I sold my5.8M  fishing vessel and am looking at something over 7 meters now - second hand with low hours on engine.

 

I was wanting some opinions on anyone that owns these models and how good they are or arent.

 

These are the models I have on my shortlist:

 

HAINES HUNTER SS 700

BUCCANEER 735 EXESS

Smuggler Stealth 720

RAYGLASS LEGEND 730

Challenger 720 Offshore

 

All nice boats so would be good to hear from people that own or owned them.

 

Also whether it is better to go inboard or outboard?

Depends a bit on the age for the Yamaha's. Up to ~2007 (at best guess) the F225 especially, and the F250 less so, have been known to have issues with major exhaust corrosion and oil seals eating into shafts. Both powerhead off fixes and potentially pretty expensive, especially the corrosion fix. I understand that in the US, Yamaha have finally slashed the cost of the parts for the fix, but don't know if our local guys have followed suit. Lots of different stories out there about this, but there seems like there might be a pattern of these issues mostly starting to occur around 600hrs or so. You can check the oil seal quite easily by dropping the lower unit and checking for engine oil on the top of the driveshaft. At least you will then know if it has started already. The corrosion issue needs someone who knows what they are looking for armed with a snake camera to be sure, but can also be seen with the lower unit off if you recognise the signs and it is already bad enough. For some reason only a % of these engines seem to have been affected so far, so you could be lucky, or not. According to US govt testing that you can access on line, the F225 only actually makes 208hp. Possibly the weakest 225 on the market, so be aware if you find it on a heavy hull. (Sorry Tobes, I know you have had a reasonable run with yours). Of the two I would be more comfortable with the F250 which doesn't seem to have been so badly affected for some reason.