[Fr. Frank]

From what I read on Scream-n-Fly, the first year that the V6 Optimax engines were all OK was '03. Most of the '02 lot is good, it depends on date of mfg, which ya gotta look up by serial #
The smaller Optimax 3 & 4 cyl (70-125 hp) were supposedly all good by late '01.

Like many engine series from different mfg, there was more than one problem, although the EFI system running lean was a common complaint, as was oil injection/mixing failure. The downside is that you cannot disconnect the oil injection system on an Opti, as that will cause it to run lean all the time. For a while, I saw someone who was writing about reprogramming the computer to allow the use of premix, but I don't have any details.

My 2 cents? Go with the 21' with a single 200-250 hp OB, and a 6-8 hp kicker motor for emergencies and trolling.

The kicker will bring you in from a long way out if you're patient. I once came in on a friend's 25' Robalo all the way from Jack Tar at West End, Grand Bahama being pushed by an '73 or '74 Chrysler 15 hp. That's 55 miles of open Atlantic across the Gulf Stream.
We hit a coral head with the main motor the day before and cracked open the lower unit. It took us 12 1/2 hours to go from West End to Palm Beach. The kicker motor ran like a champ non-stop. Cheaper than twin motors, and still bring you home. I even have a 2 hp kicker on my wife's 17' Carolina Skiff next to the 90 Optimax.