40' to 45' SF Convertible - Riviera? - Silverton? - (Luhrs ?) - Any Others?

Under the heading of "you get what you pay for", Tiara builds a dang good, solid boat. The way I see production boats, there are premium-line boats, and then there are price-line boats. Tiara isn't built for price, they are a quality item. As a long time boater I think the quality difference between low-end and high-end has gotten closer. In this day, when lawsuits happen over quality issues, there aren't alot of "BAD" boats.

Just a few comments on fuel capacity - at a 25 knot cruise you can probably expect to burn at least 50 gph (0.50 nmpg) for a loaded boat in this size range. For your 100nm crossing, that would be 200 gallons each way. Add about 0.75 gph for a typical 10kW genset, and you are looking at another 54 gallons for 72 hours (3 days) use. You are now up to 454 gallons without allowing for any extra adventures or alternate plans dictated by weather.

I like to conservatively use a 20% factor for reserve fuel, because the last 10% can be junk that will play havoc with your fuel filters, especially as you are coming home and running low on fuel. Adding 20% reserve from 600 gallons gives you a total of 574 gallons, leaving only 26 gallons for "messing" around, etc. I would reccommend that you keep the reserve just for the unknown emergencies, especially if the Islands are fairly isolated..........

I would be more comfortable with a 700 gallon fuel capacity, and you will be hard pressed to find an older sportfisher that carries this kind of fuel in your size range. Looks like a Cabo 43/Bertram 45 would fit the bill, or maybe an IPS/Zeus powered Express that has better fuel efficiency.

Although I have not cruised on a Silverton 45, it does have a Donald Blount hull design and should be a good performer, even in the rough stuff. I would take a Cabo 40 over a Tiara 39 any day, and an old school sleeper would be a Topaz 44.

Just my $0.02

Go seatrial a 39 tiara and decide for yourself. Honestly one of the worst running boats I've ever been on, so bad that the first prototype was taken back to the factory, dismantled and thrown out. A year or so later Tiara re-released the boat with an improved hull design, I'd ridden both, IMO the new hull wasn't much better than the old one. Also, one of the worst selling boats that Tiara has ever built.

Seatrials - Not easy to do

Unless a dealer has a brand new boat to sell, getting a seatrial is tough. Unless you have a signed agreement for purchase, but I don't want to do that just to trial a boat. I guess I could just charter 6 packs, looking for captains with boats like the ones I want to buy. There are so many interesting boats, though, so it will be tough to seatrial 'em all.

That is SOP. Brokers and boat owners aren't in the business of giving boat rides. You chose the boat type, narrow the list down to a couple, and then negotiate "subject to sea trial and survey" with money down. IOWs it's a done deal when you take the ride unless there is a problem, and most problems are just negotiated into the contract. It seldom involves walking away from the deal.
Normally, you narrow down your search by asking questions at places like this. This is also the time to get with a cpatain to get you educated and keep your rose colored specs properly adjusted. When you've narrowed the field you can then find a similar boat to charter for a day. That's the hardest, and hopefully unnecessary part if you've done your homework. Then you locate the boats that fit your bill, look them over to narrow the field tighter, and then start negotiating (hopefully on 2 or 3), again "subject to sea trial and survey". Strike a deal on one, sign contracts, put down your money, take a ride and survey. You'll of course do better in your negotiations if you already have your financing in place. And of course, cash is king.

Hey folks,
Haven't been in here for quite some time but, just noticed some chat on the Mikelson '43. I had one built in '05 and have never looked at anything else since. I'm a very happy owner.
The Tom Fexas hull tracks great, the build quality is way above avg, and a 39 Tiara could fit inside the Mikelson 43.They are headquartered in San Diego and are very popular out west. A few have found their way to the east coast. Tom Fexas built one for himself he kept in NY. I'm the only one on the Great Lakes.
With a full load (200 gal water, 600 fuel and provision for live-aboard) my avg cruise speed is 22kts at 2100 rpm. That's about 70% throttle on the 540 cummins. Fuel burn is 39 gph or 1.4- 1.5 miles per gal with a range of 400 miles. For long range cruising 1200 rpm gets me about 8 - 9 kts and a range of 1,000 miles. Given these numbers are in fresh water...the performance should be slightly better in more buoyant salt.
Lots more to say, but give them some serious consideration before you drop your $ on a production boat.

Good Luck

Ok. goofy math...ooops.
thanks