posted 02-25-2014 11:08 AM ET (US)        

I found it very interesting that on Whaler's performance data, the Mercury 150 FourStroke (not Verado) outperforms the standard Verado 200 in speed, fuel consumption, and time to plane.

posted 02-27-2014 10:11 AM ET (US)            

I've looked at all the many photos of the 210 Dauntless on the Boston Whaler Website.

It looks to me like they have made a great many refinements of what was already a good all around boat- adequate for fishing but prioritizing seating for general pleasure boating, if you will. The lower freeboard and bow of the Dauntless series are big advantages compared to the Outrage series if you do a lot of putting people off on the beach.

The new console design will better accommodate big budget electronic screens. the foredeck has been greatly changed, with a fish storage area, tilting seatbacks, etc.

The transom has been greatly changed with the result that installing a kicker seems impossible now.

They show a porta potty inside the console. Unless the volume of the interior of the console has been increased and the door widened, anyone over 5 ft 11 won't like going in there. In 6 seasons our porta potty has never been used. A wide mouth Coffee Mate jar from Costco works better.

With our 175 HP Verado, all aspects of performance are very good with a load of 4 adults and 2 small children. The only time I've wished for more HP is one time with a load of 8 large adults out spectating a yacht race.

This boat came with a factory T top which is very handy for handholds when the San Francisco Bay chop gets big or when out in the ocean swells

As to the choice between a 200 HP Verado and the new normally aspirated 150 HP Mercury fourstroke for the new 210 Dauntless, for me it would depend on the cost differential.

As someone who keeps stuff a long time, I'm not looking forward to having a complex Verado with Digital controls (they are wonderful) on my boat when it becomes 10+ years old.

If you frequently have more than 4 adults on your boat and want to do water sports, you might prefer the performance of the 200 Verado.

If you are wondering about the upgrade from your 170 Montauk, it will of course be a very big and welcome change on the water. My towing weight is about 5,000 lbs. We use small engine V8 SUV's to tow. I launch and retrieve alone at age 75.

Hope this helps.

JimL

posted 02-27-2014 02:18 PM ET (US)            

As Jim said, it does have pretty low freeboard and I was barely able to get inside that console! (I am 6'0" by the way)

posted 03-18-2014 07:05 PM ET (US)            

In photos this looks like a really nice boat. The performance does seem surprisingly good with the 150 4-stroke, though I realize that test boat had the sun top while the 200 Verado test boat had the much heavier T-top.

My little 160 Dauntless has given us 11 years of pleasure (talk about "the little boat that could!"), but I'm starting to think more seriously about a bigger boat. This boat, as well as the 210 Montauk and maybe the 190 Outrage, seem like real contenders for my mostly lake-and-inshore family cruising use. The Dauntless seems to take the game up a notch in pretty much all features as compared to the Montauk, which is exactly what we saw in 2003 while comparing the 160 Dauntless with the 170 Montauk.

The price tag is a bit staggering, that's for sure. On the other hand, the little Dauntless has given excellent service in all conditions with virtually no problems, and is still worth 60-70% of it's original price at 11 years old, so over the long run this bigger boat could prove reasonably affordable even at $75k or so. Expensive to buy, but cheap to own.

posted 03-19-2014 10:52 AM ET (US)            

To me it would be a no-brainer - the Montauk but that is because most of my boating includes fishing. If I were cruising more than fishing, I'd probably go with the Dauntless.