Cannot decide which is the best boat for our family.

[cjaysanchez]

We have put a deposit for whenever dealers get some 2020 or 2021 19ft boat. We go back and forth between AR195 or 195 fsh sport or deluxe. I need to fit it into a 7’ garage. We have two little girls (9 yrs and 4 yrs old). Like tubing, wake surfing, fishing, and exploring. Mostly in lakes and not planning on going to ocean any time soon but will do it in the future. It seems the fsh is a true hybrid for all family activities. Concern taking on and off the ttop. I know there are a few companies with foldable tower options. Not sure I need a ttop even though it looks nicer. Like the option to have a changing/potty area specially when a guest is present. Great to have a water to rinse things inside the boat. Don’t really need all the fishing/storage options since we are not hard core into fishing. I cannot see anywhere if there is oem cushions for the bow area to make it a lounge for wife and girls. Will the ar195 be friendly enough for all activities or the fsh be a better fit? Can the fsh truly fit 8 people? I don’t see how from the standard pictures online. I see enough seats for 6 people. Which boat will feel larger and less crowded specially when having 6-8 people? Like the fee of fsh high Center seat with better visibility, fee more in control. We are so concern to make a $40k+ mistake. We were set on ar195 blue color and then we saw an ad for fsh, so we are back to square one. Any help would be appreciated.

 

[marcham]

The ar195 comes with 2 bow filler cushions. As for crowd, I'll be able to tell you tomorrow, we'll have 6 to 8 onboard. The AR has a large compartment under the floor where we store all our ballast bags, wakebooster, and a wakeboard.

How tall is your garage door? Will you store it in the garage daily or just for the winter? It might become a real chore to raise and lower the tower for every outing.

 

[cjaysanchez]

Garage has a 7’ height clearance. We plan to store it every day in the garage.

 

[2kwik4u]

Garage has a 7’ height clearance. We plan to store it every day in the garage.

I would get the AR for this reason alone. With two little ones you'll want as much shade as you can get on the water, and the AR works a bit better for that AND fitting in a garage.

You'll have to mod the tower stops to make it happen, but it's an easy and quick mod. Did mine the day I brought it home in under 15min.

 

[Ratket]

Folding the tower on the newer boats is EASY, and it adds at most 5 Minutes to your routine. I would say the AR is better suited as a “ Family Boat”. Now if you plan to fish with your buddies more than spend time with the family on the water... that’s a different story.

 

[Dave burke]

If youre not a serious fisherman, I’d go with the AR. Much more versatile.

 

[Dixie Highway]

In an FSH the only way you’re getting it into a 7’ garage is with a deluxe, and even then you MIGHT be too tall at the leaning post backrest. I recall an FSH owner on here last year needing to mod his backrest to get it to work, don’t recall how tall his door was. Almost positive it requires the windscreen to be removed though. That’s easy enough.

 

[Dixie Highway]

Forgot to add, for a family I didn’t like the bow seating of the 19’ FSH, the 21’ has a more traditional bow arrangement of opposite facing benches with backrest for lounging. My girls love to lounge up there, which with 2 of them would have been problematic. I’ve had 10 people on my 210, 6 adults and 4 kids. It was tight, I was not a fan lol. Can’t imagine more than 6 being comfortable on a 195 FSH.

 

[Inthrustwetrust]

Folding the tower on the newer boats is EASY, and it adds at most 5 Minutes to your routine. I would say the AR is better suited as a “ Family Boat”. Now if you plan to fish with your buddies more than spend time with the family on the water... that’s a different story.

Ya I put mine up/down after every outing. I have general purpose boat cover and not the fancy Yamaha one so it fits better tower down. Just two knobs. Just make sure you are holding it with a bunch of weight leaning into it, thing is kinda heavy, and the knobs bind when unscrewing if you aren’t pushing against it. Literally takes less than a minute. If you are not catching big fish that require you to move around to bring them in I would go with the AR.

 

[marcham]

We were 6 onboard today(3 adults, 3 kids) with 4 boards, duffle bags, lifejackets, wetsuits, 2 coolers, etc.... still room for 1 or 2 more.

 

[Remington]

2020 AR190 here, two kids, 9 (girl) 5(boy) we love it, gas lasts for multiple days even when tubing and wake boarding all day, fishing isnt the easiest with the top open but you can side cast fine enough, i also find that fishing with the fam isnt as fun as watersports so we never do it. Ive taken prob a dozen trips with parents and siblings and room was never an issue. i think most at once was 6 adults and 2 kids, this weekend will be 4 adults and 5 kids, and the room is no problem. the problem comes in when you are pulling a big 2-3 person tube and want to go more than 15-20mph to try and flip them, but with 4 adults with one on the tube its no problem to fly around, only time i had power issue was 6 adults and tube out. PS you will prob never surf behind it unless you are ready to broaden your budget in aftermarket stuff that takes way to long to set up. Wakeboarding, kneeboarding, tubing no prob though. If you have never owned a jet boat though i will say the amount of jet wash hitting you in the face on the tube or going under your board was a surprise to me. Wouldnt buy any other style though, love the safety for the kids and ease of use/maintenance. AR195 has a stronger engine so it might be less of an issue for larger groups anyway

 

[Remington]

Also while it doesnt look quit as sporty and has 2 capt chairs instead of the passenger lounge you might consider the 195s instead seeing as it comes with a fair amount of extra niceties for 1k more. Like larger nav screen, better speakers, mooring lights, snap in marine mat instead of the carpet, swim deck head unit, maybe bow filler cushions?