posted 06-22-2001 11:59 PM ET (US)            

But don’t always believe that.

I would suggest getting the 175 if you want to go over 30 mph with 400lbs load (with me, full tank and safety gear 33mph GPS) and 23mph GPS with 800lbs.

I love my rage and I believe the hull is a dauntless hull but have never had it side by side with one.

Rage maybe a jet boat but it is still a Whaler!

posted 06-25-2001 02:50 PM ET (US)         

If you are truly interested in a mini Jet boat you might consider looking around for one that was built more recently. Try:

Four Winns-Fling
Sea Ray-Sea Rayder
Sugar Sands
Sea Doo
Yamaha

All of these were built after the Rage was discontinued; some still are. For the same price as a Rage you probably could get a boat that has less hours and have newer motor and jet pump. The newer motor and jet pump could translate into getting one that has the "bugs" worked out.

Another concern too consider about used mini jet boats is owner maintenance, or rather lack of. No boat, Whaler or not, can take being abused. My impression of most of the owners of mini jets is that they are not concerned all that much with maintenance. The trailers are beat, the boat is dinged, the motors aren't tuned, etc. These boats were and are marketed as a fun water toy, meant to eliminate lifes work not add to it. Not all mini jet owners are like this, but many are. Make sure you examine any mini jet with this in mind.

posted 06-30-2001 01:13 AM ET (US)            

I dont now what you ride in but you cant be a real whaler guy when you recommend boats that cost the same or less than a dingy.

If you drive a whaler you must pay the price!

posted 06-30-2001 08:10 AM ET (US)         

Four Winns, Sea Ray, and Sea Doos aren't crap. They just aren't built as well as Whalers. Mini-jets are also more homogenous than other genres. The drive technology is more narrowly focused in application so the hulls end up more similar than other types of boats. That doesn't make them bad boats, but does mean that their less distinguishing on mini-jet from another. Certainly your Rage is better built than many other min-jets out there. But I still stand by my opinion that videofxr could be perfevtly happy with one of my recommended boats. If you will note I didn't recommend a Jazz or Tracker bass jet boat.

Besides, my main point to videofxr was not to be fixated on a Rage. Based on some of the other posts the 175s are hard to come by, and there appear to be some reliability issues. Buying a new or younger used boat from different manufacture might result in getting one with the "kinks" worked out. All new products have problems at first, then the problems are usually corrected. But this takes time. And since Whaler stopped making mini-jets sooner than the above they are more likely to have problems than a newer unit.

Remeber, videofxr stated "looking for something the kids can play with instead of Jetskis". All of the boats I mentioned would be fine for that. As a matter of opinion, if we are talking about a boat for the childrens I would get the 115, which is far less likely to get them into trouble. But that is my opinion.

I know you love your Rage. I don't have any agenda against them. They, and other mini-jets work well for some. But unlike a used outboard powered Whaler you can't just buy a new motor and put it on if needed. So if there are issues of reliabiltiy then videofxr ought to know about them going into the purchase. He is free to choose whatever boat he wants. and he will probably be happy with the choice if he has done his research well. If not he may end up hating the purchase, which would be a shame and a waste of his money.

For the record, I have a Dauntless 14 which I just bought. This is my 3rd Whaler.

posted 08-20-2001 06:38 PM ET (US)            

I'm looking for an 18 Rage, and wonder why it has such a lower price than other 18 Whalers...

Was it that the hull didn't perform well with the rudderless propulsion (ie an outboard...). I have seen in lit a comment about certain hulls that really were bad designs to mate with jets. I expected that the hard chines of the Whaler would be good though.

posted 08-20-2001 10:05 PM ET (US)            

I am not quite sure why the line was dropped. I had asked a dealer once and was told it was an excursion into a hot product for the time. The line is also an inboard design, which, from what I have seen is not common in Boston Whaler's history. He also indicated that there was a progression in the increasing of HP, the first 15 Rage started out with a 50 HP Yamaha then to OMC 90, to OMC & Mercury 115, to the Mercury 175 ending with the Rage 18 with the Ford V8. He had felt that BW did this believing that output power for the rage was inadequate and was hurting sales. The 18 Rage was the last hurrah, and the best of the series, by then sales were too far-gone with Yamaha, SeaDoo and the others holding a solid share of the dwindling jet boat crowd. This is only speculation on my part.