175 Mercury falls of a Wellcraft

[Nomad]

Now I have to ask....WHY??!! Wellcraft made such a wonderfully designed hull and then fill it with wood and questionable workmanship such as incompletely glassed stringers....why not gowood free withthese hulls years ago?

I just dodged a bullet with a saturated V21 and thinking that I now don't want to take a chance on any Wellcraft as it seems like a sure thing that they will eventually rot

[spareparts]

biggest reason? $$$$$. Composit material generally cost far more than wood. next reason, Wellcraft(or any other small boat manufacture) never intended for their boats lasting 20 plus years. there have been numerous boat manufactures that have put themselves out of business by building a boat that didn't need replacing. Composits aren't all that people think they are. My personal experiance with no wood boats has shown a lot of stress cracks and pulled thru hardware. Teh local fiberglass shops will rebuild with what ever the customer wants, but most of them prefer wood over composits. Wood is still generally considered the best coring material for boat construction(Check out a Ricky Scarbough or a Paul Mann). As far as the workmanship goes, theres no excuse, but it allways comes back to the dollar, you hire an assembler instead of a craftsman, he's going to assemble the boat the easiest way he can, and could probably care less

[reelapeelin]

Originally Posted by Nomad

Now I have to ask....WHY??!! Wellcraft made such a wonderfully designed hull and then fill it with wood and questionable workmanship such as incompletely glassed stringers....why not gowood free withthese hulls years ago?

I just dodged a bullet with a saturated V21 and thinking that I now don't want to take a chance on any Wellcraft as it seems like a sure thing that they will eventually rot

Nomad...while touring the Pursuit plant a few years ago, I asked the same question of Pursuit...this wasn't the "tourist" tour, but one w/the brother of a most respected member of the this forum...here's the answer I got..."I've seen some composite coring waterlogged and looking pretty nasty too.."

So the truth about coring isn't in the coring at all...it's in the integrity of the glass job AROUND the coring...whether it's wood or composite, if the glass surrounding that coring won't hold back the water, whatever the coring material is, will not maintain it's originally intended purpose...wood, OR composite...makes sense to me...if this thread scares you away from a Wellcraft, it should also scare you away from most every boat out there...

[Nomad]

I guess that I can see the points above and do understand "planned obsolescence" ......just hat it when it is put into practice (potentially) at my expense :-)

I just dodged a bullet with a "wet" hull on a V21 that I really loved and almost pulled trigger on. My marina found the issue during a pre-purchase inspection....

[draglink]

Second video shows mud or sand in the back of the boat, he could have hit a sand bar at a good clip and ripped out or broke the bolts....transom looks intact

[macojoe]

Yes Wellcraft and many other boats have transom problems but my V20 was 35 years old this year and it was still solid!!

Most as already said are 20+ years old! The cost for a new transom is tons cheaper then a new boat that may have the same problems!

So fix it and be good for life or spend $100,000 grand and be happy, you decide!

[peiserma]

Originally Posted by reelapeelin

So the truth about coring isn't in the coring at all...it's in the integrity of the glass job AROUND the coring...whether it's wood or composite, if the glass surrounding that coring won't hold back the water, whatever the coring material is, will not maintain it's originally intended purpose...wood, OR composite...makes sense to me...if this thread scares you away from a Wellcraft, it should also scare you away from most every boat out there...

well said. And I'd like to add that many cases of water intrusion into the core actually starts at some sort of hole. A screw hole, cleats, chain plates, whatever. Some of which are added by the owner, not the builder. A saturated core on one particular boat is really not a valid reason to suspect ALL boats by a manufacturer (well-craft or any other brand). It would be different if there's a pattern of core saturation in many boats by a particular manufacturer.

[phatdaddy]

another factor is in the case of outboard models. no way can the manufactor of the hull be held liable for the installation of the motor. when a lot of these hulls left wellcraft, they were a blank canvas and it was up to the selling dealer to install the motors.

[Blue_Runner]

Its just like anything else. Take the roof on your house for example. A typical shingle roof will last anywhere from 12 - 20 years. A standing seam copper roof will last a couple of lifetimes. When you take a look at cost it is easy to see why not everybody has a standing seam copper roof - even though it lasts 5+ times longer than a shingle roof.

Shingle roof = $1 per sq. ft.
Copper = $15 per sq. ft.

Or what about flip flops. There's the Dollar General variety for around $2.50 that will last for 2 or 3 months depending on abuse, then there's Rainbows which might last 2 years or more.

One thing is for sure, if a boat is taken care of,it can last a very very long time. A lot of it comes down to the market and the manufacture has to provide a good product at a good price to be able to compete.

[Destroyer]

Originally Posted by Blue_Runner

Its just like anything else. Take the roof on your house for example. A typical shingle roof will last anywhere from 12 - 20 years. A standing seam copper roof will last a couple of lifetimes. When you take a look at cost it is easy to see why not everybody has a standing seam copper roof - even though it lasts 5+ times longer than a shingle roof.

Shingle roof = $1 per sq. ft.
Copper = $15 per sq. ft.

Or what about flip flops. There's the Dollar General variety for around $2.50 that will last for 2 or 3 months depending on abuse, then there's Rainbows which might last 2 years or more.

One thing is for sure, if a boat is taken care of,it can last a very very long time. A lot of it comes down to the market and the manufacture has to provide a good product at a good price to be able to compete.

Blue's exactly correct... the market (and to a certain extent, snob appeal) sets the price and the materials used in the construction of just about everything. For example: I used to have a John Allmand 25' boat. Great boat, heavy, well made... They couldn't compete with cheaper, less well made boats. They are out of business now.