I think that if you're buying new and the price between two or even three different levels of horsepower are negligible then sure, by all means go for the maximum amount of horsepower that you can get, or afford. That being said, I bought my boat used almost 2 years ago now and most all of my vintage of boats came/come with an F225. Would I have liked an F250? Sure, I think that it'll likely have a slightly better resale value and that you'll maybe get a few more people interested in the boat if you do go to sell it. But, the boat was a steal of a deal and I didn't want to turn it down just because it didn't have the maximum horsepower that the boat is rated for. I can currently hit almost 45 mph with a pretty light load and by myself, of which I honestly don't need to really ever go that fast or even close to that fast. I typically "cruise" around 25 mph or so because I don't need a boat that's a "speed demon" and when you're going WOT you're going to be burning over 20 gph of fuel. Here in Seattle, gasoline is up near $5 a gallon, where I can only imagine it's going to do nothing but go up all summer and I typically get ethanol free fuel. Last summer it was $5.20 a gallon for ethanol free fuel, yet we're in mostly all protected waters with little distance traveled between my mooring buoy and where I start to fish at. Going fast just for the sake of going fast is only going to burn through more fuel and ultimately more money in my particular case, and to where I don't really need the maximum amount of horsepower possible. If you're going 40-50+ miles each way to where you're going to fish at, want the better mid range fuel economy or need faster speeds because you're weighted down with extra weight then sure, the higher horsepower outboards might be something to consider.
edsonmarine.com
