Engines & Drives
The propulsion choice affects your boat more than the badge on the hull. It changes the cockpit layout, the maintenance bill, the resale value and the way the boat drives.
Outboard, inboard IO stern drive, direct-drive inboard and jet propulsion compared for bowrider boats, with honest pros and cons of each.
The bowriders that come up most often when readers ask us where to start.
The world's best-selling bowrider size, in its most accessible form: light, simple and easy to tow.
US$38,000 - US$52,000 new
The refined mainstream benchmark: quiet, dry, and beautifully finished for the money.
US$72,000 - US$95,000 new
The previous-generation classic. Millions of families learned to boat in one of these.
US$8,000 - US$22,000 used
The dominant choice in new bowriders. Yamaha, Mercury, Suzuki and Honda four-strokes are quiet, efficient and easy to service because everything is outside the hull. They free up stern storage, tilt clear of the water when moored, and are simple to replace or upgrade later.
The downsides are a higher visual profile on the transom, a slightly higher centre of gravity, and less usable swim platform than an inboard layout.
A MerCruiser or Volvo Penta engine sits inside the transom driving an Alpha, Bravo or DuoProp leg. This gives a clean transom, a low centre of gravity, strong torque and a big sun pad over the engine box.
It also brings bellows, gimbal bearings, drive oil and, in cold climates, real winterising work. Neglected stern drives are the single most common source of expensive surprises on used bowriders.
Used by ski boats such as Malibu. The engine sits amidships with a shaft through the hull. It produces the best ski wake and the most linear pull, but you lose beaching ability and the engine box occupies cockpit space.
Yamaha's twin-jet bowriders have no propeller at all. That means shallow draft, a flat swim platform and a genuine safety advantage around swimmers. In exchange, low-speed handling takes practice and fuel consumption is higher at cruise.
