Hey Bob. John's right. However, what's nice about the 2002 is that if you really want side steer, but you find a great center steer boat, it's not too terribly difficult to move the steering over to the side and add the second bucket. Same with moving a side steer boat to center.
Anything from the early 90s on will have the no-wood/aluminum transom. Not quite sure the exact year, but I know we started selling them in 95 and they had had them for a few years by then.
I just picked up a side steer comp model. What fishing I do will be me and my 9 year old casting a few lines here and there - no competitive fishing and I won't be dodging stumps, so the comp and it's lighter weight will work better for my race trips. If you're really going to be fishing hard, the tournament model might make more sense, but the comp model will handle 99% of how most people fish.
If you're looking for the best combination of speed and sensibility, the 225 ProMax is probably the best combo. It's quieter than a 260, has oil injection, is easier and cheaper to get parts for and will still run mid 90s pretty easily. It's really the best all around package in my opinion. There's a lot of aftermarket hop-up stuff for the 225 ProMax too, so there is potential for building a killer sleeper motor if that's the direction you want to go. We sold a few with 150s and they all ran over 80 with two people in the boat....hard to beat that.
Feel free to e-mail me directly if you have any questions.
Best of luck.
Sam Baker
sam.baker@scaryfast.com
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