Buying a 2019 Cutwater C24

[Matchayan]

Hi all, been around for a few years on this forum and finally going to pull the trigger on a C24 had a few questions for the owners of the C24’s. I see some have 300hp outboards and some have 250’s the one I am dealing on has a 250, is this adequate for this hull? I am thinking of putting a 25hp kicker on will this be to heavy. I live on Vancouver Island so we encounter some rough water how well do they handle. We do a lot of fishing and crabbing but want to be able to camp for a few nights on it. Currently we run a Duckworth Pacific navigator 215 which has been an awesome boat but not set up for camping. Any comments would be appreciated. I cant really find much conversation on the c24’s. There seems to quite a few for sale in the US with less than 100 hours , are people not happy with these boats? Thanks for your feed back.

 

[ShortCut]

We have a 2018 C242, which has a 300 HP outboard. It is the same boat as the C24, but the C24 comes standard with the 250 HP engine. The C24 and C242 have almost everything that the Ranger Tugs have, so the Ranger Tug discussions are often quite relevant. We love our C242. For multi-week trips, it is perfect for two people. Overnight trips with more than two adults would be crowded. With the 300 HP engine, the boat is very stable at 50 MPH on smooth water and our comfortable cruising speed is about 35 MPH when there is a two-foot chop. I would expect the same excellent performance with the C24, but with a proportionally lower top speed. We have a 9.9 HP kicker. The factory would need to advise you on using a heavier kicker. You're right that there aren't very many discussions about the C24's or about any Cutwaters. I suspect that there are a lot more Ranger Tugs out there than there are Cutwaters. I'm not aware of any reason why Cutwater owners would be any less happy with their purchase than Ranger Tug Owners.

Marshall

 

[Cutwater28GG]

i think the reason there are a few of these on the market is people realize the fun they are having and upgrade to bigger versions

 

[Matchayan]

Thanks for the responses I will go for the sea trial next week and post my findings.

 

[Remedy2]

I have a 2020 Cutwater 24 with the 250 on it. They went to a 250 from a 300 because the 300 wasn't providing significant performance gains over the 250- so it was worth the weight and fuel savings. I am thinking about putting a kicker on but there's no need to put anything bigger than a 9.9 in my opinion. Things I love:

- handles the Puget Sound with ease. We've crossed the Strait of Juan de Fuca in 3-5 foot seas and she did great. Not going to lie-it wasn't the most fun but the boat can handle it.
- Cutwater/Ranger does an amazing job of space utilization. The boat feels a lot bigger than it is.
- It's fast. We recently got home to Seattle from Bellingham in under two hours.
- It has a LOT more storage than you would think.
-I've never had auto pilot before and I'll never have a boat without it
- Sleeps two very comfortably.

We immediately upgraded the sound system by adding an amp; two speakers at the helm; and a sub. You will not be able to hear it underway if you don't. We also added Raptor decking to the cockpit and exposed floors in the berth/salon. Looks amazing.

 

[ShortCut]

Remedy2 - Now you got me curious. What is top speed for your C24 with a 250 HP outboard on smooth water and what gas mileage do you get at optimum speed?

Marshall

 

[BB marine]

I can't comment on the handling differences of the Yamaha 300 HP or 250 HP. I do believe the difference is a slight increase in HP. The 250 HP and 300 HP are both the same engine, weight 551 lbs, displacement 4.2 L and gear case gear ratio's are the same 1.75 to 1. Fuel consumption will be very close with the 250 HP being slightly less than the 300 HP throughout all cruise ranges. The 300hp will have a slight edge on the time to plane by approx .10 of a second and top end of 4 mph with apple to apple boats. The added HP will start to show above 4000 rpm with increases about 1mph resulting in about 4 mph at WOT. Manufactures advertised Hp are not always actual HP. There is an allowable 10% +/- in advertised HP. I have seen engine models sharing the same displacement but advertised Hp to be slightly more than advertised on the lower Hp and the largest to be close to advertised. Meaning the 250 HP is + 250 HP and the 300 HP is = to 300 HP. The additional HP is in ECU mapping. The 300 HP has been enhanced with additional timing and fuel to gain Hp there is more to it but that is the gist of it.Think of it as the high performance version of the 4.2 L models. The additional timing and fuel require a higher octane fuel to get this HP 89 octane. If you are using 87 octane in a 300 HP you most likely will not see much change in the performance between the 300 HP and 250 HP.

 

[Remedy2]

Two things: wow BB I just got an education- much appreciated- had no idea.

@Marshall- I've had her around 50mph on smooth water but, to be honest, haven't pushed her much. What I like is she likes to sit around 28-35mph and that's burning 13.2gph-ish. If there is a negative, she will not hold plane between 20-25mph very well- and sometimes we'd like to cruise at that speed LOL.

 

[ShortCut]

Remedy2 - It looks like the two outboards are very similar. I usually cruise at about 28 to 35 mph unless conditions are more ideal, and I get about the same gas mileage that you get. I attended Yamaha seminars at two Rendezvous and the Yamaha representative says that their outboards love to go at wide open throttle. They recommend getting it up to wide open throttle for at least 15 minutes whenever you can. So ... feel free to push it to the limit. My 350 HP holds a plane somewhere between 10 and 15 miles per hour. I would expect both engines to get the same performance at lower speeds, so there must be something else happening here. I find that the wide open throttle varies between about 48 mph and 53 mph, depending on water conditions, fuel weight, phase of the moon, etc.

Marshall

 

[Matchayan]

Well sea trail is Thursday unless there is poor weather. I do want a little wave action to see how she handles it. Will report back after the test. Any input on the bow thruster, this one was suppose to have one but it is not there so they said they will install one. I am a bit handicapped so thought it would make it easier to moor it.

