Went to the Providence Boat Show today....

[John R]

Saw Trayder & East Beach and numerous Seacrafts & clones & Seacraft hull inspired boats...

The Silverhawk was schweet and (this time) the guy was pretty nice about it. Well finished boat, well laid out.

The unclassic 2003 Seacraft 23CC was OK and looked better put together than the one at Boston last year. Pretty well laid out but I was suprised to see what looked like unfinished wood inside the tiny console when the tiny doors were popped off the tiny console and I peered in. For 65 THOUSAND dollars.

The Pathfinder 23 (which is really more like a 22 with an integrated bracket) was an intriguing boat and had some interesting stuff / layout.

The Sailfish 236 is a reasonably priced and outfitted Seacraft clone that around 44K is 24K LESS than the factory 23.

The other clones were there too, Key West, Key Largo in their 20 & 23 chopper gun knockoffs. I wonder how a much lighter version loses the advantages of this hull??

Very interesting was the 2nd Pre-Production and first time available for sale Tri-Marine-Group Quonset 25. This boat borrows heavily from the running surface of the 23 but is stretched out nearly 2 feet (but not a new style 25 knockoff). It is powered by a Yanmar diesel driving a pumpjet drive. It draws only 16 inches of water, can troll at less than half a knot (big for us up north) and according to the guy building it, very manouverable. It also has a spray rail integrated into the mold. Some interesting things about the drive, the builder said the pumpjet does not need maintenance for something like 1000 or 2000 hours - forgot exactly which. He also said this boat had something like a 550 mile range. As this boat gets tweaked he's looking to be in the 35+ knot range but said it was around 30 knots now. Wants to try fidderent blades on the drive. Interesting semi-custom that according to the guys wife (I think it was his wife) has had about 60 hours put on it since being completed 4 months ago, 4 cold months ago... This boat is also being built about 10 miles from my house at Quonset Point, Rhode Island. Not cheap but intersting boat... On a mildly sad side note, the guy had to sell his '68 20 Seacraft he's had for 25 years to finish the new one. I just told him about this site too...

The Scout 242 Aboco from Viking Marine was nice too - wonder if anyone can sell that [img]images/icons/shocked.gif[/img] [img]images/icons/tongue.gif[/img] [img]images/icons/wink.gif[/img]

[RS]

Originally posted by John R:
Very interesting was the 2nd Pre-Production and first time available for sale Tri-Marine-Group Quonset 25.

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">I saw the prototype boat at the Pt Judith ramp and talked to the same guy and his wife. Looks like a labor of love. I seem to recall them talking about over $300K invested in the prototype. Pretty cool setup.

[ocuyler]

John,

Good stuff. It gives me a focus for the AC show.

Just for fun, do you think a 23 OB can be converted to a diesel jet drive like you saw?

[ January 10, 2004, 11:22 AM: Message edited by: Otto Cuyler ]

[Dave Hirshberg]

John,
I saw that scout Abbaco 242 at a show here in Naples this weekend. $66,900 with a 4 stroke yammie [img]images/icons/shocked.gif[/img] [img]images/icons/shocked.gif[/img] I almost sh!t myself. I know that boats are getting more expensive because I sell them, but 66,900 for a barely 24 ft cuddy? I was taken aback. I guess someone can buy them or they wouldn't be building it. [img]images/icons/confused.gif[/img]

[John R]

Originally posted by Otto Cuyler:
Just for fun, do you think a 23 OB can be converted to a diesel jet drive like you saw?

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Just for fun, absolutely. This boat was very close to exactly what you ask. But, the guy did say the balance of the hull was not optimum on the stock 23 because of the weight. But it is certainly doable...