Opinions Concering 262 BR Popularity

Ezgoin

So I just bought this 2005 262 Captiva BR and am finding it interesting that it seems to be fairly rare.  It's a beautiful boat with a lot of room, nice features, and great lines, so it seems odd to me that there don't seem to be many of them around on this forum or in general. 

Many of the vendors like carpeting, SeaDeck, upholstery etc. have templets and such for most other models, but not for the 262.  Why is that? 

There are a couple things I can think of that prospective buyers may dislike, like the pass through between the helm area and the bow is very narrow.  So narrow in fact that you wouldn't need to many extra pounds to make it very challenging to move back and forth through the walkway.  The other thought I have is that maybe it just fell in that price and size hole that made it less popular.  Maybe it is larger and more expensive than most people wanted when looking for an open bow style family boat, and maybe the price point put it too close to many cruisers for the folks looking to spend that much money.

I'm interested in your thoughts and opinions.

Cableguy Greg

First of all, the hull is based on the 262 Super Sport that was made from 02-03 or 04, of which there weren't that many made. It was a very fast stepped hull and the SS was built to compete with the Baja's of the world. Unfortunately that didn't happen. It being narrow is probably due to the hull design. When the 262 Captiva came out, I looked at moving up from my 232, but it wasn't enough of a jump in size to make it worth it for me. When the 262 Captiva was being produced it was competing with the very popular 232, which had been around for years. From what I have heard, the 232 was the best selling model that Rinker ever produced. There was also a 282 Captiva in the lineup, which also wasn't too popular. In Pittsburgh I only know of one 262cc. It is a great looking boat and it is fast.

Next, like you pointed out, it was close in price to the 242/250 Fiesta Vee cruiser. The upgrade from a 232 to a cruiser seems like a more logical jump than from a 232 to a 262. I know that at the time I would have rather jumped to a cruiser. It also was too big of a boat to be considered 'entry level'.

As far as carpets go, I just sent the templates for my 280EC to snapincarpet and Corinthian to get prices. The 280EC is pretty popular and neither company has templates for it. They do now... Most places get the templates from their consumers rather than the manufacturer.

The 262 is a great looking boat. I am sure that you will enjoy her.

Just my 2 cents worth...

Ezgoin

Great info and pretty much falls in line with what I was thinking.  I think the narrow passage is because they put the head right there on the port side and the helm and storage locker on the starbord side requiring the pass-through to be very narrow!  Regardless, I expect to really enjoy this beauty!

Skippy79

one thing that springs to mind is that it's a very large boat to be towing around, it's  gotta be close to 5500lbs.
I've got a 232 and to be honest, I really wouldn't want a boat to be much bigger to tow.