Element E16

[Morgan0751]

I am interested in the element E16. I may consider buying the boat new, and I want to hear from some owners on what options I should get in the boat, and what ones are not worth the cost. I like the layout of the boat for its size, price, and it being able to fit in my garage in the off season. The boat will be used in the Barnegat Bay at the Jersey Shore, if anyone if familiar with those water ways. The boat will be used for cruising, lounging, crabbing, water sports, and very little fishing. I plan on getting tow arch, Bimini top, depth finder, and the CT 60 HP motor. This will be my first boat in over 10 years, and I am looking for a simple easy to use boat that can cover most of my needs. It will be my wife and I on the boat and 1 year old child most of the time. I understand people say buy a bigger boat but that comes with a cost and where does it end 18 20 26, ect. I originally wanted the Boston Whaler 150 Super Sport but due to the lack of comfort level my wife and I agreed on this boat for its versatility and price. Any information you can offer will be appreciated.

Thanks

[efarstad]

16' Element owner here, recommend getting the 75HP option over the 60CT first off. That was not an option when I got mine and wish it was. Tow arch for sure for water sports. I bought and put on my own bimini top and saved hundreds! So it's not hard and in my opinion then you can choose another color other than black (if you want). I didn't need a depth finder, but if you'll do some fishing that could come in handy. I also installed my own radio, speakers, and subwoofer...again couldn't see paying the crazy prices they wanted. You may also want to consider putting on smart tabs to help with porpoising, plus they help you get on plane faster too!

We love our boat...good luck and have fun!

[Sjelias30]

Go with the e18 90hp and forego the options. The sports arch makes sense but you don't need anything else, and the galvanized trailer is a free option.

[seadoorider]

E18 owner here....would definitely step up to the 75hp. Haven't encountered a E16 owner yet with the 60 who didn't wish for more power. My boat came with the stereo, bimini top and sports arch, I wouldn't be without any of those items though as stated above the bimini and stereo are overpriced from the factory and can be DIY items.

The sports arch makes a very nice hand hold for people boarding or climbing in from the swim steps in addition to an easy way to attach towables. Plus the boat just looks better with it and the bimini top IMO.

[6104696]

Another E18 owner here (115 hp). My thoughts for you:

1) Any 16 footer is going to seem very small out on Barnegat Bay. An 18 is a much better size. A 20 even better. The bigger you go (till you get to 23 -24 or so), the more days out and less white knuckles that you will have.

2) Always buy as much HP as you can afford. If you get a 60 HP on the element 16, at some point you will wish you had gotten the larger engine. If you get the larger engine, you will NEVER wish that you had gotten the smaller one.

3) The element (16 or 18, at least) is one of the best boating values out there. There are some drawbacks though, primarily with the hull design.

On the plus side, the M hull design provides a nice stable platform at anchor or drift, and provides minimal bow rise when accelerating and minimal banking when turning.

On the negative side, the hull rides hard in a chop. Just about any 16 or 18 will do that, so that is really not a strong negative. But, the "M" hull design, in a chop, tends to force some spray forward, ahead of the boat....and thus it gets blown back into your face. Traditional V hulls tend to push spray to the side, and thus tend to keep you drier unless there is a strong beam wind.

Next, the boat provides a nice flat wake for waterskiing. That's the good part. The bad part is that the boat requires the helmsman to shave a lot of speed when making tight turns, lest the prop ventilate and....you lose even more speed (rev limiters prevent overrevving these days). You can compensate somewhat by overtrimming the motor down, but that hurts overall efficiency and performance.

When lightly loaded and the motor is trimmed "nicely," the bow tends to porpoise, which can be corrected by adding weight (moving people forward), or by trimming the motor down. Passive trim tabs can minimize this, but adding them can create or exacerbate other issues (such as ventilation and pushing the bow down when you don't necessarily want it down). Active tabs can solve that problem, but they are prohibitively expensive for such a small boat.

The boat is designed such that in some boats that are not manufactured correctly, water (fresh water/rain water) can get into the "sponsons" and cannot be drained out (there are a number of threads on this topic). The solution for the water drainage is to have your dealer add, under warranty and thus at no charge, "sponson drains." This is not a viable solution for boats that are wetslipped, though, and it is yet to be seen if wet sponsons will eventually mean rotted stringers. As of yet, the Element models are too new to have any public data on that. The hull has a lifetime warranty to the original purchaser, though. A bigger question is WHY the water gets in there. My dealer just did a complete recaulking job (under warranty) on my boat, and for now the sponsons are not getting any water in them. But we have not had much rain so results are not conclusive.

Anyway, on balance it is a great boat but it is far from perfect and it is not for everyone. If it was going to be our one and only boat I probably would have chosen a different boat, but we have a 24 foot deep V for when the wind kicks up or when we want to go far. For a calm water knock-around boat, the layout, the performance, and the value is tough to beat. Even more important than the boat you choose......make sure you do due diligence on your dealer service department. Don't just check the interweb, BBB, and local consumer affairs reports....talk to previous customers. Even if a high end top tier boat, an incompetent dealer can ruin the experience with negligent prep, service, and warranty work.....

Good luck with your search.

[Download_Complete]

Having driven both, the 16 is good, the e18 is Goldilocks. ANything larger is not really needed.

For me, your ideal set up is the e18 with the 115.

