For your first boat consider ease of launching and retrieving  - a smaller alloy boat is way easier to deal with, especially for beach launching, towing, storage...

Yes that sounds perfect. I will certainly join browns bay

No other news yet. Can't find anything on it. The salesman said it will be introduced at boat show.

But it's between 495 and the next model up. Is that the 550 or 575?   

JustAnotherSpearo wrote: End of the boat marked and where they consider the end of the boat. Hope this helps

Same at the sharp end.... that anchor fairlead/ bow sprit is included in the hull length.

brmbrm wrote: The surtees 495 is basically the same hull as the 485, just a change in the way things are measured.  There are a few minor changes and these seem to me to be improvements in detail. For space, look at the beam and the distance in the cockpit between transom and the seats; thats the area you have to fish in. Thats how you should judge how "big" it is for fishing purposes I have a surtees 485 and am very happy with it: for its size it has a lot of fishing area. Having said that, you couldn't fish 4 comfortably: 2 is fine, 3 is a bit of a squash, but maybe i just like a bit of space around me. Its not just space to stand and watch a rod in a rodholder. You have to cast, work a lure, deal with your fish while someone else is doing the same etc etc.

Thanks for the feedback. Have you used this Surtees boat to tow a sea biscuit? Does it have fast acceleration when the ballast is full?

Thanks heaps

Go for a 2 Stk direct injected engine,Tohatsu,Optimax,ETec,of the same HP for the given recommended hull,and you should be fine.
These are not the old tech carbie engines here,
A modern DI 2 Stk will bliltz a 4 Stk almost every time.
Research for yourself the comparisons,
Way less parts in a 2 Stk to fail.
Quiet at idle is the only advantage a 4 stk seems to have over a 2 stk.
Fuel economy of a 4 Stk is a fallacy.
Current best fuel/lowest  emission,is not in the realm of the 4 Stk believers,
Take the hole punch/torque of a 2 Stk for peace of mind.
At speed,how can one tell engine noise ,with hull and wind noise etc?
Just sayin'
Cheerz  

PS
Hagrid.. you are looking at a 1st boat.. you do not mention  the use, how many people, where intend to go.. on the long term plan, is it sea boat or lake boat?
These are basic to size of boat, design layout and also power.
eg if just a couple guys fishing local lake the power requirement for reasonable cruise, hull performance etc is very different to say hitting a bit of open sea water with 3 or 4 guys plus dive gear.

Big difference to a 5m (or near) to a 5.5m 
And thats assuming the hull / model) is measured correctly from bottom of the stern (not the pods) to tip of bow.. not including anchor ..
 Difference in space, layouts, and weight, and requirement to power that weight.
 Surtees tend to require more hp on the back to get the same performance ( cruise/ WoT/ chop comfort/ economy at the same speed, as other hulls.

Generally a 5m boat  will fish 2 maybe 3 comfortably
 a 5.5m wil fish 3 comfort, 4 getting tight
 6m will fish 4 very comfortably
 As to powering, best hull performance/ economy  in chop. with good economic cruise speed and WoT more than needed, and pull up a couple skiers easy .. all 3 an unintended side effect ...
You need to know the fully loaded gross weight on the water to achieve a ball park cruise around 3800/4000 rpms around min 30/33 mph and WoT around the low to mid 40 mph mark.
 Generally.. not including surtees.. a 5.5 m boat,  gross weight is around the 1100 to 1250kg mark  with around 130/140 hp at the prop.
 Modern 4S tend to be around 10 to 15% higher than advertised , so a 115hp is actually around 130 hp at the prop.
 And if propped approiately A 2S with the same hp at the prop will be damn near the same economy.. with often a bslightly better hole shot.

 Also note.. well powered you will not need to change props between skiing and general use.. min powered if proped to general use, will be very noticeably sluggish if there is a prop change to match the use.

 Personally.. if a family general use boat, dont mind cleaning down wash after use (seems to be a dying trend to actually look after ones stuff these days)... very little if any beach launching.. not free of rocks.. I would be going to around a 5.5m at least, 130/140 hp at the prop, fibreglass.
 If going to treat the investment like a stock car in a demolition derby.. alloy.

Choice would be primary be on the layout of the boat that would best suit youir over all requirements... and think about that very carefully
Even have 3 or 4 m8s with you at the yard, in the boat making pretend to get near a real life situation moving around etc.
 Estimating  just doesnt work unless you say "this will work" and then go next size boat up.