Is a 17 or 18 footer large enough?

[firemedic71901]

I am looking at buying my first bass boat in a couple of months and have already started shopping around. I am fortunate to have numerous lakes close to me that are anywhere from a thousand acres to over 44,000 acres. I am mostly a weekend angler but would like to get into a couple of local tourneys and I don't want to break my bank account by getting more boat than what I need. So my question is this, is a 17 or 18 footer big enough to feel comfortable when fishing a 44,000 acre lake where I figure I will be most of the time?