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Hello Salmonboy,
I believe how you use the boat will have a lot to do with your decision. Scuppers can be important if you moor the boat in the water unattended for extended periods when rain water might kill a bilge pump or battery. My experience with Whalers are not of the Outrage but a smaller classic 13 foot sport and now a 15 foot dauntless models that I leave in the water docked for 5 months in the summer. My first 13 foot sport had no scuppers but did have the molded in bilge, "pit" in the rear of the boat where I installed a automatic bilge pump with integrated float switch which worked excellent when washing down the boat, keeping the boat free of rainwater, or even when getting partially swamped by some bigger rollers on Lake Michigan. As long as you use the boat at least every couple of weeks there will be no battery drainage issues from mooring the boat with this setup. I now have a 15 foot Dauntless without the bilge, "pit", but with scuppers. I have not had the scuppers self bail my boat any faster than the bilge pump, and when stepping in the rear of the boat they backflow a little bit, just enough to make a wet deck which then makes the water get dragged all over the boat in the form of dirty footprints no matter how clean your shoes are. I am not a clean freak but it is annoying as the deck is always wet and usually so is my gear. They were also a issue when I recently re powered as it doesn't take too much additional weight to put them at or below the water line. I have started to plug the scuppers with scupper plugs I found at Bass Pro Shops which are made for kayaks. In case anybody is having the same problems. they make 3 sizes that are color coded and I found the yellow ones fit perfectly. I understand that this renders them useless, but I have found that if the waves are big enough to necessitate the need for constant self bailing, I probably will not be out on the water to begin with or can quickly remove them.
Another issue might be how easy it is to install them in a classic Whaler. I have not removed mine, but I would believe there is some kind of backing or support for the factory installed ones that would keep the transom from collapsing in when you tighten the outer and inner halves of the scuppers during install.


Jim G.