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A bowrider is a runabout with usable seating in front of the windscreen. That single design decision, opening up the bow instead of decking it over, is what creates the most versatile small boat layout ever produced.
A bowrider is an open-bow runabout with lounge seating forward, amidships and aft. Here is exactly what defines one, how the layout works and why it suits families.
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
Walk onto any bowrider and you will find the same three seating zones. Forward of the windscreen sit two facing lounges with padded backrests, moulded into the hull sides and hinged over storage. Amidships are the helm and companion seats, usually swivelling buckets with flip-up bolsters. Aft is a full-width bench that in most boats converts into a rear-facing lounge or a sun pad.
A walkthrough gap in the windscreen connects the cockpit to the bow, so passengers move forward without climbing over the deck. That walkthrough is the practical difference between a bowrider and a cuddy cabin or a closed-bow runabout.
Most bowriders sit between 16 ft (4.88 m) and 26 ft (7.92 m). The volume centre of the market is 19-22 ft (5.79-6.71 m), which carries seven to ten people, tows behind a mid-size vehicle and fits a standard single-axle trailer.
Above 24 ft (7.32 m), bowriders become wide-beam social boats with galley modules and twin outboards. Below 18 ft (5.49 m) they are light, cheap and easy to launch solo.
A dedicated fishing boat gives you casting decks and rod storage but nowhere comfortable for six people to sit. A pontoon gives you seating and space but not the speed or hull to tow a skier or handle a chop. A cuddy cabin trades the bow lounge for a cramped sleeping space that most owners use for storage.
The bowrider takes the useful parts of all three. That is why it outsells every other category of trailerable boat in most markets.
