V20 Vs. Bertram 20

[bigshrimpin]

Spares - The 25 seacraft seafari has a 25.5 degree deadrise it's crazy too.

http://www.classicseacraft.com/Seafari25.htm

Navatek LTD in Hawaii spent 5 years and some ungodly amount of money tweaking the hull design on the 25 seafari to develop their 9meter SAM Unmanned Surface Vessel.

http://www.navatekltd.com/sam.html



This is a Utube video of one of the test boats loaded down

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ln3Y1A_RNCM


I got one of these sitting behind my house now . . . : ) Waiting for a motor ( and my kidney stones to quit )

[dan4836]

Does anyone know how the Wellcraft V20 compares to the Seacraft 20?

I am assuming that the Seacraft will ride better but I don't know if a 20' boat can get much smoother than my V20 with tabs?

I cruise around 21 knots and with a little tabs I never pounded. I only owned my V20 for one year and had some nice 15 to 20 northeast winds while fishing out of Shark River inlet and the boat handled perfect.

Also, at rest, my V20 is very stable. Some of these great sea boats that have very deep V's have their own cons such as: a lot of power needed to push and terrible at drift.

I owned a 29' Phoenix and it was great trolling and running. Chucking for tuna or even fishing for stripers in the Delaware Bay was tough because the boat would rock something fierce.

[bigshrimpin]

I've owned both a v20 steplift and various 20 seacrafts (two seacraft seafari's, one seacraft 20MA, and one 18 seacraft) in the last 10 years. They are both excellent boats. v20 is a bit larger and has more room. I now run a 23 seacraft which is a great boat too.



V20 is a great stable platform for fishing. In a head sea the ride is really good. Quartering will knock your fillings out. Following sea can be downright dangerous when the bow digs in. Overall it's a great boat. I fished my v20 40 miles offshore more than a few times. I stuffed the bow once on stellwagen bank and knocked the windshield into the cockpit. I would have never sold the boat except that I moved cross country.

20 seacraft is like a magic carpet in small chop. It's really a bay boat (so is every 20ft boat except maybe the bertram). Quartering . . . you can get the boat to pound if you don't use tabs to roll the hull a bit. The boat tracks nice straight in following seas. Anything over 2ft seas will put you airborne if you are trying to go faster than 22mph. This boat can get you in trouble, b/c it'll handle some pretty big water, but it's not the best decision to be out in there in this little boat. You could push the 20 seacraft very well with a 90hp - 115hp . . . if you get one DO NOT put a heavy motor on the back. 400lbs is about the max you want to do with a 25" transom. with a 20" transom I would stick with an inline 6 tower of power (275lb).

[RidgeRunner]

Cadillac style right there BS. I see you over there at CSC. That is one super 23 right there. Good write-up too. If V-20 had a Gucci Award for other, you got my vote.

[bradford]

Damn.... Got some serious wood.

Especially that 25 running through the chop.....Damn...

Bigshrimpin, I posted a few of those In the For Sale section off craigslist with you in mind. Both were in New York I think.

Yup, here they are:

http://wellcraftv20.com/community/sh...ad.php?t=19928

Might have been the same boat, although I thought they looked different. $1800 might be pricey though for a project boat.

Yours is SWEET!

The last time I loaded the V on the trailer a truck was backing down with a restored incognito Seacraft 23. Hot girl at the helm who then backed her off the trailer turned in the channel and planed off all by her lonesome.

The Wifey thought she was pretty cool too.

[dan4836]

The 23 Seacraft is one of my favorite but I never was able to sea trial...

As soon as you get a little bigger than the V20, the power you need to push goes way up and so does the fuel bill.

I bought my V20 because I can run this all over without worrying about the fuel bill. I have the Mercruiser 470 and this is by far the most economic boat I ran. Before my V20, I had a 17 Aquasport with a Evinrude 88SPL. My V gets about twice the fuel economy.

I was out with a friend in a 24 Rampage - the boat is a tank but with a single V8 it's slow and terrible on the MPG.

[bigshrimpin]

Dan - The 23 seacraft isn't too bad on fuel. Almost identical to my v20 with a 200 yamaha.

Bradford - That guy in NY with the 25 was a nut bag. He posted on the CSC site that he took the boat and had it crushed at the Nassau County Landfill. I know people that offered him full price.

Please post some pics of the seacraft lady . . . That must have been a real site to see.

[dan4836]

That's good to know...

I thought the 23 Seacraft would be terrible because of the deep V. I guess the strakes really help.

[inaforty]

Big Shrimpin,
Great video!

This one list on Cape Cod

http://capecod.craigslist.org/boa/4433503231.html

[spareparts]

the Seacraft is very fuel efficient, the inverted strakes aerate the hull longitudinally, its kinda hard to see whats going on unless you run in another boat beside one. We ran a 23 with a single 225 Opti from Charleston to the Georgetown hole and back(55 miles one way) on about 38 gallons. I was way too rough to fish, but the boat handled it well. The 20 Seacraft is a great inshore boat, but its not in the same class as the 23