When two boats share the same hull type — in this case both the Rinker Captiva 246 BR 2012 and the Rinker Captiva 276 CC 2011 are deep vee designs with fiberglass construction — the buying decision usually comes down to a handful of practical questions: how many people are you putting on the water, how far do you trailer, and what does your tow vehicle weigh?

Both boats share a closely matched power ceiling — 430 hp for the Rinker Captiva 246 BR 2012 and 430 hp for the Rinker Captiva 276 CC 2011. Real-world performance will come down more to which motor is actually bolted on, its load at the time, and whether it's a 4-stroke or 2-stroke setup. Both carry nearly identical fuel loads — 75 gal and 75 gal — so range won't be a tiebreaker here.

For family outings this is probably the sharpest distinction between the two. The Rinker Captiva 276 CC 2011 is rated for 8 passengers, while the Rinker Captiva 246 BR 2012 caps at 7. If you're regularly pulling extended family or a group of friends onto the water, the extra seats on the Rinker Captiva 276 CC 2011 could be the deciding factor.