Good dilemma, Bennington vs. Manitou

[Capt. Dan]

I'm trying to decide between two new boats, we have it narrowed down to the:
Manitou Aurora 25 VP
or the
Bennington 24 SLX3 as an elliptical.

Both are in the same price ballpark and both will be powered with a 150 HO E-tec and used for family cruising in saltwater and pulling the kids on tubes. The boat will also stay in a slip.

I think the elliptical cal would be faster and the Manitou will handle more like a vhull. The Manitou is bigger and although the layouts are the same in concept, the Manitou is a better layout for our purposes.

The Manitou feels much larger , and it is:
Manitou: 26'4" LOA, 25'10" pontoon length
Bennington: 23'10" LOA, 22'6" pontoon length

Bennington fit and finish seem a notch higher across the board, though structure build quality seems about the same to me, an observer.

One area of concern with the Manitou is that the Bennington uses multiple densities of foam in their seats to give them more support and structure. The Manitou seems to use a single piece. Both are comfortable and the Maniyou seats seem larger and deeper. Will the foam fold up or will it begin to sag,compress on the front?

I know the Bennington does something to keep the rails from rattling, Manitou does not mention it in their marketing, but do they do the same thing?

Also, does anyone have experience with the VP Manitou vs. the Bennington elliptical?

.Both have pretty good dealers around here.

[Capt. Dan]

Is more specific question is in the Manitou VP set up. 23" toons on the outside and a 27" toon in the center -- hence the V room moniker. The center toon has a lifting strake on either side. They say they turn really well, but that's not a huge selling point for us -- just a nice to have. How does this setup ride otherwise?

[ROLAND]

Well you're not gonna go wrong, no matter which you choose....all i can say is I have a bennington... bought it new in 2010 and haven't had any problems to speak of.... I think you'll be happy whatever way you go.

[cwag911]

Is the Benny 3 toons (ESP) or just 2 elipticals?

[Capt. Dan]

The Bennington is a two toon elliptical, the three toon esp prices out a good bit higher I think. The "sport package" with the short center toon prices about the same, but i don't really see the value in it over a twin elliptical.

[cwag911]

The twin elips don't turn well.

[OldePharte]

Test drive both of them, on the same day if it all possible. I would never buy any boat without a test ride in the same conditions. Push them both hard, especially full speed turns.

[Bamaman]

I looked closely at the Manitou VP before I purchased my Bennington, and was impressed. I preferred the Aurora model to the Oasis due to the far superior quality of the seats.

Now as far as hulls go: Bennington's Ellipticals are faster than a tritoon by 2-3 mph, however they don't handle quite as well as a tritoon. The SPS Bennington hull is comparable to the Manitou VP. Both the SPS and VP will give good handling, but the really great handling are Manitou's SHP or Bennington's ESP hulls. But high performance tritoon hulls are really, really expensive additions. They also are worthy of 250 hp motors--another big expense.

But as a 28 year Yamaha owner, I still prefer the Yamaha 4 stroke motors. On such a long Manitou, you might be better served with a larger motor than 150 hp. My question is do you need such a long boat? Most owners do well with a 22' to 24', as they're easier to deal with.

For your intended uses, most buyers will get a 22' to 24' tritoon with a 150 hp 4 stroke motor and full underdeck shielding. They'll be getting about 40 mph on top end, and have the power to tow tubers or skiers. To kick it up a notch and go to high performance toons, you're probably talking another $13-15K.

[Cowracer]

Test drive both of them, on the same day if it all possible. I would never buy any boat without a test ride in the same conditions. Push them both hard, especially full speed turns.

I'd hate to let that be the deciding factor in my boat purchase. Yes, performance is a consideration for some people, but not all. My usual lake is not that big at around 650 acres, so out-right performance is low on my priorities. What sold me was spaciousness, layout, seating comfort and "liveability". I don't care if will run at 50 and turn like a quail. I want a boat where I can have friends out on it all day and not feel crowded. Logical design plays a big part. I have seen so much wasted space on some boats it makes me shake my head.

My advice is list your priorities IN ORDER, and then go down the list an grade each boat.

Tim

On edit. By the way, my 14 year old Bennie's seats still feel and look like brand new. Very comfortable with no sag at any location.

[Capt. Dan]

Great responses, thank you all!

We have looked long and hard and the 25' Manitou seemed to resonate with us, for our use, in many ways.

I have not demos it and likely won't be able to. I'll get to demo a 23' in Feb, but the dealer doesn't have a 25. I I,aging performance will be similar, both boats max at 150hp. I know it won't be the fastest boat on the water, but that's not what I, looking for either. Coming from a 20' Bennington with a 50hp 2-stroke it will be a world of difference!

[robster]

Howdy- we love our 2011 Manitou Oasis VP with Yamaha 150HP, it handles great! we added the power assisted steering and are so glad we did, with the power assisted steering it makes towing skiers/tubers a lot easier when making a lot of turns. The only thing I don't like about our boat is the gas tank is not mounted in the center tube, it's on the port side and when we have a full tank of gas and a full load of people the boat will list to the port side some. If you have the option of having the gas tank mounted in the center tube,that should prevent the listing. The Bennington will get you more re-sale value down the road but of course you will pay more for a Bennington than a Manitou, both have the same quality in terms of fit and finish. Both are great boats.

[Capt. Dan]

Thanks Robster, good point, I think all thetri hulls from Manitou now carry the fuel in the center tube.
We are trying to get the best of both worlds -- a high quality, fairly basic model with a few upgrades and some performance mixed in. The boat is really a family workhorse to haul kids a and friends around to little islands and sand bars, all in saltwater. We've ended up spending far more time on the pontoon boat than we ever thought we would -- even more time than on our beloved offshore fishing boat -- and that is sure to be the case until the kids get a bit bigger and stop getting seasick in the ocean!
While the Manitou Aurora is much more of a base boat than the Oasis you have, the underlying structure is the same and should give us many years of great service. I'm looking forward to the demo ride which will likely be quite cold in mid-February!

[Bamby]

The boat is really a family workhorse to haul kids a and friends around to little islands and sand bars, all in saltwater.

Just a heads up. They are a fine boat for sure but I'd have reservations about recommending a Manitou for someone who intends to spend a lot of time at sandbars. By design they have a bad habit of flip-flopping back and forth like a titer-totter when nosed into a sandbar which can be a gentile rocking to a real ground pounding depending on the wakes or waves the boats subjected too.

[robster]

We beach our Manitou all the time, it will list just a tad bit to one side after you drive it out of the water on to the beach, because the outer tubes are 24" in diameter and the center tube is 27" in diameter , but we never found that to be a problem.

[Capt. Dan]

Good to hear beaching isn't really and issue, that could have been an issue.