 

[Remedy2]

Remedy2 - It looks like the two outboards are very similar. I usually cruise at about 28 to 35 mph unless conditions are more ideal, and I get about the same gas mileage that you get. I attended Yamaha seminars at two Rendezvous and the Yamaha representative says that their outboards love to go at wide open throttle. They recommend getting it up to wide open throttle for at least 15 minutes whenever you can. So ... feel free to push it to the limit. My 350 HP holds a plane somewhere between 10 and 15 miles per hour. I would expect both engines to get the same performance at lower speeds, so there must be something else happening here. I find that the wide open throttle varies between about 48 mph and 53 mph, depending on water conditions, fuel weight, phase of the moon, etc.

Marshall

Thanks for the input Marshall- think I'll "let er rip" a little more LOL. I think mine holding plane is more the boat and less the motor? And totally with you on top speed- I run mine in the Puget Sound so it's all about current and tide for top speed.

@matcharyan- two options I would consider critical on the boat: auto pilot and bow thruster.

 

[ShortCut]

My bow thruster is an absolute necessity with the C242. I have never had auto pilot. What am I missing? Does it behave like a car's cruise control plus knowing the route to follow? Does it behave like a self-driving car with automatic dead-head avoidance? 😱

 

[Remedy2]

My bow thruster is an absolute necessity with the C242. I have never had auto pilot. What am I missing? Does it behave like a car's cruise control plus knowing the route to follow? Does it behave like a self-driving car with automatic dead-head avoidance? 😱

Its truly one of those things I didn't know I was missing until I had it. It will provide auto guidance and, yes, follow the route. It does NOT have collision avoidance so you do need to be paying attention. You can also just press a button to hold a heading. It is SUPER valuable when trolling and on the cockpit- it has a remote so you don't have to go to the helm to adjust your heading.

 

[Cutwater28GG]

i steer with the autopilot almost exclusively - steering by adjusting course heading on the autopilot display. much more relaxing and efficient than trying to drive in a chop.

 

[vertigo]

i steer with the autopilot almost exclusively - steering by adjusting course heading on the autopilot display. much more relaxing and efficient than trying to drive in a chop.

That's interesting. My habit is almost the exact opposite: I use autopilot in smooth water, and revert to manual in rough water for improved handling (or maybe just the perception of it).

I wonder if I should be exploring any options for autopilot control settings.

 

[Matchayan]

The sea-trail was fine not much chop but the C24 responded the way I thought it would. More noise than I expected but the boat was empty of gear and buy closing the door to the front berth reduced it considerably. It seemed responsive in turns and got on plane quickly , fuel burn at 28mph was 2.4 Gph with 4 passengers half fuel and half water which is better than some of the test results I have seen. All in all impressed with the handling sofar and excited to take delivery. The dealer Port Boathouse provides 2 days of on water training when purchasing from them. This is great to be familiarized with all the systems onboard especially since I have not had experience with forward thrusters and autopilot.

 

[Cutwater28GG]

great news!

 

[Remedy2]

The sea-trail was fine not much chop but the C24 responded the way I thought it would. More noise than I expected but the boat was empty of gear and buy closing the door to the front berth reduced it considerably. It seemed responsive in turns and got on plane quickly , fuel burn at 28mph was 2.4 Gph with 4 passengers half fuel and half water which is better than some of the test results I have seen. All in all impressed with the handling sofar and excited to take delivery. The dealer Port Boathouse provides 2 days of on water training when purchasing from them. This is great to be familiarized with all the systems onboard especially since I have not had experience with forward thrusters and autopilot.

Congrats and welcome!! The noise will go down CONSIDERABLY when you put a matress topper, etc. in the berth. We bought ours from yachtbedding.com. Expensive as hell but really worth the price.

 

[skiphoyt]

New kid on the block! Buying a Cutwater 242 Coupe sight unseen. I have a 5 month old (20 hrs) Sea Hunt Ultra 235SE center console. Loosing my beautiful wife to the world of dementia and the open boat is a bit overwhelming for her. Hope to be able to share some more time on the water together so feel the enclosed cabin will be helpful. Live near Beaufort, SC in gated community with 2 minute golf cart ride to my slip so Lowcountry boating. I have watched all the videos and read everything possible about the 242 and it seems like a good fit. Not able to leave my wife for the 12 hour round trip to view the boat but trust the dealer to deliver a ‘perfect’ boat to us. It is the Caribbean Sand color and will need it’s bottom painted....what color bottom paint should I request? Any and all suggestions and inputs about this purchase will be greatly appreciated. Looking forward to being part of Cutwater family. Skip & Karen


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[Katmat]

New kid on the block! Buying a Cutwater 242 Coupe sight unseen. I have a 5 month old (20 hrs) Sea Hunt Ultra 235SE center console. Loosing my beautiful wife to the world of dementia and the open boat is a bit overwhelming for her. Hope to be able to share some more time on the water together so feel the enclosed cabin will be helpful. Live near Beaufort, SC in gated community with 2 minute golf cart ride to my slip so Lowcountry boating. I have watched all the videos and read everything possible about the 242 and it seems like a good fit. Not able to leave my wife for the 12 hour round trip to view the boat but trust the dealer to deliver a ‘perfect’ boat to us. It is the Caribbean Sand color and will need it’s bottom painted....what color bottom paint should I request? Any and all suggestions and inputs about this purchase will be greatly appreciated. Looking forward to being part of Cutwater family. Skip & Karen


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Skip,
Get a Survey!!!
it is cheap piece of mind.