Westport 112 vs 125, more advice solicited

To each their own. We love marinas over anchoring but know we're in the minority.

My point is with a 130’ you have the ability to get into marinas and anchoring is a choice NOT a necessity

The 130 has the addition of the Engineers Stateroom. Also, you have a door between the crew area and one of the staterooms which makes that stateroom ideal for a captain.

As a 2 time 112 owner I have been following this thread with interest. One factor I'm surprised hasn't come up is ride quality. A comparison of 112 sea draft to air draft vs that of the 130 support what many Captains and crew have told me. The 112 rides much better ! The 125 was sea trialed by my Captain who reported it was outstanding. If you plan on flying into your destination no big deal but if you are doing the blue water maybe it is. I noticed your reference to Bangor, we don't live far away and have used our boat in a similar area. She's for sale now as we are making a change in our program. PM me if you like.

I respectfully disagree on your ride comment and offer my opinion from having been on both. Three weeks on a 112 and several years on a 130. But then you do have a 112 for sale.

Your supposition that I've highlighted seems to ignore that Irish Wake included that his captain reported that the 125 was outstanding when sea trialed.

Which are not available on the used market. I haven't been on a 125, but have on both 112's and 130's. I don't know if Irish Wake has been on a 130 or not of if he's just saying what he was told apparently by many captains and crew. I never was told that when I was looking. I also don't know what he's saying on the sea draft to air draft and it's impact on ride. I'm not putting down the 112 at all as it's been a tremendously popular boat and had the 130 not existed, we might have purchased one. However, my opinion is the 130 rides better (which I define as handling rough seas) than the 112 (and I'm reasonably certain the 164 rides better than the 130, although I've not been on one as I refused since I was afraid I'd be tempted). I do have a family friend who went on a 125 but chose a 130. However, he wasn't at all critical of the 125 and I think his mind was already made up so not really a fair judge.

He's saying that the 130' is top heavy effecting ride (air draft to sea draft).

Personally my huge grip for the 125' is the difficulty of getting lines because over 40% of the boat is in-accessible from the side or very difficult for docking purposes.

The 130 is no more top heavy compared to it's total size than the 112 though. There's 2/3 more weight in the boat itself and the added height really doesn't have much weight. I've just never experienced what he's talking about nor heard it from anyone else who has been on both.

That’s not accurate. Hull #1 Black Gold is for sale asking $20m. This is more than what it cost new at the to,e ($18.5) but they have been raising the price as of late.

I drove a 130' not a 40M for almost 10 years. To say I know it's abilities is an understatement.
I've had that boat in all sorts of weather, from 15' following seas to 10' head seas, and she handled well. My only complaint with the boat is the hard chine forward, in fact all the WP have this. These boats were all designed to cruise at 20 kts, which few of them do regularly. When at displacement speed this chine tends to slap pretty hard, even the 50m has this issue. We had a saying on the 130, the rougher it got, the faster you go!
The 125, 130 and the 40m are all based on the same hull, so the underway seakeeping should be fairly similar. Yes the 130 and likely the 40M is a bit tender, but with the advancement in stabilizers this is really not an issue anymore. I had a friend that drove and older 130 with the original stabilizers, then his boss got a new one with at rest stabilization and bigger fins, and he said it was like night and day.
I think in today's market the 130 can be quite a deal, you should be able to get into one, including a full refit for less than 10 mil, that's a lot of boat for the price.
Although I have not ridden on a newer 112', I can assure you that the seakeeping for a 112' is going to be outstanding, just the way they design boats in the Pac NW.
When it comes to picking one or the other, I suggest looking at running costs and not just the price of the boat, big difference between a 130 and a 112'. All of the WP are great choices for the Bahamas and Caribbean, the shallow draft for the Bahamas can't be beat.

My Wife saw the 130’ and was blown away. Should couldn’t believe that it was only 18’ larger. 2x the boat. Another interesting fact is most 112s charter for 50-60k per week and 130s are pretty much double that.

People are amazed that we actually run at cruising speeds most of the time. One of the reasons we chose the boat was the ability to run at 20 knots. Even when we slow down and ease off we still stay 15-18 knots. Displacement speeds would only be in the worst visibility or other conditions or short ICW distances.

Bill Garden believed in speed. The 112 and 125 are similarly designed to be run faster. It seems almost sacrilegious to only one run at displacement speed.

Your input, among others, was most helpful when we were deciding 6 years ago. We chartered mostly the new model but one of the older ones. However, it had updated stabilization.

We don't need it either plus requires a larger crew. Only time I'd really prefer it is crossing oceans.

I wasn't trying to start an controversy, just sharing my opinion based on 15 years of cruising on Bill Garden hulls. I am a fan of his designs not a critic. I stand by my comment on air/water draft, and yes I'm referring to the CG. A search will reveal opinions from those far more qualified than I that speak of the importance of CG in proper hull design and the danger of relying on stabilizers which could fail. Having said that ride evaluation at least on this forum is not objective ! Regards to all !

Bill Garden or Jack Sarin or Taylor Olson, who do designed which hull?

All a bit combination now, but originally the 112 was a Sarin design and the 130 was a Garden design. There have been slight redesigns over the years and now Westport takes credit for all hull designs, which would be Taylor Olson and team. Greg Marshall was very involved with the 130 redesign as a Garden protégé. Donald Starkey gets credit for the interior and exterior of the 164 but Westport the hull.

Regardless of whether it was Sarin or Garden or Olson they did remain consistent with performance criteria with all running 24-25 knots and cruising around 20. I believe Pacific Mariners were also Garden Designs with the redesign of the 85 being done by Marshall and Olson.