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My father-in-law is asking my advice before buying a new Whaler. I think we have it narrowed down to a 19 ft. Outrage vs the 18 ft. Dauntless. I am leaning toward the Dauntless as a better all-round fishing/family/water taxi boat.

Would appreciate any advice, as I will most likely be the one running the boat most of the time down here in the tropics.

Oh, he's giving me his 96 Montauk!! Thats the one I am asking advice for in a different thread re: fixing or replacing a broken console door.

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Canibul,

I agree with you. Although the Outrage and the Dauntless are both great boats, I would lean towards the Dauntless as the all around fishing/family boat myself.

Let us know what you end up getting.

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The Dauntless appears to be a great boat but I needed a trailer and it was an extra expense for this boat.

Whaler includes a trailer with the 190.

The outrage appears to have a deeper V hull which I wanted for Long Island Sound

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I know Long Island Sound pretty well. Did a lot of offshore survey work for LILCO there. Where I live now, we have very shallow water on one side of the islands (the Caicos Bank) and on the other side, a reef surrounds us and the water goes to over 6000 ft. within a mile of the shore. If it were up to me, I would probably go for a Panga hull design, but daddio loves Whalers.

I am actually looking for ways to reduce the draft of the Montauk, now, including jack plates and hydrofoil fins to stay on plane at lower speeds.

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I own a 2000 Dauntless 18 and a 98 Conquest 23, the Outrage is similar to the Conquest in terms of draft , freeboard and handling, being a bigger, deeper boat, it is not as versatile as a Dauntless. I recommend getting a Dauntless if you plan on doing a lot of running around on lakes , inshore bays. Dauntless rides very smooth, solid and track straight. I've gotten my Dauntless to do 62mph on flat water and at optimum trim. You can't go wrong either way

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Thats good input, thanks. There are no lakes or inshore bays here. Just inner-reef, then reef, then deep blue sea on one side and theres always a swell running, and usually some cross wind chop. Other side of the islands is the huge Caicos Bank, which doesnt let a swell develop but man does it get choppy. With the tradewinds, its always a choice here between ocean swells with some wind chop in the lee, or shallow banks with lots of slapping chop.

If it were up to me, I would get a 22 ft. Panga! But hey, Boston Whaler aint a bad option either.

How would your Dauntless handle in say, a three-five foot swell with a foot of chop on top? Its really a trade-off down here, good offshore fishing in most conditions vs. the ability to run fast and shallow to have an alternate route from island to island.

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3 - 5 ft seas is rough for any small craft, the few times that I was in such condition, the Dauntless was very stable (reverse chine helps), the deep, wide V bow allowed me to cut into the chop or ease over a wave without plowing down hard and not get washed with splash, which is really amazing. You will not be disappointed. The 22 Dauntless is even more stable, but it's about 10k more.

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I have had a 2003 18 Dauntless for three years and have had it all over the great lakes and inland lakes. It is a great family boat and with the trolling motor I put on up front it’s a great bass boat. 12" draft vs. 15" for the Outrage while at rest. I spend most of my time now on Lake MI and have just bought a 21 outrage. The 18 is great and has never let me down. I even took a wave over the bow while leaving the harbor. I filled it with cold water, trimmed the motor up and continued out to fish for the afternoon. I test drove the 19 and did not see much of a difference in ride (Not enough to buy a new one). I like the features of the 18 for inland fishing better but you may like the addition freeboard of the outrage. I have run in 3-5 foot waves on Lake MI but its slow going and if I have the choice we fish the inland lakes on those days.

For an 18-foot boat I have not been in a drier more stable ride. If you can work it I would see about a sea trial.

Good Luck!

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Canibul:
Did your father-in-law decide on what style Whaler he's going to purchase?B)

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Livingwater,
Well, he's actually not that much of a "boat person" so he left it mostly to me. We decided on the Dauntless. He has been riding around down here in one that a friend of his has, and of course the differences from the Montauk 17 are enormous. Have gone thru the options we want. I will probably install some of the electronics. Right now looking at whether to stay with BW's 135 Merc, or go ahead on a Evinrude 150 ETEC.

Any thoughts on the matter greatly appreciated.

Just got back ten minutes ago from an afternoon on Caicos Bank. didnt fish, but brought home 10 nice conch. And a sunburn.