I have done a bit of research on this boat and it seems to be a great boat. This is what I gathered from others, 'great riding but a little slow', 'very dry ride', 'drafts a little too much water'. The thing is, this is a heavy boat, which is where the good, solid ride comes in. The bad thing is, if you like fishing shallow ponds for redfish, this boat will struggle. But on another note, pretty much any popular 24' bay boat will struggle in the shallow ponds, so you just have to fish the deeper ones. As for as being slow, the Yamaha Performance Reports said at 4500rpm it is doing 42mph. To me, that is pretty good for this type of boat! I would go with the 300 Yamaha and nothing else. If you have any other questions, give me a shout!
Capt Josh Ellender

Fourchon Red

What type of fishing do you plan on doing? I have a BX24BR and can tell you anything you need to know. As far as a shallow draft, with an Atlas JP I can get in 16', as far as speed loaded with ice, 4 men and gear I'm at 50, running light at 55 with the Yam 300. Speed is no big deal for me though. I think that its the best all around bay boat out. Can handle 2ft seas dry for offshore runs, was out on Friday 17mi. Comment on some of your concerns and I'll reply....

The boat comes with a 250hp Yamaha 4 stroke. It may be a little underpowered. yall have been a big help thanks for the advice.

I have had mine two yearsand love it,mine also came with the 250hp no complaints, plus i had them install the new factory hard top,I run alot from the silver slipper to the biloxi marsh 'open water' dry and handles good...
i have also spoken with other owners new and old and have not really heard of any complaints, costly but no regrets....
Good luck

Link to the 250 Data:

http://www.yamaha-motor.com/assets/products/otb/bulletins/bulletin_4stroke_hpv6_pro_sht-bx24-f250txr.pdf
Link to the 300 Data:

http://www.yamaha-motor.com/assets/products/otb/bulletins/bulletin_4stroke_v6-offshore_pro_sht_bx24pro_f300xca_2010-07-20_bay.pdf

They indicate the boat was 1/2 loaded but I think the reports are a little generous on fuel mpg data.