1995 Larson Cabrio 280

F

frosh coach

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exMember
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May 7, 2007
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26203
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207
Guys does anyone have any info on this model? Saw one for sale, thinging about looking at it. She has twin 4.3 FWC mercs with alpha 1 drives.

Thanks
 
nice boat. i had one from 95-99, no major complaints, handled nicely.
wish i kept it, oh well.
 
We had a 98 w/4.3 volvo. Very fun boat to drive, great layout below. No compliants here.
 
Dock neighbor has this boat -- a 1994 I think. Great layout, seems well built and tight. Same motors.

As long as it surveys well and you like it, that's all you need to know.
 
Thanks for the responses. For the guys that owned one, are the twin 4.3 powerful enough. I would like the boat cruises at 25-30 mph with those.
 
quote:
Originally posted by frosh coach

Thanks for the responses. For the guys that owned one, are the twin 4.3 powerful enough. I would like the boat cruises at 25-30 mph with those.

Click to expand...


no problem with those motors
 
have this on the garage wall
SANY0672.jpg
 
Some had a single 5.7 (dog), a few had twin 5.7's.
The 4.3's where great in that boat, I have to mention it might have been the funist boat in all my years doing this.
Just the right size for a couple, fast and fun, compact yet spacious - I miss it.
I have a larger convertible now (but older) becasue the family grew.
 
thanks Britanic...

which power package did you have? I currently have a searay 230 cuddy Time to move up to something a little bigger. Time for a bathrrom for the misses. I was looking at the searay 290 around the same years, but many want more money than this one and weren't FWC and most have only a 7.4. Some do have 4.3, but the boat is even heavier than the larson.
 
I believe the Cabrio has a Harry Schoell DeltaConic hull. Probably the most advanced monohull of all time to date.
 
Yup, Duo Delta Conic - quick planing and efficient.
We had 4.3 volvos duoprops.
 
I tried to PM you, but you aren't accessible.

I looked at a '95 280 Cabrio on LI last summer when I was shopping. My impressions of it were very positive, but the owner was asking too high a price for it. I also prefer FI to carb and have a slight bias toward V-P SX drives vs. Merc Alphas, so I took a different deal.

Anyway, far as the Larson is concerned, I though it had a lot of cockpit lounge space and good seating configuration for hanging out on deck. Cabin was bright and airy, but we didn't like the long side lounge seat with knock-down table. My wife said that the bottom cushion was too short- felt like she was sliding off it. The Four Winns I bought has face-face 'diner booth' seating in the cabin. That arrangement seems to be fairly common in Searay, too. Larson's access to the rear berth was very good-it's an easy 'crawl' to get in and out.

As for power, the Larson and Four Winns I bought are both running dual 4.3 and the 4Winns pops on plane nicely (I didn't trial the Larson). I don't think you'll have a power issue.

Overall, I give the nod to Larson for day-tripping and occasional overnights. For weekending often, I think my 4Winns is a little better equipped with more water and holding tank capacity, 2-burner alcohol-electric stove and a slightly more usable cabin. I'm just providing that info as food for thought as you're shopping. I think we'd have been perfectly happy with the Larson if it had been the better deal.

Good luck!
 
I own a 1997 Larson 270 which is very similar to the 280. I have the single Volvo 7.4 liter with the duo-prop drive. The engine burns roughly 12 gph. The beam is 9' so the boat sleeps 4 rather easily and feels quite a bit larger than other 8' 6" beam boats. Like someone else mentioned, the aft cabin is open to the salon. It's not like other Bayliner or Sea Ray designs which require you to slide feet first and basically close yourself off from the salon. The main part of the salon also has over 6'2" of head room (not exactly sure of the height, but I fit at 6'2"). I have updated my boat with Amtico teak/holly flooring, recovered all the interior seating in ultra suede, and done a few other things over the years. The boat has reverse AC, windlass, spotlight, hot water heater, 85 gallon fuel capacity, 18? gallon water/waste capacity, delta duo hull, etc. It's a nice boat for what it is. I would really like to upgrade to something in the 40-45' range. Honestly though, this boat looks much newer than it is, and I really can't justify the cost of a new boat quite yet. It's a pretty economical boat to run (all things considering).
 
quote:
Originally posted by dl2525

I own a 1997 Larson 270 which is very similar to the 280.
Click to expand...


Sorry to disagree, but your 270 (a rebadge of the prior 260) is very different from the 280 (which was eventually rebadged the '290'). The 260/270 has a 'trailerable', narrow beam and a forward convertible v-berth rather than the dedicated berth in the 280/290, or in my Four Winns. The 260/270 was also only available with a single engine. Duals weren't an option. The additional beam (it's 10') puts the 280/290 in a different class.

You can see the difference between the 2 models by comparing the 2 deck plans in this 1996 brochure.

http://replay.web.archive.org/20060904114226/http://larsonboats.com/_download/_brochures/1996.pdf
 
quote:
Originally posted by JoLin

quote:
Originally posted by dl2525

I own a 1997 Larson 270 which is very similar to the 280.
Click to expand...


Sorry to disagree, but your 270 (a rebadge of the prior 260) is very different from the 280 (which was eventually rebadged the '290'). The 260/270 has a 'trailerable', narrow beam and a forward convertible v-berth rather than the dedicated berth in the 280/290, or in my Four Winns. The 260/270 was also only available with a single engine. Duals weren't an option. The additional beam (it's 10') puts the 280/290 in a different class.

You can see the difference between the 2 models by comparing the 2 deck plans in this 1996 brochure.

http://replay.web.archive.org/20060904114226/http://larsonboats.com/_download/_brochures/1996.pdf

Click to expand...


Yes, I'm aware that they do have a different forward berth arrangement and the beams do differ, but the layouts are very similar. I was commenting from the larson owner side of things hoping to provide some insight to the OP.
 
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