As always, it depends. That is, if you are truly going to run big water, you need a better boat. Otherwise, you can get by with less. The question is how much of a margin of safety do you want.

Back during the summer, I drifted with a friend on the Sky. He used a 7', and I used a 9' much stronger pontoon. Take a look at the difference in the size in this picture.



Mine retails for about 800 his is about 250. Both did just fine on this calmer water during the summer when flows were low. I hope this helps.