Buying AR240 As First Boat & Looking for Some Real Life Feedback

[rodrg]

i bought a 2019 242 SE last week it is also my first boat, i have 3 little girls, i live in fort myers and used it for the first time this weekend weather was a bit rough and there was plenty of chop. like everyone else said i handles ok around 20-25 in the chop, you can only go 40-50 in really nice calm waters. The center consoles with deep V, passed me multiple times, they were also jumping a lot, if you have little kids you can't go fast regardless of the type of boat. there is plenty of room for our family of 5, i can easily get 4-5 more people on the boat. my girls jumped in and out of the boat and no worries about a prop, i actually had to do reverse to get my wife and being an inexperienced driver i was not worried cause i had no prop thats huge to me. try it yourself and also try something with deep V and see the difference.

 

[Rdavis0207]

I agree with all of the above. I've had mine in 1.5-2 waves of the intercostal bay and yes it's rough but was never worried about safety just a rough ride. Trim tabs are definitely the way to go my sister's bf has them on his 210 and it smooths it out alot vs my sx230. The power is more than enough and plenty of room.

 

[SB78]

Anyone telling you the AR240 is too small for your family has no idea what they are talking about. I have a family of 5 and we have tons of room in our SX190. I cruise comfortably with 7 or 8 on board. As for chop, you said you are boating lakes and rivers, so I can't imagine the chop is ever going to be big enough to be an issue. I was out on Lake Ontario this past weekend in my 19 footer and didn't have an issue with the chop on a windy day. I can't imagine there is an inland lake out there whose chop the 240 can't handle.

 

[OrangeTJ]

There is really a lot of well-intentioned but ignorant commentary out there amongst boat owners. Most people like what they have and think anything else is a bad choice. The 240 is a roomy, comfortable boat that goes plenty fast. Honestly, top speed is about the least important feature I can think of for a family boat. In my experience, the vast majority of boating happens between 20 and 30 mph. WOT runs are fun but not all that common. Going much faster than 50 for more than a minute or so is not typically a recipe for a happy family and/or wife and is definitely going to result is a lot of fuel usage, regardless of the boat.