Classic vs new

[Ikan Besar]

I think that is a question that depends on the individual buyer. Tell you what Fiasco, I can arrange for you to ride on a brand new one and mine on the same day if you are in the area. YOU would be the best person, after seeing both, to answer your question.

I knew going into it that I would be spending more on a redo than had I gone to the dealer and bought a new one off the lot. It may be a case of me needing my head examined, but I had fairly specific ideas of what I was after and it took two single-space typed pages to enumerate those to the person that built mine. I had spent time in the new ones, the "classic 20'", the new "Lefty Kreh/Master Angler" edition, and the new 21'. All of the new ones I spent time fishing out of were nice boats. I just had a list of things that I wanted and those didn't exist on those boats. If you'd like to contact me directly, I can be more specific about what I wanted and what those three were missing for my intended usage.

When I was getting ready to have mine done, you couldn't have a SeaCraft rigged with anything other than a Mercury. That has changed and you can get them with various power options now. At the time, Mercury didn't have a suitable four-stroke and that was something I really wanted.

The fittings/hardware, while adequate on the current factory boats, are not up to the standard I wanted. The rigging on the current factory boats....well, let's just say that if I want to visit the Amazon Jungle, I'll fly to Brazil.

I started planning my redone 1971 20' when I still had a different SeaCraft (a 1976 18'). This allowed me to really think about what features I wanted to retain, which aspects really bothered me, etc. Additionally, I had the opportunity to spend time around the boats owned by members on this site (both SeaCraft and non-SeaCraft boats) which directly affected some features on my current 20'.

To get back to your question about whether the old ones are "that much" better than the new ones? I would have a really tough time accepting a blanket statement like that. While there are some aspects on the new ones that I think come up short, that can just as accurately be said about the old ones in their original configuration.

One other thing to consider: if you want a new one, you can be using it by tomorrow afternoon. A custom redo is going to take some time. You are correct in your cost analysis: a redo to the extent that mine was done will not save you a single penny over buying a new one.....but when I take mine in for each 100 hour service, you should see all the guys at the SeaCraft dealer drool.

If the new ones have everything you want in a boat, I'd buy one and go fishing.