I love my 2008 861 but it is basically a single person boat for spiderrig fishing. Using offset seat poles and average size seats can give alittle extra room. However, if you use millium seats it narrows back up. I fish mainly trolling either jigs or crankbaits so this isn’t a issue and I fish alone 90 percent of the time. I have balance issues and the sitting down in the hole created by the side storage is more important to me. They are great boats just have their own limitations similar to other styles. Might get a wareagle 961 owner to measure their base width.