question, older wellcraft. sorry, i know...
 

i know this is a seacraft site, and i love my seacraft, but i need to step up to a bigger boat. i've been looking at 31 contenders for a while now, but am hesitant to take out a loan for a "toy". saw an 81 wellcraft listed the other day for 30k. its an 81 hull, repowered in 06 w/ 300 yamahas (hpdi i assume). engines have low hours, boat was refurbished in '03 including new electronics. just spoke w/ the owner who claims everything works and boat is in great shape. sounded like an older gentleman, he traded a 38 luhrs for it a few years back and doesnt use it as much as he would like to. my main question, is that when wellcrafts were made right? is it too new? it has the "bullet" design, not the "big bow" design i know is indicative of the dry riding wellcrafts of the 70s. bottom line, it sounded like a good deal, but i trust my CSC family for a second opinion as much as i trust anybody. once again, i apologize for the non-seacraft question.

Re: question, older wellcraft. sorry, i know...
 

Dude... 88... :eek:

Maybe you missed this post:

http://www.classicseacraft.com/forum...5&o=31&fpart=1

31 Wellcraft, Contender, whatever - will not hold a candle to this boat. Fairly modern twins, half the price of what you're thinking of spending for twice the boat...

I'd at least take the privilege of talking to the Seafaring Zen Master of SeaCraft himself...

just my .02 good luck in your search.

Re: question, older wellcraft. sorry, i know...
 

gilly, i should have mentioned i want a center console. in fact, i should have mentioned that to the guy selling the wellcraft. i just assumed it was (from the one tiny picture), but we all know what that means. sure enough, i got down there and it was a cuddy cabin. a very nice and well maintained cuddy, but a cuddy nonetheless. oh, well. i have a friend who has been looking at mid 20s albemarles, im going to forward him the link to the boat mentioned above. it is a lot of boat for a little $...

Re: question, older wellcraft. sorry, i know...
 

Roger that Justin.
Good luck. Check your pm.

Re: question, older wellcraft. sorry, i know...
 

Does anyone know if Todd has sold his 27 yet? It hadn't as of 12/10. That would be just what you need!

Re: question, older wellcraft. sorry, i know...
 

For me personally, I'd be thinking of a stepped bottom Rybo for an older cc in that size. Others in mind would be Ocean Master maybe, Conch, Mako.

Re: question, older wellcraft. sorry, i know...
 

boat will be tournament kingfished all summer so i need it to be fast and open. actually saw a nice ocean master 27 on ebay, but its on long island. makos are too heavy for what i need, and they have raised bows. i want a completely open floor plan, nothing to stub toes on or trip over when moving w/ a rod. i do like the 27 seacrafts but 5 ft of boat makes a big difference in a rough ocean. i was kind of thinking of holding off til the end of the season at this point, but that wellcraft deal just popped up and i had to investigate.

Re: question, older wellcraft. sorry, i know...
 

i had never seen a conch before and just saw them referenced on csc twice this morning so i went on boattrader. that is one sexy boat. they appear to hold their value ridiculously well too. only two for sale w/in 1000 miles of me, ones a late 90s inboard priced in the 60s, the other is a tournament boat priced in the 90s. nice boats, anybody know more about them?

Re: question, older wellcraft. sorry, i know...
 

NO!

Re: question, older wellcraft. sorry, i know...
 

From what I understood Rampone "pre SeaVee" grew out of Whitewater later down the line Conch was somewhat a copy of a SeaVee. There are a few oneoff and knockoff boats of those earlier hulls. Now Conch is owned by a doctor and built in Stuart with a lofty pricetag.