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Random Quote: Men don't buy boats........Wives let 'em.
I've been thinking about buying a boat in the 35-40' range which I could do some overnighting on and still be able to fish from. I've owned Mercury, Johnson, and Evinrude outboards, and they're all junk even though the Mercs seem to be better. I've always had good luck with MerCruiser I/O's, but it's hard to find anything but outboards these days.
The only thing I've seen that I really like is the Fountain 38 Sportfish Cruiser, but those things are too expensive and need wide load permits to pull. They seem to think highly of Verado's, but I still think outboards were meant for little fishing boats that stay within sight of land. They're not as fast either. Why don't more people want I/O's in center consoles and trailerable sportfishing cuddies?
Two or three outboards hanging off the transom are a pain in the butt to get around where I/O's are tucked under the waterline. Sure, you lose some cockpit space at the stern, but you can't get a rod over top of those stupid outboards either. Besides that, a full width swim platform is better than dodging outboards, and you can't have one on an outboard powered boat.
Am I the only one who feels this way about outboards on larger boats?
I can think of a whole bunch of new 35-40' diesel powered inboards that fit the bill - Albemarle, Bertram, Black Watch,Cabo, Carolina Classic, Henriques, Luhrs, Tiara, Topaz, Wellcraft; there are probably others I missed. All will run 30+ knots in tougher conditions than an outboard of the same length will and don't have the outboards in the way. However, they all cost as much as, if not more than the Fountain.
The OP is not looking for inboard boats, he's looking for I/O boats. There are certainly I/O powered offshore boats that are much faster than any outboard powered offshore boats. Just look at the Fountains, Apaches, Nortechs, etc etc. There's nothing like having 2 or 3 ONE THOUSAND HP engines attached to racing outdrives to speed a boat along at 120-150 MPH.
For the OP, most people around here think that I/Os are a huge pain in the arse and apparently most offshore fishing boat builders agree. However if _I_ was looking for a boat that was going to be dry stored and I wanted the most fuel efficient power package along with a 30+kt cruising speed, then I would certainly look at the diesel-duoprop IO configuration.
Some of your 'criteria' is kind of funny though. You want a 35'-40' boat that doesn't require a wide load permit (8'6" beam).
The simple answer is horsepower to weight ratio. You can crank a whole lot more power out of an outboard and not have too much weight involved.
Here is a comparison on your 38' Fountain Sportfish Cruiser.
Standard equipment is (2) 425HP I/O's with Bravo III
Weight of each engine package is 1224lbs x 2 = 2448lbs
Now if you were to power the boat with Verado outboards you could probably get the same performance with (2) 300HP outboards because of the less weight but you could also mount (3) 300HP outboards and still have less weight.
300HP Verado outboard weighs 635lbs each
(2) Verado's would be 600HP and 1270 lbs total or 1178 lbs lighter
(3) Verado's would be 900HP and 1905 lbs total or 543 lbs lighter
Outboards are also more convenient to work on because they are all exposed and if absolutely necessary you can remove an outboard a whole lot faster and easier than an I/O.
Have you seen they way more and more boat manufacturers are hiding I/O and Inboard engines so working on them is nearly impossible unless you are a contortionist.
Anyone that would want a I/O is nuts. Either go outboard or inboard.
__________________ Yes im a ETEC dealer. No I am not in sales. Im not trying to sell anything. I will only comment on ETEC threads. No I do not bad mouth other outboard mfg's.
An I/O is what keeps marine shops and mechanics in business. The need to maintain them by far exceeds that of any outboard or inboard. Those outdrives are nothing but trouble. Yes they are very fuel efficient and relatively inexpensive, but to hell with that. I'd stay away from the i/o unless you love throwing money in that bottomless pit. But thats just my opinion based on what I hear from mechanics.
__________________ 2003 proline 19 sport
2007 e-tec 150
If you use your boat in shallower water the outboards are the way to go. The other thing is...where I am from the local fishermen set fish traps for snapper near the trolling edge. They tie ropes to bouys and leave them for marking location. Ocasionally when the bouys come off and you cant see, the ropes get tangled in the props . Just trim up that outboard and cut off rather than jumping in the water to deal with that that inboard prop.
I will tell you my experience. I have had boats with I/O's and Outboards. I am talking offshore boats up to 26 feet for years. I used to work on the water everyday (for 7 years) with an offshore boat. The Mercury I/O's were ALWAYS breaking down and unreliable. The outdrive was always the achilles heel. The alignment would slip, the bearing would be shot, hydralics would go out.....Today's outboards, across the board (does not matter which manufacturer) are very reliable and lighter. Also as stated finding a trailerable 35 to 40 footer will be fun.
__________________ "I'm suing the THT and the guy that made it."
running 27' with duoprop 150 volvo diesel 7yrs old 150hrs per yr.no problems. Yes this boat is not a speed demon
but will run in the slop @18knots and top out at 22knots. The hole package under 1100# know that is power to weight !
I think space and reliability is the main concern.
With outboards you have tons of storage space, as well as room to fish.
Its not hard to get your rod over an outboard, people do it every day with ease.
Sure a swim platform would work too, but are you going to slide across the "trunk" of your fountain dukes of hazzard style to get on that platform with a fish hooked up?
Another thing is comparing speeds of the sport boats vs fishing boats. Outboards are not slow!
Throw an additional 1800 lbs of fuel, 200 lbs of ice, 200-300 lbs of fishing gear, Stick a big tower on the boat with radar and rods hanging everywhere, and see what kind of speed records you set then.
I think the sport boats like IO's because the guys that drive them like to beef up the motors. which is much easier to do with a I/O.
Fountain is a good example because they post the speeds of there boats right on the site.
Lets compare the 38 Sportfish Verado power, vs 38 Sportfish I/O.
The I/O goes 62
Outboards, go 68.
And no, 50 hp will not get you an extra 6mph on that size boat at those speeds.
If your an I/O fan, thats cool. But outboards aren't junk. I'd prefer outboard over I/O on an offshore fishing boat.
If I want to idle around with no gear, 50 gal of fuel, and a couple pieces of A$$ on the bow,
I'll get a boat that is made for it with I/O's.
Am I the only one who feels this way about outboards on larger boats?
No there's another guy, but he knows outboard boats are faster than inboards. What inboard boat do you think was going to outrun that Fountain?
Well, of course, outboard boats are NOT faster than inboards, period. Maybe in small and medium CC fishing boats, yes. In large boats and REALLY fast boats (NOT outboard fishing stuff) there is no contest.
Win,lose or draw the numbers are in, your opinion of outboards is in the minority.We'll take our outboards you can take yourI/O. After all it is still a free country.
It has nothing to do with selling outboards. We are also a Volvo Penta Sterndrive's as well. Sterndives are way to much upkeep. Take a look at the resale value of a I/O boat. These is none. You have upper and lower gear sets, shafts and bearings. Bellows, gimbal rings, shift cables, and gimbal bearings. THen on the engine, shift moduels, engine couplers, exhaust flappers and many other items needed to make a sterndrive work.
__________________ Yes im a ETEC dealer. No I am not in sales. Im not trying to sell anything. I will only comment on ETEC threads. No I do not bad mouth other outboard mfg's.
Why So Many Outboards? 
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