Years to avoid?

[AlexT]

I am back in the market for a 20', having had one years ago, strayed into the wilderness, and now returning to the faith.

I've seen it mentioned several times here that there is a dark period in Seacraft's history of poor quality boats. What years should one avoid when looking at used boats?

Thanks,
Alex

[Snookerd]

I guess the loyal ranks are unable to recall any such year or time period [img]images/icons/wink.gif[/img] !

[JohnB]

Ok, I will stick my foot in here. The boats made before tracker where great boats with great hardware/rigging/etc. The boats made by tracker and later had some not so great fittings, hatches, etc. The boats where still solid, just alot of little things to chase around (I own one of these). Here is the catch 22. Lets say you buy a 70's seacraft. The stuff has 10-15 more years wear on all these things, and they probably need to be replaced, or you buy a late 80's tracker like mine, they probably need to be replaced. Either way you end up replacing a bunch of this stuff. In my final decision, I went with the newer boat with the hope I wouldn't have to face a transom redo for 5 or more years. That was my logic in picking a a late 80's early 90's boat. The prices where reasonable, and I didn't mind fixing a bunch of that kind of stuff. If you buy a good restored one ($$$$$), this stuff should all be taken care of. That's my 2 cents, hope I didn't offend any of the SeaCraft faithful out there. Good luck.

[Miles Offshore]

I agree with John. I replaced all of my hull fittings etc. on my 78 last year.

[ October 18, 2002, 03:29 PM: Message edited by: Miles Offshore ]

[AlexT]

Thanks guys. That is exactly the kind of info that I was looking for.

I have to say that I prefer some of the layout on the newer boats. It is good to know that the basic hull is of the same quality.

[Snookerd]

Ditto on the Tracker comments. I have one too. Having a late 80's boat means hardware changes, less immediate major work, and no drop off in overall structural quality.