who makes the best handling pontoon boat

[fwood]

Has anybody driven all the performance pontoons? I have a Benny with ESP and think it handles really well, just wondering if manitou or premier handles any better?)

It's not like they include all pontoon boats in these "shootouts". We've got a Bennington here in our factory right now for repairs--somebody had dropped it from a truck and we're getting it repaired for them. But we're here kind of laughing at it since it's so much heavier than you'd ever expect in a pontoon boat. Everybody else tries to make pontoon boats focusing on them being lightweight and performance-driven.

To me, this is performance. It speaks for itself.



Do you realize that this boat's doing 53mph (GPS) just goofing off on Lake Tansi and Manitou is bragging about their 55mph in that shootout? Try challenging Leisure Kraft next time.

http://www.manitouboats.com/how-fast-is ... n-boat.php

I certainly haven't driven all of them but I really do like the see all of the various boats. That boat's definitely gettin' it, is that one of your's Mike? Looks very nice.

[Leisure Kraft]

Has anybody driven all the performance pontoons? I have a Benny with ESP and think it handles really well, just wondering if manitou or premier handles any better?)

To me, this is performance. It speaks for itself.

...image...

Do you realize that this boat's doing 53mph (GPS) just goofing off on Lake Tansi and Manitou is bragging about their 55mph in that shootout? Try challenging Leisure Kraft next time.

http://www.manitouboats.com/how-fast-is ... n-boat.php

I certainly haven't driven all of them but I really do like the see all of the various boats. That boat's definitely gettin' it, is that one of your's Mike? Looks very nice.

Yep. That's one of our tri-toons with a Suzuki DF250ss and high-performance lifting strakes. It looks like a 24' by the picture. We're having to put the 75mph top-end speedometers on them now they're getting so fast. Since we make our own furniture we're careful to keep the weight as low as we can go and still make a comfortable, low-lasting seat. When it comes right down to it, making fast/light pontoons and keeping the entire rig light makes for a fast boat.

[Leisure Kraft]

Do you realize that this boat's doing 53mph (GPS) just goofing off on Lake Tansi and Manitou is bragging about their 55mph in that shootout? Try challenging Leisure Kraft next time.

In your PROFESSIONAL opinion, how will the outside strakes on the outer toons affect turning? (or maybe it's effect, I never can remember )

It's affect as a verb and effect as a noun: "Strakes affect the boat/performance to great effect."

We use six strakes on a tri-toon rather than the fewer number you'd see on some of our competitors. There's a cost associated with the extra aluminum and welding so this is one of those areas where they'd cut cost. Premier doesn't put theirs on the outside from what I understand. They even say on their webpage that the ride keeps you comfortable and dry but unless you have the outer strakes you're going to get a lot more spray (think about it).

I could claim anything and so could they. We could argue the merits of more lift versus less weight. Drive/ride in one. Make the call yourself.

[Leisure Kraft]

Nice post, Mike! Sometimes the smaller builders get the dirty end of the stick becausethey don't spend the bucks in their magazine.
Email me when you get a chance...its in my PM if you forgot

: sent :

We do a lot of winter-related service work so things are hopping around here.

[Ray Jr.]

From my circle track (dirt track modified) and other experience I have to agree lighter is fast, but it usually DON'T LAST.

The guys that built the light weight stuff were fast and won some races. But as the season went on they were breaking more and more, and finishing less and less, those of us that built the mid to heavy weight stuff finished more races, and won races too. But we won the championships, because our stuff LASTED.

[GregF]

I think they leave the strakes off the outboard sides of the pontoons so they won't get banged up.

[pond tuuunes]

53 mph is fast? Up to a 75mph speedo? How bout cliser to 80 mph?

[Leisure Kraft]

From my circle track (dirt track modified) and other experience I have to agree lighter is fast, but it usually DON'T LAST.

The guys that built the light weight stuff were fast and won some races. But as the season went on they were breaking more and more, and finishing less and less, those of us that built the mid to heavy weight stuff finished more races, and won races too. But we won the championships, because our stuff LASTED.

Our pontoons and decking have a limited lifetime warranty, the floor covering and furniture has a five-year and everything else a two-year warranty. Since we use Gore Tex teflon fiber thread (at a cost of $200/pound) we don't have any warranty claims on the furniture. Honestly, we don't get many warranty claims and I'd be one of the people who'd take the claim if it did come in. :shrugs:

I think they leave the strakes off the outboard sides of the pontoons so they won't get banged up.

