Best of the old generation glass boats

[poonabayking]

Howdy all,

I have recently decided to part with my 4.65 side console aluminium as im getting too bloody wet every bay session.

I am looking for a little bit of direction in regards to which glass hull to consider.

At the moment I have looked into the seafarer Vsea, Cruisecraft regal + reef raider and Haines V17C/L.

My fishing is 70% Moreton bay, 20% open water and about 10% creek fishing (primarily a bait gathering venture)

I really like the look of the v17c and almost everyone I speak to references their old glory days in a Haines, my only consideration is the ever present "unstable at rest" remark. is this grossly overstated? or is it quite a washing machine in a rolly sea?

My budget is around 15-18k, any advise is much appreciated!!

Thanks

[scottar]

Unstable at rest is going to mean different things to different people. A mate of mine has a 17C that I have spent a fair bit of time in - well and truly better than the tinnie I had at the time for ride and stability. Certainly a great hull for their size and no habits bad enough that I wouldn't own one. Main limitation is cockpit room and free board over the transom - with 3 blokes fishing from the cockpit it is both cuddly and potentially wet in any sort of swell - specially with a sea anchor out (being powered at maximum horsepower could have something to do with this as well - goes like the clappers with 140 ponies though)

[poonabayking]

Cheers mate, that's a very good point. I guess my only consideration around the "stable at rest" comment would be in regards to 2 blokes fishing on one side. Would it present a considerable lean in an oncoming sea (drifting)

I could imagine a 140 would would keep the nose high....also the adrenaline 😂

[scottar]

With the size of the cockpit, and the molded glass rear seats you tend to be either on opposite sides or one man is further forward fishing over the back of the helm chair - thus standing a bit back from the gunwale and not really an issue. Certainly if you both want to stand shoulder to shoulder hard over on one side it will lean though - as will most boats that ride any good in this size bracket. Offshore with a sea anchor and two on board, as we predominantly were, we had it off one corner and as such were fishing out of diagonally opposite corners of the cockpit most times. Best bet though is to try and get a ride in one so you can sort out your own thoughts.

[Noelm]

One thing to remember about most of these "ledgendry" boats is most were pretty poorly made with pine transomes, some had Masonite floors and very cheap timber internal frames and lots had all sorts of things screwed and bolted to them over the years, so rot is a BIG problem with them.

[Homer_Jay]

I agree with Noelm's comments.
i had a V19c, great boat for its age however when I had the floor replaced I couldn't believe how dodgy it was made.
Nothing that couldn't be fixed, but just factor in the cost of a new floor and transom unless the seller can prove it has been done and done right!

[Vromme]

The v17's have a cult following,for good reason, great sea handling ability for their size and soft ride. But def are trade offs. Stability is more of an issue in lighter ones. Put weight down low they will sit deeper in the water and less rock and roll, but will still tend to lean with two people hanging over one side. The issue I think you will have is your budget. Heavier ones are the ones guys have rebuilt, new stringers/floors/bulkheads/transoms and extra resin/glass. But with a decent motor they are asking High $20's up to $40k for them!

You can look at doing it yourself but is an absolute shite load of messy work. Still need to know what you are doing and a lot more exy than you think.

Unless you are looking for a small weapon of a boat with its best attribute being decent speed in a sea I would look at other options you listed. Not as good in the chop but plenty of other good options about within your budget (eg seafarers).

[BigE]

Always like the V-sea in that size , trick is to strip them out and use a big esky as a bench seat. surprising how much room you can make by clearing the decks and seats out of the way.

BigE

[poonabayking]

Thanks for the replies all. Im deffinately open to a seafarer vsea or cruse craft reef raider both look like fantastic, fishable rigs when prepared correctly.

I'll deffinately factor in a full transom / floor replacement in any vessel I enquire about.

Would the smaller of the bunch, the seafarer vsea be up to the kind of fishing I've mentioned? Coming from ally boats (0 glass experience) im very green.

