'09 Starcraft Freedom...'96 Starcraft 17' Superfisherman

[Huron Angler]

My dad is looking at this rig, just posting some photos to check out. She's a '96 Superfisherman 17' rig with a 1996 75hp Merc.

 

[Huron Angler]

Re: 1996 Starcraft 17'

Re: 1996 Starcraft 17'

It's got a nice design on the splash well, lots of storage and fishing space.

 

[Starman8]

Re: 1996 Starcraft 17'

Re: 1996 Starcraft 17'

Nice rig, looks like a SFM. If you do a water test(flood hull), make sure you temp plug the hollow end of the keel strip if it is open. Any leakes in the keel bow area would flow out the back channel and not the source. The 90's hulls had some design flaws.

 

[Huron Angler]

Re: 1996 Starcraft 17'

Re: 1996 Starcraft 17'

Huron Sr. has a brand-new 60hp Evinrude Etec that he wants to bolt on this boat. It's currently on a 16' Sea Nymph that is an aluminum bass boat, and it's gunwales are too low, too little freeboard for a walleye rig.

I started another thread to see if this 75hp Merc has a decent reputation, since he would be selling it probably.

More details on this boat:

1996 Star Craft Super-fishing V- deep 170 with 1996 Mercury 75 hp,new deep cycle battery, four seat , Electric 4-down rigger with counter, fish finder , GPS Lowrance, 4 life jackets, fish poles storage, 3-well live, topper cover,Spare propeller , too many things couldnt remember.. very low hours ,, always storage inside .. did tune up by pro mechanic at great lakes marine in Standish , very very excellent boat

 

[Huron Angler]

Re: 1996 Starcraft 17'

Re: 1996 Starcraft 17'

Nice rig, looks like a SFM. If you do a water test(flood hull), make sure you temp plug the hollow end of the keel strip if it is open. Any leakes in the keel bow area would flow out the back channel and not the source. The 90's hulls had some design flaws.

Yeah I told him that the 90s hull design probably have injected foam and possible other issues. I personally like the older ones for their simplicity. If we had to rebuild the deck on this one it would be a big job I think.

Did you permanently seal that keel piece?

It has been stored indoors, and would continue to be, so hopefully it has remained dry throughout. He's going to look at it today possibly and it looks brand new so I expect him to buy this boat.

 

[Starman8]

Re: 1996 Starcraft 17'

Re: 1996 Starcraft 17'

Check underneath and see if it has the attached strip from keel belly toward the aft, will look like a hollow triangle.

Starcraft told me that although a one-piece hull, they attached this useless piece in error, thus punching unneeded holes in the hull. The strip has a gauge much heavier than the hull, and when the hull flexes, the strip doesn't and stresses the rivets attaching it------------leaks.

To answer your question..............YES

The 2000 I had leaked at the belly. I used Gluvit and a 2 part putty epoxy on the rivets where needed and entire seam. Still leaked, and it dawned on me that the open end of the strip needed to be plugged after filling.

The key was using a substance that wouldn't expand upon freezing. Liquid hockey puck!! NO,

I used a homemade ramrod, clear silicone caulk and small pieces of noodle. The noodle frags were only used to keep pushing the silicone forward to fill the channel.

Dry as a bone afterwards. I also pinpointed the belly area, and since I was doing new carpet, drilled a hole in the deck bow well area and injected additional Gluvit. I also was able to Gluvit the centerline as the fuel tank ran longnitudanal and the deck piece was separate.

 

[jasoutside]

Re: 1996 Starcraft 17'

Re: 1996 Starcraft 17'

Wow, beautiful! We don't get to see sweet late model ones around here very often! Nice change of pace, eh.

A fella would have to work hard to find a better rig to pull walleye out of the Bay!

Sweet, tell Huron Sr. good luck and have fun!

 

[Huron Angler]

Re: 1996 Starcraft 17'

Re: 1996 Starcraft 17'

Wow, beautiful! We don't get to see sweet late model ones around here very often! Nice change of pace, eh.

A fella would have to work hard to find a better rig to pull walleye out of the Bay!

Sweet, tell Huron Sr. good luck and have fun!

Yeah there might be a few Starcrafts fishing out of Au Gres and a few other ports up you way this spring

I just talked to him and he's talking about checking out the 75hp before he makes any decisions on switching over to the etec.

It comes with 2 electric downriggers and that is a planer board mast lying on the deck in the photo too, so she's already rigged up for salmon and walleye

 

[Broadcast]

Re: 1996 Starcraft 17'

Re: 1996 Starcraft 17'

Fished a buddies boat, same make & model, for years on St. Clair.

Slayed many a walleye and smallie on that boat.

Great set up! He'll love it!

