Getting a new boat soon... A few questions.. possibly Stratos 17.5'

[polarsusd81]

Sly, I think like Griggs said, you should definitely look at the Triton Explorer too. But the 1995 Stratos that has been mentioned is a wider boat, and probably a lot heavier. I think the 176XT that you were looking at and the Explorer from Triton are kinda those entry-levl glass boats to get people into a glass boat at a reasonable price. Granted, they aren't going to be loaded to the gills like a $45,000 boat, but they only cost a 1/3 of them too. They are made pretty lightweight to accept smaller motor while still having reasonably good performance. If I was you, I would try to find a dealer that is willing to let you take it to the lake for a test ride. That is really going to tell you whether it will fit your needs or not. Have your H2O with you so you can tell what kind of speed you get, cause they wont have a GPS mounted on them unless it was special ordered that way.

Edit- Forgot to mention, on that boat you are going to want the 2 stroke. A 4 storke will get you there, but the 2 stroke will give better holeshot and probably top end, and with that boat you are going to want the best advantages you can get. I saw another boat at Cabela's that might work better for bringin the youngins out in as well. It was the 1760 DV with a 115 4 stroke Yammy on the back. I think it was priced right in the same range as the 176XT but had a bigger motor and a little deeper making it a bit safer for the little ones.