That's strange... the strake aluminum is several times thicker than the pontoons themselves.

53 mph is fast? Up to a 75mph speedo? How bout cliser to 80 mph?

It's fast for a single 250HP engine. For a dual-engine rig you could go faster, obviously. There's a video of a guy with three 300HP motors doing 100mph in a pontoon boat. What's that, about $80k+ worth of horses alone...?

[pond tuuunes]

My guess is way more than that, those engines started life out as 300's, they are more like 450's now. I have a single I/O, 498 ci. Good for 78 mph gps. JT

[GregF]

There are dozens of threads about dented toons and cracked welds. I was just thinking if you banged the end of a strake on the same thing that dented a toon, it could translate into a cracked weld, below the water line.
That is a big lever sticking out there.

[jafo9]

I don't have lifting strakes on the outside of my outer toons and spray is not an issue. Premier says they don't use them so they can "bank" in the turns. I'm assuming the theory is that the outer strake would catch the water and not allow the boat to bank.

I'll be the first to admit that I haven't driven the others, so I'll leave off the ubiquitous "my brand is better" comment. Having said that, from a physics viewpoint, having an asymmetrical or different middle hull/toon makes sense to me.

[Ray Jr.]

I have to agree with jafo9 we have no spray issues with our PTX Premier, and it makes sense to me that the outer strakes would have at least some adverse effect on corner banking.
One of Premiers PTX videos shows how the Premier is banking very well and the comparison boat with outside strakes is not banking as well.
I would however think that the outside strakes would give somewhat better top speed(straight line) than a toon with out them but the toon without them would corner/ handle better.
I also don't believe leaving off the outside strakes was a way to "make it cheaper". The amount of aluminum used to make a strake is really minimal compared to the amount for tubes etc. Aluminum that thin and bought in the bulk quantities that toon manufacturers must buy it in is relatively inexpensive.

[Leisure Kraft]

There are dozens of threads about dented toons and cracked welds. I was just thinking if you banged the end of a strake on the same thing that dented a toon, it could translate into a cracked weld, below the water line.
That is a big lever sticking out there.

Possibly... I'd guess that the strakes by other manufacturers are unique in their own ways. We see our share of dented toons here (since we repair ours and everyone else's); I've just not seen any strake-damage yet.

I don't have lifting strakes on the outside of my outer toons and spray is not an issue.

Glad to hear it. We've seen a marked difference on ours with/without so I'll pass on your experience to the guys here.

...from a physics viewpoint, having an asymmetrical or different middle hull/toon makes sense to me.

We drop our third pontoon down below the line of the outer two. And you're right, it does help with the performance.

My guess is way more than that, those engines started life out as 300's, they are more like 450's now. I have a single I/O, 498 ci. Good for 78 mph gps. JT

So... twice the displacement of the (Suzuki) 300 HP outboard then. Sounds like a nice setup you got there.

[pond tuuunes]

498 ci=625 hp, last yr engine builder estamits I had max hp of 550. There is a pontoon here with twin 250's same size pontoon as mine and he runs 63mph, at 550 hp I ran gps 69 mph. So my setup is ok, I like it to, and the sound of thru hull chevy big block, cant be matched by a outboard, JT

[Bryden24shp]

When we started shopping for our first pontoon, I did a lot of research on all the performance pontoon boats available. We narrowed our search down to 3. Bennington ESP, Premier PTX and the Manitou SHP. There were three drealers down at the Lake of the Ozarks. I arranged all 3 to meet me at the State Park boat launch, with boats in the water. I told them I was gonna buy one that day, which was a Saturday, with all the weekend warriors out and the lake very rough. Fit and trim went to the Bennington. Beautiful! But the best handling went to Manitou. It hooked and cornered and handled the waves better than my Baja. The Premier was a wild ride. It jacked all over when 1/4ing waves. I loved the dual windshields on the SES, though. I bought the Manitou. It was the one that my wife and I felt the safest in and flat out performed the best. I'll be in my 2nd Manitou, shortly. I have my 2007 for sale right now. Good Price, if anyone is interested. http://quadcities.craigslist.org/boa/2615806309.html

Unless Parkers old Twin Yamaha'd Playcraft is for sale. That was one fast mother....