[ranmar850]

In that price class, the Swiftcraft Dominator is worth looking at. 5.65M, beamy, heaps of cockpit space. or look at the runabout variant, the Viking, same hull, more space again. The Explorer variant is full cab, good if you want to overnight, but less deck spce. I have one, absolutely no issues fishing two one one side, even 3 on one side in a seaway is not an issue. Stable at anchor in a slop, not rolly as the deeper vees can be. The trade off, of course, is that isn't as much of a head-on hero as the deeper vees, but very sea kindly and all-round safe. The sometimes irrational cult following of those old Haines' has pushed prices to a ridiculous level, IMO, for that age of boat. As with any older glass boat, the issues will probably be hidden, and I believe the Dominator was better made below deck than the Haines of the same era .Which, of course, is not to say that there won't be issues. Mine is all original, 1982 model, still in great shape. Always kept stored in a shed. The other side of the coin would be the old blokes' up the road, same year model, bought new, and stored outside in our harsh conditions for it's entire life. has literally been worked to death, and yet everything is still all original, deck is solid, and the transom even "seems" OK. And still used on an almost daily basis.

[tropicrows]

The swiftcraft dominator is a great bay bay/offshore boat solid and stable is does bang if driven incorrectly but not a great bar boat. I owned one for a few years, amd the issue i had with bar work was because of the fine entry and flared/broad deck


Sent from my SM-G930F using Ausfish mobile app

[tropicrows]

####en mobiles i hadn't finished or corrected my txt.
With the fine entry and broad deck at the bow. It was easy to bury the bow and scoop water over the top of the boat. Did it a few times and got very wet.



Sent from my SM-G930F using Ausfish mobile app

[Seahuff]

Owned a 4.7m V-Sea for a few years and a great boat for its size. It will do want you want Bay and offshore no problem. Regularly fished 8 miles offshore with it and always felt safe (in sensible conditons of course).
Mine was a a 82 model and transom and floor were original and solid as a rock (but obviously you need to careful when buying)
Quite a few have been repowered with new model motors, vouching for the hull that it is worth doing.

[giddyup58]

My opinion, for what it's worth, is to get the biggest Haines Hunter you can afford. I believe they are in a class of their own.
17' and over.
For the bay, I prefer >20', as the usual afternoon blow isn't quite as nasty in the bigger boat.
Best bay and offshore fishing trailer boat I ever had was a modified 18' Haines/Bertram - the old reverse-chine model, with a 225 on the back.
Ok, maybe a bit too much motor,
We had it set up as a centre console, and FYI, I spotted one on Gumtree a couple of weeks ago with new bearers, floor and transom, fully repainted and on a serviceable trailer for under $3,000!
You may be able to snag a 635L for the money you're talking, Had 2 of those - a S/D and an outboard, and they were both fabulous, fast, comfortable boats.
But the H/B 18 was a far superior sea boat and fishing boat. Fished 5 big boys on comps easily.
We did modify it a bit. It had a 10" wide 14' long plank fitted (which aided fuel economy) and a 3' pod/hull extension, which maximised cockpit space.
The standard Haines 19R's have achieved (justifiably) cult status as mini game fisher.
The early 19 and 21 Haines' were fantastic hulls.
And. of course, they all can trace their lineage to most famous of all trailerboats sold in Australia - The amazing Formula 233.

[CT]

Hi mate,
I've got a Cruise Craft 166 Raider, so the same hull as the Reef Raider but in the runabout deck configuration. Its powered by a Evinrude Ficht Ram 90. It does 62 km/hr flat out, gets better than 2 km/l at cruise speed in good conditions and fishes two adults in comfort. Weather permitting I fish 70+ km wide of Yeppoon. The negatives are that at only 5 m it feels the chop compared to larger, heavier 6 m hulls that my mates own. The positives are the cheap purchase price, single handed launch and recover and cheap to run. I re-did my floor and stringers in synthetic for about $4500. While the floor was up I put a 150L fuel tank down the centre line of the hull so have over 300 km of range. Careful of repowering with new heavy motors. I love the Rudes because of the light weight. They are a great match for these older hulls.

Remember that these old things (any of the hulls you mentioned) are only worth what you will pay despite the ridiculous price people ask for them. Some of them hang around for well over a year still listed at high prices. I wouldn't pay more than about $8K for something absolutely ready to fish. If its a work in progress or requires a repower I'd be thinking well under $5K. I'm sure the owners will disagree though!

Cheers
Craig