these Cats ? Seems like a really good idea .

Powerplay Catamarans