Rinker Feedback

[Hbottom]

Thinking of getting a large cruiser and I am looking at a few different models (Sea Ray, Regal, Chapperal,etc.) and really like the Rinker- a lot of boat for the money. Anyone out there have any feedback?

[jws715]

I know a bunch of people that have Rinkers haven't heard any complaints very good boat i think the only boat you have looked at that can compete with Rinker in my opinion is Chapparal But Rinker is a great boat for the money like i said i havent heard one complaint about a Rinker

[jrc]

This is not specific to Rinker, but if a boat is inexpensive compared to similiar boats, it might be underpowered. There are a lot of underpowered large cruisers on the lake. You see them plowing through the water rather than fully up on plane. You can easily check out the boat maker's websites and see what engines are standard. That way you can compare apples to apples.

[loony]

Originally Posted by jrc

This is not specific to Rinker, but if a boat is inexpensive compared to similiar boats, it might be underpowered. There are a lot of underpowered large cruisers on the lake. You see them plowing through the water rather than fully up on plane. You can easily check out the boat maker's websites and see what engines are standard. That way you can compare apples to apples.

www.boattest.com is a great website for researching boats. They do thier own standardized testing and publish the results. They have a wealth information you may not get from any manufacturer.

[Dave R]

I too am thinking of getting a cruiser and rather like the Rinker price and features. That said, they are heavy for their size but in their defense, they do stay up on plane at very low speed. Boating magazine did a test on 24' cruisers recently and the Rinker won the comparison test. One thing they failed to mention in the test though was the fact that the same size Larson had substantially better fuel economy than any of the other boats. At cruising speed, the Larson got 2.7 MPG versus 2.0 to 2.3 MPG for the other 3 boats in the test.

The Larson was the only boat with a stepped hull and it also posted the highest top speed of the tested boats. I currently have a Regal bowrider with a stepped hull and am constantly amazed buy it's thrifty fuel usage. If fuel consupmtion is critical to you, give stepped hull boats a look. I realize .4 to .7 MPG does not sound like much but it's a 17% to 35% improvement in fuel economy which adds up quickly at $2.40+ a gallon. It also means the engine is not working nearly as hard which can make it last quite a bit longer.

Yeah, I'm a nerd.

[Mee-n-Mac]

Originally Posted by Hbottom

Thinking of getting a large cruiser and I am looking at a few different models (Sea Ray, Regal, Chapperal,etc.) and really like the Rinker- a lot of boat for the money. Anyone out there have any feedback?

A few years back I looked at a 270 FV. My thoughts were that it was a good boat for the $$, not in the same league as a Formula or Cobalt, but certainly a good boat. Lots of room in the cabin (6' 2" headroom) and 4 adults could easily sit around the dinette. If I were using the boat as a weekend cottage it's at the minimum size I'd find tolerable. Price (used) was quite good too. Only thing I wondered about was the single engine. For a boat of that size, you're right about where twins become very desireable. The seating on-deck was good though I thought the transom seats were a bit removed from the rest of the cockpit. This is one area (seating) where you'll find a lot of usable difference btw boats. In the end I went with a smaller boat but I wouldn't point anyone away from the Rinker 270 or Rinkers in general.