http://www.thehulltruth.com/boating-...tar-24-te.html
Capt. Allen,
I guess some people simply don't know so they guess or go by what they've heard. The Key West 246 Bay Reef has 19 degrees of deadrise which is significantly more than the Skeeter or the Champion, simple geometry. If you look at the Skeeter or Champion on a trailer next to a Key West you would be shocked, the Key West has a V that starts around your shin and a gunwale that lands at your chest. The other two look like bass boat bottoms on the trailer that someone placed a bay boat on top. The Skeeter and the Champion are nice riding machines, I've put many hours in both but in nasty conditions aren't near the ride of the Key West. My friend also has a Key West 246 Bay Reef, spray is never able to shoot around the wide Carolina flair of the Key West bow wetting occupants. Anyone that tells you differently really doesn't know or doesn't know how to run a boat.
In addition to having fished over 500 hours on the 246 bay reef, I also owned a Key West 216 Bay Reef for 4 years. One member who fished with me often on the 216 owns a Champion 22, he'll tell you it rides great but on very windy days prefers the dry, pound free ride of the Key West. It's not just my opinion, I've spent countless hours on the Key West.
To really research I will attach a link to a national challenge of the best riding bay boat, this will allow you to view what a huge national audience believes and not just one clown saying my buddy owns one of them. I also attached a picture of the bow of a Key West 24, look where the V starts, where the gunwale is in relation, and the sheer flair on the Key West. People may try but your eyes will not deceive you. Good luck with your decision, they still are all nice riding boats and I agree with the others of having the support of a company still in business. Key West has the top selling bay boat the last two years, there is a reason for that. Please see link at top of post.