ClassicSeacraft.com makes the maggies...

[Jon G]

John finds all the neat stuff. [img]images/icons/smile.gif[/img] I can't believe you need to cut up the floor on a new boat at that price to get at the gas tank. With my luck I would get the one that the sender starts leaking two years later. I looked at a couple of lower end(price wise-$14K-$19K) boats like the Casco bay skiff and the Nauset Marine Islander which is a copy of the 18' Sea Craft before I bought my boat. Both of these new boats were built, with the "Rough" finish for the inside, no liner minimal storage but what turned me off was both builders built the deck right over the tank with a little six inch deck plater for instection [img]images/icons/frown.gif[/img] I can't believe [img]images/icons/shocked.gif[/img] SeaCraft would build a top dollar boat of that caliber, and you have to saw the deck up WHEN you encounter a problem with you fuel supply. Is this a normal [img]images/icons/confused.gif[/img] practice on newer boats or am I just old fashioned?

[ocuyler]

I loved the part:

"It took us three weeks before we could pin down sales and marketing president Frank Longino for an interview. And even then he would only give us “10 minutes".

What an idiot. I would have given them all day and taken them on plant tour. What a marketing opportunity! He should lose his job for that.

It's the first I've read anything about the Honda on a 23. The sales guy at the Ft. Laud show said they had a deal with Merc and would only ship powered that way.

In the end, it's great praise for the 23's. The existance of this very authorative and often critical publication just added resale value for all of us. Somehow, I'll bet Longino won't care either way. He's no Bill Potter.

Otto

[ January 07, 2003, 10:57 PM: Message edited by: Otto Cuyler ]

[Miles Offshore]

Thanx John, you do find all the good stuff (said with a big grin)!!!!!And this IS a great website!

[Billybob]

John - you do find all the stuff.This little site of Jason's really is getting some attention.A friend of mine was at the N.Y. boat show last weekend and spent a couple hours chatting with the Seacraft regional guy.When he mentioned that I had an old yellow 23, and it was on the site, the guy knew the site and even asked if I had the one with or without the T-top.That's pretty damn good, seems like just yesterday that Jason was floating the idea of a site like this.
I can't see how a boat builder could get better advertising than a bunch of nuts like us raving about our 30 year old boats.C'mon Seacraft how bout throwing a little sponsorship Trayder's way!

[John R]

The funny thing is, there is another section of the article dedicated to Trayder & Classicseacraft that is not up there... Guess you need to buy the maggie for it [img]images/icons/grin.gif[/img] ... Billybob (your boat is mentioned too )

Of course I have one bitch & moan here, you all are going to see the value of your used boats go up while costing me more money when I get mine

[Briguy]

This is the part of the article that talkes about Jason. [img]images/icons/rolleyes.gif[/img] [img]images/icons/rolleyes.gif[/img] [img]images/icons/rolleyes.gif[/img]

Capt. Brian

Remember that old shampoo TV
commercial where images of a
beautiful model’s face multiply as
she explains “And I told two
friends, and she told two friends,
and so on …” ? That’s what it has
been like for the membership list
over at www.classicseacraft.com.
Rhode Islander Jason Goldfarb
launched the site while restoring
a 1968 20’ SeaCraft.
“One e-mail led me to five
[used SeaCraft] owners, then 10. I
was talking to them all, but my fingers
got tired, so I created a
website.”
The membership now bulges at
250 with SeaCraft enthusiasts from
all over the country—even the
world (homeports include France,
Bermuda and Cabo San Lucas).
Most of the boats were built in the
70s or 80s. The oldest: a 1967 19-
footer, which Goldfarb writes “is
the most impressive boat on the
site, hands down.” The owner
“has taken great care of his 19, and
has all the original documentation,
warranty cards, and articles about
his boat. His boat is an I/O with a
160-hp Chevy inline six with a
MerCruiser outdrive.”
Goldfarb writes a sizeable portion
of the descriptions accompanying
the before-and-after photographs.
But the site very much belongs
to the owners, most of whom
could never afford a new SeaCraft
(a 23 retails for a whopping $58,000).
“There was a lot of talk about
how great these boats are, but not
having deep pockets I thought I
would never find out how good,”
Website Helps Owners
Revive Old SeaCrafts
writes Steve Syler in his dramatic
buildup to his discovering of a 1979
23-footer for $7,000. He worked for
an entire winter—nights and weekends
—stripping and then refurbishing
the boat.
One of the most common old
SeaCraft repairs has been the replacement
of wet transoms, which
were built with wood and encapsulated
in fiberglass. Goldfarb says
a project like this might seem overwhelming
at first but is quite doable
with the help of an ever-growing
group of SeaCraft owners to fall
back on.
Yes, bringing an old SeaCraft
back from the dead is hard work,
but guys like Syler have no regrets,
especially once they feel that
smoothing-riding, variable deadrise
hull beneath them.
Contact—www.classicseacraft.com;
Jason Goldfarb: 508/295-9700.
Above: In addition to before-and-after
photos of refurbished SeaCrafts,
the website gives you a little history:
SeaCraft’s founder, Carl Moesly, designed
and built the first SeaCraft, a
21-footer, to race offshore.

[Briguy]

The article also states the boat does 38 KNOTS top end. On the powerboat reports page, there is a chart of fuel flow information. At 5600 rpm's, the boat is burning 20gph and the top end is only 33.4kts and 38mph. That seems really slow until you realize it is swinging a 15" pitch prop. I wonder why my old tired 225 could swing a 17" prop? Are these v6 4 strokes that low in torque???? [img]images/icons/shocked.gif[/img] [img]images/icons/confused.gif[/img] Powerboat reports also made a mistake in their fuel flow/speed chart stating the boat does 18.5 kts at 3500 rpm's, then 27.1kts at 4000rpm's and then 4500 rpm's at 26.4. kts. Ignoring the typo at 4000 rpm's and assuming everything else is right, that Honda is weak compared to a optimax 225 or dare I say my little 115hp 4 stroke Suzi's. I would have to see how the Yamaha 4 stroke or the hpdi 250 did before I ever bought that Honda.