 

[Huron Angler]

Re: 1996 Starcraft 17'

Re: 1996 Starcraft 17'

Fished a buddies boat, same make & model, for years on St. Clair.

Slayed many a walleye and smallie on that boat.

Great set up! He'll love it!

Yeah he has a bigger fiberglass hardtop rig for the big water, this will be a nice one for fishing Thunder Bay and Saginaw Bay for walleye. A good shallow water boat that still has high sides/freeboard.

There are nice little pockets of walleye up around the island off his property up north too

Bcast have you been ice fishing or taking time off

 

[Broadcast]

Re: 1996 Starcraft 17'

Re: 1996 Starcraft 17'

LOL. A little of both!

In fact, I'll be heading up to Saginaw Bay in the morning for the day. Been getting some nice 'eyes by the Black Hole and the Spark Plug!

Anyway... I'm pumped for your Pops! Will be a nice boat if he snags it!

 

[CheapboatKev]

Re: 1996 Starcraft 17'

Re: 1996 Starcraft 17'

Be great for a father son SC family!

 

[ezmobee]

Re: 1996 Starcraft 17'

Re: 1996 Starcraft 17'

I can't see the pic for some reason

 

[KellyC]

Re: 1996 Starcraft 17'

Re: 1996 Starcraft 17'

I saw them yesterday EZ and it looks awsome, but today they are not showing up for me either.

 

[Starman8]

Re: 1996 Starcraft 17'

Re: 1996 Starcraft 17'

I suppose the Albums function will stay eliminated? Maybe the pics eat up money on the site?

 

[jasoutside]

Re: 1996 Starcraft 17'

Re: 1996 Starcraft 17'

Um, yah. They are gone! Huh, weird.

 

[Huron Angler]

Re: 1996 Starcraft 17'

Re: 1996 Starcraft 17'

I can't see the pic for some reason

It looks like this one...it's got the small middle splashwell that is perfect for maximizing space.

The owner took his pics down from a Michigan forum. Nothing is going to happen on this boat for a while since my dad's gonna be out of town for a few weeks.

 

[Huron Angler]

Re: 1996 Starcraft 17'

Re: 1996 Starcraft 17'

Just talked to Huron Sr. and he says the owner isn't selling the boat until after this arctic climate subdues. So based on that and the issues that Starman brought up he's gonna pass on this one.

He found a 2009 Starcraft 19'...red one with a 90hp Evinrude etec that is a few miles from my place. He wants me to go look at it for him today.

I'm gonna take my oldest son over and check out the rig. He's selling it for about as much as the motor would go for by itself, and I've posted up links in the starcraft on clist thread before. It's been on the market for a year or longer, so the price has come down a bit I think.

Here's a link to a site created by the owner to sell the boat.

I also found out that Huron Sr. already has an iboats handle(lakehuron18 coincidentally, never posted), and he's been digging the Starcrafts lately so maybe he will get on here and post for himself someday.

 

[Starman8]

Re: 1996 Starcraft 17'

Re: 1996 Starcraft 17'

Huron, I hope my hull comments didn't scare off the deal. A fishing buddy has a 2008 SFM and it leaks even with the new hull designs. Leaks to the point it is spending its winter in Indiana at the Star factory. Sometimes you get a bad hull, but most of the time a good hull.

That said, the 19' will be a better big water boat. My 2000 was a 19' and was great on Lake Erie, and a breeze on Inland waters. It had a 90HP 4S Merc and was strong enough to pull skiers and hit 36mph.

Prior to getting my 79 SS18, I looked at a mid 90's Fishmaster 170. It was too small and had a few defects. The splashwell was totally separated from the gunwale walls on both sides, and what was interesting was the port side transom corner cap had a stress crack in it?

For those 2 things to happen, there must have been some serious shimmy-shammin going on laterally with that hull.

I am no expert, not boat surveyor by any means.

Our older boats are more attractive because of the minimal initial money investment and the fact we all tear up the floors to get to the hull anyway to fix them.

When I stripped out my 79, I filled up her up to the chine with green food colored water, grabbed 6 beers, and took a tour of the hull exterior.

 

[Huron Angler]

Re: 1996 Starcraft 17'

Re: 1996 Starcraft 17'

I went and looked at the 19' Starcraft, wow what a difference from out old tin cans!

It's way heavier and seems like all the aluminum and rivets are heavier gauge. I couldn't believe how open the layout is on that boat. The owner tells me it used to be owned by a pro walleye fisherman named Romanowski, who writes for Michigan-Out-of-Doors and inFisherman.

Apparently it's nearly identical to the Lund Alaskan model, and for good reason. The CEO of Lund was forced out when they were aquired by Brunswick and he went to work for Starcraft. The boat has many of the same features normally associated with Lunds.

Nice rig and the Evinrude looks brand new as well.