[bridgeman]

Obviously you've made up your mind, I bought an 81 last fall and worked on it over the winter and spring months. I've seen many seacrafts on this site that are outstanding however I did the work and set up the boat to suit my needs. This past weekend I finally got to fish the boat on big water (lake erie) it was blowing 20 knots out of the northwest all weekend and after calling it on Saturday because it looked too rough I decided to go out on Sunday even though the lake was still rollin pretty good 3-5's with a few 6 footers every now and then. I was very impressed with the overall performance of the hull going out straight into it and trolling for 4 hours in a following sea, then running back 19 miles taking the seas at an angle to my starboard side. I had the marine band cranked up and others where barely moving along figuring to get back to the ramp in 2 hours while I had the merc's purring along at 4000 rpm's making 29 knots. Yes my right shirt sleeve was a little wet from the wind blown spray but to say that the ride was impressive is an understatement. You'll not be disappointed especially if you've owned smaller boats as I have.