this is a my 71 mosley, i think.http://i961.photobucket.com/albums/a...e/P5160002.jpg

I beleive that 71 would be a Potter hull,also the Moesly Seafari's had four posts on each side of the bow rail.Very nice looking boat,I just got a 1972 and plan to redo it over the winter.

These are a couple of videos from last years sea trial...

http://www.classicseacraft.com/commu...ad.php?t=22743

Not what Brian was going to build, but the hull is the same.:D

so you think mine is a potter hull. is one better than the other?

Yeah, yours was built under Mr Potters direction. But it is a Moesly design and yours looks great:cool:. Spiitting hairs to say one is better than the other. 4 stanchions are sturdier, but really... Of the Potters, I think the early ones were better built, especially the floors and the gas tank access... On the other hand Potter later made some modifications that may have been more user friendly. I think the end of the 70s hurt a lot of builders due to the production costs brought on by the "energy crisis."

Potter worked with Carl Moesly for a year or two before he took over the company in about 1970, and I think Carl taught him quality control and how to build a good boat. Carl designed the 20' hull with 4 f/g stringers and all 20's (Seafari & CC's) up through '72 have 4 stringers. The first Arab oil embargo occurred in 1973, the price of resin went way up, and that's when Potter changed to 2 wide box stringers, probably in an effort to keep costs down. The 4-stringer design is obviously heavier and stiffer, but I've never heard of any problems reported with either configuration. When the inner liner/deck is bonded to the top of the stringers, it creates an extremely stiff I-Beam, which I believe gives the 20' SeaCraft the best strength/weight ratio of any boat of similar size. I had a subscription to Boating Magazine in '69 when the test of the Seafari 20 was published, so I started looking for a used Seafari shortly after that. I looked at the new ones every year at the Miami boat show, and I remember being shocked by a $1000 increase in the list price in either '74 or '75, but the price of all new boats went up a bunch due to resin cost increases.

Although Potter continued introducing new models in the 70's like the Sceptre 20, Master Angler and the 18' CC, I think he was under steadily increasing cost pressure. In the later Seafari's he took a stanchion out of each side of the bow rail in about '70 or '71, and changed the cabin door from a double door hinged on each side to fold inward to a single door that opened outward. In about '74, he replaced glass in the side windshields with plexiglass, and I think he may have eliminated the livewell that's under the port seat on my '72. As Gillie mentioned, he did make some improvements in the later Seafaris, like raised cockpit sole, larger gas tank, side shelves in the cabin and a moved forward/raised windshield that provided more cabin headroom and more space aft of the windshield, starting in about '74 or '75. The first 2 pics below are from a '69 Moesly-era brochure with the 4 stanchion bow rail and double cabin doors. The last one is from a '72 Potter brochure that shows the 3 stanchion rail. (I also have Adobe files of these brochures and the Boating Test I can e-mail to anyone that sends me a PM.) Denny

if you noticed in the pic of the 71, the side window is just a small square like shape. all other photos i,ve seen are the longer wing shaped desisn. anything to this? differant model or yr? thanks for the info, guys. very helpfull. love this boat.

Pretty sure an owner added the window sometime after it was built. Coming from the factory with no windows is pretty rare, I've only seen one other one like it.

Glad you like the boat. I had one for years, used it hard and loved it, too.

I think there was a lower priced stripped version of the Seafari that had NO cabin windows as Connor mentioned, maybe called the Overnighter. There was one listed for sale on this forum one time. I think it also had a windshield which did not open like mine does. Do the front panels on your windshield open up?

yes as well as the hatch in the front.