I've been looking at buying a sled for the past year and have done a lot of looking and asking myself. Your parents need to determine their budget, and primary use of the boat. Primary use is important because it may change what you can do/where you can go. A boat well suited for upper river shallow water running may not be as adept at running in the bay depending on wave height. A boat with a windshield on it and cockpit area is not well suited to moving quickly from kicker to power if the water is quick or tricky.

It used to be a given that for shallow water running you needed a flat bottom but over the past decade the trend is changing. A shallow V like 6 degree dead-rise with a white water shoe (a tunnel starting midway down the boat extending to the transom) is more manuverable and will run just as shallow...

Just a couple of things to consider..