[Morgan0751]

Thank you for the information. I was considering the E16 because of its overall savings cost. This boat will fit in my garage saving me from wrapping it and winter storage cost each year. When you add that savings plus the increase in cost of the E18, the E16 will cost me about 50% less then the E18 would over a 10 year period. I would say cruising to local spots and anchoring up, and beaching the boat will be a large part of what I plan on doing. Im just not sure how much of a difference that 60HP CT vs 75PH motor would make on this boat. Also NJ has 3 dealers, so if anyone has information on one that they used you can message me that information on your experience with them. I also wouldn't mind traveling to a surrounding state if the cost of the boat was a significant difference.

[efarstad]

Depends on your dealer of course but expect to add about $1,500 give or take to the cost going from the 60CT to the 75. Shop around...dealers do differ! :-) Good luck.

[jeffspalmcoast]

I have a 2016 E16 with the 75. That should be the base motor for that boat. I have a 4 blade prop (highly recommended) and top speed is 39 mph with just myself and min stuff but the hole shot is fast to plane. I think the 90hp should be the upgrade. My friend has the 60hp and he has problems with 3 people on board getting on plane sometimes. Top speed for him is around 30mph. Get the smart tabs!! $130... !!

[Pichy]

Everyone is correct about power. Sixty hp is inadequate. Especially if you have more than one person in the boat. Bayliner should never have packaged it with a 60, and especially not the three blade prop. My E16 would porpoise nearly always at full speed, even with it trimmed all the way down. Getting on plane was always a problem. Ultimately, I got a four blade prop and smart tabs. Planes way faster now and no porpoising. Still, I wish I had the 75 hp motor, but it wasn't available in 2014. Get the 75, or upgrade to an E18 with the 115. Do not get a 60. DO NOT get a 60. I also have water in my sponsons, so that may be an issue for you, unless they've fixed it by now. Good luck.

[Download_Complete]

Thank you for the information. I was considering the E16 because of its overall savings cost. This boat will fit in my garage saving me from wrapping it and winter storage cost each year. When you add that savings plus the increase in cost of the E18, the E16 will cost me about 50% less then the E18 would over a 10 year period. I would say cruising to local spots and anchoring up, and beaching the boat will be a large part of what I plan on doing. Im just not sure how much of a difference that 60HP CT vs 75PH motor would make on this boat. Also NJ has 3 dealers, so if anyone has information on one that they used you can message me that information on your experience with them. I also wouldn't mind traveling to a surrounding state if the cost of the boat was a significant difference.

The difference between 60 and 75 is huge, and I say that having run both engine options. WIth 3 people, the 60 hp is barely adequate. With 75, it has enough power to do what you expect a boat to do.

I strongly suggest the 18 with the 115 if you can at all justify the stretch. THe 16 will get awfully small once you put it in the water.

[nclexman]

75 horse with trim tabs brings me up on plane in about 4 seconds even with a full load. Love the 16 as I dock it behind my house in a tidal river and can use it for longer periods. Have had it for two years and love it everyday!

[3 wide]

Everyone is correct about power. Sixty hp is inadequate. Especially if you have more than one person in the boat. Bayliner should never have packaged it with a 60, and especially not the three blade prop. My E16 would porpoise nearly always at full speed, even with it trimmed all the way down. Getting on plane was always a problem. Ultimately, I got a four blade prop and smart tabs. Planes way faster now and no porpoising. Still, I wish I had the 75 hp motor, but it wasn't available in 2014. Get the 75, or upgrade to an E18 with the 115. Do not get a 60. DO NOT get a 60. I also have water in my sponsons, so that may be an issue for you, unless they've fixed it by now. Good luck.

What is the 4 Blade Prop # you are running? Is it a Merc Prop?

[jwslaw]

bought an element 16 with the 75hp last summer. put quite a few hours on it and owned many boats, so here is what i have for prospective buyers....and seeking some advice for my issues

1.75hp subject covered, but still needs more power (downsizing from boat with 200hp)
OR a different prop.....our element gets up to 30 with a couple people., but from about 5000 rpms to full throttle, the engine RPMs rise but boat speed does not (talking at least a few 1000 rpms, all other outboards had no problem operating at 5500rpm) . So i am not a prop expert, but iI know props are somewhat like a gear, transmitting engine power to speed and seems like this set up could use a larger 'geared' prop ...maybe more pitch?. the prop it came with which has no size or pitch markings on it that i could find is the 4 blade mercalloy prop from the dealer. .

2. porpoising is an issue at higher speeds even with engine trimmed all the way down unless significant weight put in bow ....read on here about smart tabs but hesitant about adding more resistance to my already lack of speed.

3. 2nd 0r 3rd the advice that the boat cannot handle close sets of choppy waves (small or big, bigger obviously worse), will kill your back;
however, good news is this boat rocks in the ocean where the wave sets are farther apart. While I don't recommend this to any but very experienced boaters, I believe this boat could handle 5-6 offshore waves (keeping the bow up)....already done some 3-4 footers, maybe a couple fives 5, going thru gulf of mexico passes, even at pretty good clip...the boat could handle more than the passengers, and the captain too.

any input on my rpm/speed -prop and porpoising issues much appreciated.

[Jem102166]

We bought the e16 in the spring of this year. We have had a good experience with it, however I I have been looking at the Tahoe. For not a lot more money it seems you get a lot more boat. I will be looking seriously at that as my next boat.