I/O vs. OB

[workinpr0gress]

Most seem to feel an i/o or inboard rides better in rougher water. I've never seen this occur with 20', 23' boats. In my expierence that applys only with slightly rough water and/or at a crawl. Also any advantage the i/o may have the outboard could compete with with proper trimability at speed. When you get above a certain point in wave/chop height or speed of the boat you want the bow to have the tendency to stay in the air. Again I am speaking of the smaller boats like here, once you get a little more length on the hull then it seems to be more of a tossup. I have rarely been on a quality smaller boat that runs better with an i/o or inboard in comparison to an outboard at what most would consider a practical speed. Now if we are talking about drifting or feeling like a heavier boat then I could never argue about an i/o. Most of the guys I know prefer outboards on smaller boats even taking into account some people love closed transoms and some hate brackets. Then again I may be nuts which has happened before.

I will say the nicest running small inboard boat I have been on is a 25 Rampone with a single cummins, amazing but makes a seacraft seem drier than Arizona. It would cut the tops right off of solid close 4's on the nose and put it all over cockpit at 20knts.

Just my .02.