1978 20 master angler

[seaquin]

found this site through classic mako and have been looking around for a few weeks, you guys do amazing work to these boats. i currently have a 1973 mako 20 that needs a new deck, but i found a 1978 20 master angler that id like to replace it with instead of fixing my mako, the plan is to strip the mako and put whatever is needed onto the seacraft, my questions are how is the ride of the seacraft compared to the mako and will my 1999 150 mercury be enough power for the seacraft. sorry for the long post

[billythekid]

not to sure aboput the ride comparibilty but the 20 MA is a great riding boat with a nice bow on her. the 150 will be plenty of power for the boat. How bad are the decks in the 20 MA? Pictures are very important here when you are trying to explain stuff or repairing for help. They seem to keep people interested in the post. you got yourself a very sought after hull there.

[BigLew]

"how is the ride of the seacraft compared to the mako and will my 1999 150 mercury be enough power for the seacraft."

You are asking a VERY biased crowd, to say the least! However, Seacraft owners know two things about their boats; they offer an amazing hull in terms of ride and handling plus, we get stopped ALL the time by knowledgable boaters who want to admire the design and by many others as well who, after seeing our boats handle sea conditions that other boats are have big trouble with constantly ask, "What kind of boat IS that? It's amazing!

We report...you decide. Also, there is another thread recently about the ride quality of a 23' Scepter up in the Great Lakes and their notorious 3-4 foot waves with very short intervals. Look for it. There is reference to the FACT that the ride got better with increased speed. There are not a lot of pleasure boats that can say that and be telling you the truth.

I just found the thread, "Man oh man, what a ride."

[eggsuckindog]

YOWZER --- man your in for a treat, I found out about SeaCrafts as a boat salesman in the 70's - SeaCraft - Mako- Grady and Stamas. I will say the Makos had some really cool consoles and were cheaper and it was hard to explain the difference. You my friend are in for a treat, we were one of the largest SeaCraft dealers ( good demographics) and I will say if somebody ever owned one they were done and never wanted anything else - that ended up including me. I also now have a 20 MA, actually I also believe but can't verify, its the exact first MA that I laid eyes on and wanted one, it was rigged by the sales manager Jack McGaughy, of Jacks Interbay Marine now. I had just bought an 18 and couldn't afford it anyway, but man that was a sweet boat, funny I think I have it. According to SeaCraft only 327 were ever built '75 to '80 and was built for live baiters, the SF was fine when dragging Hoo's but on our coast it was baitwells we needed, so in '75 it came out. Jack was a baitwell wizard, and designed the transom baitwell for the I/O 23's and did another in the new Grady Whites they incorporated the next model year - he would build his own molds and probably pestered Mr Potter to death.

Didn't really look but where are you?

[Bushwacker]

There is reference to the FACT that the ride got better with increased speed.

If you study the Boating magazine article on the 20' Seafari in literature section, you'll see a plot of running angle, mph, and some other stuff vs. rpm. Although optimum mpg cruise was about 19-20 mph on that rig, notice that the running angle gets less (flatter) as speed increased up to about 25 mph; it doesn't get much flatter at speeds over 25.

On my first Bahama trip we did a lot of running in 2' square waves on Little Bahama Bank in the Abacos. Sure enough, the boat rode better at 25 than it did at 20! As the running angle flattens out at higher speed, the wave impacts move forward to the higher deadrise sections of the hull, hence a softer ride despite the higher speed and harder impacts. I concluded that ride would be even better if I could keep the hull running flat at lower speed so as to not hit 'em so hard! For the next trip I added trim tabs, which made the boat ride like it was about 3' longer! Power trim can sometimes do the same thing although it doesn't provide roll control, which is also key to a soft ride. Power trim didn't seem to have much effect with my old 20" motor hanging on the transom, but with the 25" motor on a bracket, that setup evidently creates more leverage, so power trim has a big effect on running angle with current setup. My rig will now plane at 12-13 mph and be very comfortable in some really sloppy seas. Just ask Snookerd about our snorkeling trip down in the keys!

[Blue197320]

i can vouch for what bushwacker is saying about the running angles. he took me for a ride and we went head into the waves with tabs down and were sitting down very comfortable.

my boat on the other hand is a SF model. the last time i was out in bad water there was actually a bigger mako that went out of the channel before me and he had slowed down to almost a crawl. it was 221 mako i think. i passed him and the 4 guys on that boat just watched. i wasnt going fast either but i didnt have to slow down like he did.

[seaquin]

thanks for all the replies guys, you have now made me want to swich boats even more lol, as for my location i am in boca raton florida and i do a lot of trolling for dolphin and i often run out to 20+ so i need a boat that can go offshore, but also a lot of live bating, so the 20MA is seems perfect for me, the decks on my mako are completely shot to the point where the console came off when i hit a wave the other day, ill try and get some pics tomorow. i was told that the decks on the 20MA im looking at have some soft spots, so is the deck of the seacrafts built the same way as the makos with the balsa coring making it a relatively easy six?

[red20]

i'm in east boca with a 20' MA ready for a rebuild. PM me.

[eggsuckindog]

The ride at higher speeds thing is just a factor of the VDR hull design, if I'm just kinda plowing along at 20 I have all the flatter parts in the water, at 24 I'm starting to get to the deeper deadrise and getting flatter parts out of the equation and yes it does smooth right out. Honest you will see a gargantuan difference between a Mako 20 and a 20 SeaCraft, the 20 was not one their best for offshore use, it just hits hard. A friend of mine had one and I swear it must have had 400 lbs of wet foam in it the way it rode, we both had 200 HP on them, just another issue with them at that vintage. Not sure what the Mako's did on their decks, but who cares, your a SeaCraft guy now - welcome aboard Admiral

[RS]

Honest you will see a gargantuan difference between a Mako 20 and a 20 SeaCraft, the 20 was not one their best for offshore use, it just hits hard.

+1
Your back will appreciate it if you run in any sort of chop or sloppy seas