My mum and dad have always had boats and I remember having such an amazing time growing up fizzing around the Malborough Sounds.

Im at the point, and I finally have the Mrs across the line to purchase our first boat.

Here is what we are after:

Thanks in advance!

I hear what you are saying and definitely looking at the second hand market too. 

Just lucky to have a wife who is a Surgeon ;)

I was pretty much where you are at 3 months ago - I had the exact same requirements for my boat. I have ordered a Seaforce 530 (5.6m overall length) UTE as well as the smart gentleman above. I looked at second hand but worked out a great deal with the company to make my budget of sub 45k work for a new beast.

The things I looked at the most was safety, weight but usable room specifically for fishing. I did have width limitations (due std garage) needed to be be sub 2.4m on a trailer.

Seaforce being pontoon made it able to float full of water.....safety tick. Hull weight of a 530 ute is 500kg.....very light lighter than a 575/545 Surtees Ali boat.......people would say glass boats are heavy, some are Haines etc will be therefore you'll need a bigger car to tow it and bigger motor to push it.

I looked at Alis like Surtees and Mclay as they have the most room for fishing. I measured the "fishing deck space" of the surtees 5.75/5.45/4.95s etc. The deck space in the seaforce 530 ute is Larger than all three. Usable room on the UTE model is unbeatable in a sub 6m glass boat thats skinnier than 2.4m. If I was going Ali Id go Mclay, thats another thread thou......

A boat that should not be overlooked is a reflex, The 485 have more space than all above! But are over 2.4m wide on a trailer, they are made in china and seem to be thought to be low end boating. The Reflex 515 has less deck room than the 485, due fancy seating and cabin up front to be able to lie down in. the 565 or 585 has sim room as the 585 in the back but is a much bigger boat overall. The 485s start new for about 45k

I initially thought I wanted a 6.0m boat, but the reality was I needed to be able to launch solo and didnt want a landcruiser to tow it and a hangar to store it. My Wifey is a novice boater so the smaller boat is going to be easier for my family to use....aka me to run them to enjoy.

For you I would look at the 530 mate  https://www.seaforce.co.nz/530-mate" rel="nofollow - https://www.seaforce.co.nz/530-mate  or Ute version. Every review states they are amazing, they also won best sub 6m boat when they were released.

Im putting a suzuki 100hp (2.0 litre block same as 115/140hp) on mine, Rick from seaforce says they will do 62kph with a honda 80hp on em with 2 adults....... The gent selling one on TM with a 115 merc says his will do 40knts.....so they will perform. I nearly purchased it....but went new as I said before.

Make sure shes a 4 stroke that you put on it, seems no one wants smokers anymore, regardless on how many hours they have done or how good a 2 stroke (smoker) is.

Very good advice from Justanotherspearo and Garry, and also wise words from Letsgetem.

My neighbour across the road has a lovely mid 5m Buccanneer bought for exactly the same use and family situation as you describe. A few years later, it now sits pretty much unused under a carport while he's got himself a jetski to keep his fishing fix going.

Turns out the wife and family weren't as keen to get out regularly as they initially thought. When they did got out in the first period of owning it, they almost never used the shelter of the cabin "for the kids to lie down". So that 1/3 to 1/2 of the boat isn't effective space. 

He can't launch and handle it by himself - too much boat.

They go on a very occasional biscuit zoom as a family, but nowhere near as often as they dreamed of initially. 

He often talks about his regret that he didn't get the boat he really wanted to suit his fishing.

So I guess the message I have is to make sure you have your needs really clear, gaze into the future a bit, and then go with what suits you best within those parameters. Sounds like re-sell, depreciation etc isn't an issue. Fantastic!!

I have two friends with the FiGlass Lightning - I was impressed when I went out on theirs. Good ride and interior comfort. 

Good luck.

Good options there to look at. The reason for the options to hide in the cabin is the terrible Christchurch gusts sometimes and the changable weather.

Over the last few days Ive opened up my search to the Ramco 5800 and Reflex Chianti - both different in there own rights for sure!

Have people in my ear saying 'when you go to sell, it will be difficult with a Seaforce' - my answer to them is - the end game isnt to resale and make sure I get it close to the buy price!

Here's a thought. Sounds like your wife has a good income, though I don't know what you do. What about a sealegs, or one of the Mclays with the wheels. Then launching and retrieving is a total non issue. 

I know what the choice is like for buying boats. In the end I decided that I didn't want to compromise so am building my own. I have total control over the inside layout. 

I am thinking about getting a canvas cover for the cabin so I can have it open or closed depending. Convertible!

Spoke to Ric @ Seaforce and they look to have some good packages up at the moment - although, the Honda 4-stroke isn't my favourite engine maker, they seem to be well respected.

Going to look at the Cavalier and the Huntsman Dorado and 550 to compare the pluses and minus again and have a solid walk through.

A little off there!

Thanks for everyones advice on this - been a massive help!

We do most of our boating in Christchurch/Lakes/Malbourough Sounds - lots of pockets of shallows.

Comparable Suzuki (DF140A) is a 2 litre and 184kg. Honda 135 ate too many Christmas mince pies, 217kg (for a short shaft too?).

Review boat with a 115 Pro XS managed 38kn (likely lightly loaded) and 28kn cruise @ 3800rpm. Seems like plenty of up-and-go to me.

The more I read, the more I see the 115 the perfect size for the Lighting - for all purposes. CT seems to have a bloody great write up!

The golden rule here is Displacement = Torque= Prop diameter X pitch. or as is often said, there is no replacement for displacement, or no substitute for cubes. 

Be wary of HP figures, remember HP is a product of Torque and revs, some engines get their HP just from revving harder and subsequently have less mid range Torque. Others do it with cams and engine control, such as Yamaha, be aware these engines are working harder to give the Hp you think you are getting. The Merc 135 is a 3litre V6 as others have said, while the Honda is 2.3 litre straight four, and the Suzuki is a 2 litre straight four, that performs very similarly to the 115, but has about 300-400 top end revs, maybe a little more mid range torque. Note that only he Yamaha, Suzuki and Merc fall inside your stern weight limit.

Have a look at Spence's thread here where he compares modern 150hp engines. He uses this ( https://www.arb.ca.gov/msprog/offroad/cert/cert.php?fbclid=IwAR3qc0B5MfEnoxFqPsbg9OpwjcdhWO4CdbcKyklNgG6XTrNJsiIGJjuqcEA" rel="nofollow - https://www.arb.ca.gov/msprog/offroad/cert/cert.php? ) website to get all his numbers and mid range torque numbers. 

Yep correct, not even sure why I said it was a V6!