Sunsport vs. Saltare

[bry91sunsport]

Here's the deal:

Found a 1991 Sunsport 350 hours in local area, boat looks good ready to buy, so took it to have inspected at mechanic. In the few days that inspection took I found a 1993 Saltaire 200 Hours (not sure I believe, seems to low to be real) again boat looks good. Priced with $500 of each other.

TORN

Sunsport is near by, nice boat, wife likes it(BONUS)

Saltaire 15 Hours away, again nice boat,wife like it BUT pain to go look at together (if mama ain't happy.......)

Basic usage is overall water sports
8yr old LOVES wake boarding (begging me to put a tower on)
5 yr just being there (think gonna try skiing hater dunking his head)
wife enjoys skiing wants to try surfing

Give me some plus' and minus' --any input?

LEANING toward Saltaire: its 1993 which no wood if I;m correct and little more room for the friends and neighbors

THANKS

[edgewater1]

test the stringer in the floor of the 1991 sunsport, where are u located?
I have a 1991 sunsport love it would have nothing else.
if i'm not correct the saltare has a big block 454, which is a very hungry engine,
Just look and take picture for your self on your phone so you can review them later.
The asking price is always negotiable, usually by quite a bit in this economy

[michael hunter]

Post the ad here and see if there is a member close to give you a true evaluation. Pics always look good I would hate to wast my time driving 15 hours. You might be able to get a cheap flight just to check it out. I own a 89 Sunsport I wouldn't trade it for anything.

[Okie Boarder]

Either would work well. The no wood is somewhat appealing in the Saltare. The Saltare will have more room, but will cost more to run since it will suck more gas. Also, consider the extra length as far as where you would park it and the extra towing weight. I'm not sure what the difference in capacity between the two is, but I bet it's only 2-3 people, which may not be worth all your trouble.

Like michael hunter said, post the ad or location. If it is close enough, I'm sure several members on here would be willing to look at it for you. If it is within an hour or so of my area, I'll go look.

[cadunkle]

I'd go for the Saltare, in my slightly biased opinion (I have an '89 Saltare). I like big boats and big engines. But in all seriousness the biggest deciding factor would be if the Saltare has no wood (round windshield). If no wood it would definitely go to top choice, just to not have to worry about it.

On storage, my Saltare+trailer+platform takes up a couple feet less room than my old 21' I/O did with the long tongue on the trailer and drive hanging off the back. Yeah it burns more gas than a small block will, but such is life. I usually do about 6 hours of riding which will be 30-35 gallons. Not bad really, as that puts it around 5-6 gallons per hour averaged out. When I'm on the water the boat is running all the time, some idling and such but mostly riding, rare that I sit around and float. That's no ballast mind you. If you have a good crew where everyone throws down a few bucks it's not bad.

But yeah, bigger boat and engine are pluses in my book but bottom line is composite stringers would be my main factor when choosing between those two boats. Less for you to worry about and better resale if you ever sell it since it'll be less for a buyer to worry about.

[sybrmike]

While my biased opinion says go for the Saltare (I'm rebuilding mine) & my experience says go for the composite stringers (again, I'm rebuilding mine), I'd still think hard before going bigger. The Salt's definitely larger, but not that much extra usable room with the corner seats. It takes more room to store, more vehicle to tow, & more gas to run.

That being said, I've spent a decent amount of time in each & went looking specifically for a Salt cause I knew what I was getting into. Just be sure it fits your needs.

[premierproperties]

I've had both boats. Both have pro's and cons. I would be very skeptical of a claimed 200hr boat that is almost 20 yrs old(1 hr a year)????? What part of the country are the boats(fresh water/salt) in and what are the asking prices? Depending on the deal, you can almost step up and buy a late 99-01 Santera or Launch for a fair price, which is a night and day difference from the older sunsport/saltare.

[DAFF]

I would go with the newer composite stringer boat. You can always swap out the 454 for a 351 drive line.....

[wotan2525]

It's a no brainer. Skip the boat with the wood. Though the two boats don't look like they have much of a size difference on paper, that small difference is HUGE in reality. The Saltare is a tough boat to store and tow and it will drink gas.... but these are small concessions to make when compared to replacing the stringers (which the SunSport WILL need in time.)

[devovino]

I had not considered another boat other than the Saltare, only because the one I bought was a great deal, and the money I did not spend on the boat (upfront cost) I can put into the remodel of my Saltare. Would have been nice to not have to re-do the stringers/interior, but did not have the upfront cost of a newer boat, so it was a trade off. And the customization of my Saltare will be a fun project for me to take on. SO if you are interested in a project, for a good price- pre fiberglass stringers. If you have the money to buy a newer boat, turn-key boat with no need for repairs and dont want to deal with a project Saltare- non wood stringers.
Saltare is a bigger boat,and its a bad ass unit, will probably use more gas w/454, but can pull a house boat sideways-personal preferance. It will make a hell of a wave for surfing, and thats what I am all about!

[docdrs]

I would not worry about the gas consumption at all......after insurance, maintenance, enjoyment......the extra 100 in gas is nothing

[87SunSportMikeyD]

Wow I would go for the ALL FIBERGLASS boat in a heartbeat. Yes the Saltare is bigger and the hull is different. Personally I have not seen the wake/surf pics and videos to really confirm that it is of the same quality wake/wave as the SunSport. I don't doubt it can do just as good, but I haven't really seen any videos (c'mon guys!) to really demonstrate for me.

Also if you are going to be pushing ballast for a surf wave, the 454 is a great engine to do it.

[Salty87]

i'd stay away from the 91 too if a 93 is available. rebuilds aren't for the faint of heart.

i really like the sunsport. it's alot easier to handle doing just about anything, especially if you have to keep a hand on a child. takes up less space, less gas, easier to tow, easier to launch/retrieve, still has a fantastic wake, easier/smaller when cleaning/waxing, much faster top end while still having a strong hole shot, needs less ballast, yada...

that said, when we're on the water and have so much room to spread out in a saltare it's no contest....saltare all day long. what's a little more gas? ballast? etc

[87SunSportMikeyD]

Well the bigger boat is going to take more weight to sink as well. But imho that 454 is the biggest advantage. The motor is heavy duty to stand the extra ballast.