The Marina Guys Tell Me That Wellcraft Is A Great Boat

Restless22

Petty Officer 2nd Class
Joined
Jun 6, 2012
Messages
136
I'm not sure if they are giving me reason to be happy, but the marina guys tell me that my Wellcraft is a great boat.

In a sea of Sea Rays on the docks as my neighbors, it does stand out. The hull isn't as sleek and sporty, but looks more V shaped. My engine is a 350 Magnum, and even with my Alpha 1, I'm plenty fast enough for us.

So, why don't I see more Wellcrafts?
 

spoilsofwar

Lieutenant Junior Grade
Joined
Jun 29, 2011
Messages
1,124
Re: The Marina Guys Tell Me That Wellcraft Is A Great Boat

So, why don't I see more Wellcrafts?

Don't know where you're looking... I think the times I've gone to the river and not seen a Wellcraft or two were the minority.
 

Restless22

Petty Officer 2nd Class
Joined
Jun 6, 2012
Messages
136
Re: The Marina Guys Tell Me That Wellcraft Is A Great Boat

I'm in NE Alabama on the Guntersville Lake System.
 

Levinz11

Senior Chief Petty Officer
Joined
Apr 1, 2012
Messages
726
Re: The Marina Guys Tell Me That Wellcraft Is A Great Boat

Quite a few Wellcrafts on my lake, too.
 

oldjeep

Admiral
Joined
May 17, 2010
Messages
6,455
Re: The Marina Guys Tell Me That Wellcraft Is A Great Boat

Lot of guys tell me that Bayliners suck but I see hundreds of them - don't believe everything you hear ;)
 

26aftcab454

Lieutenant Commander
Joined
May 12, 2009
Messages
1,510
Re: The Marina Guys Tell Me That Wellcraft Is A Great Boat

not sure when , may be early 2000s ??? but Wellcraft stopped making cruisers and sport boats and now makes salt water fishing boatszombie 2.jpg I wish I still had Mine!-Very sturdy boats.
 

25thmustang

Lieutenant Commander
Joined
Mar 20, 2008
Messages
1,849
Re: The Marina Guys Tell Me That Wellcraft Is A Great Boat

Right now there is one Sea Ray and one Wellcraft on our docks. There are more Silvertons, Chris Crafts, Luhrs and Egg Harbors than the Sea Rays. When it comes to boats sitting on land not being used... there are more Sea Rays than any other brand at our place.
 

Maclin

Admiral
Joined
May 27, 2007
Messages
6,761
Re: The Marina Guys Tell Me That Wellcraft Is A Great Boat

There is a Wellcraft around the corner from me.

How many HydroSwifts do you see? :)
 

gtochris

Senior Chief Petty Officer
Joined
Aug 4, 2010
Messages
742
Re: The Marina Guys Tell Me That Wellcraft Is A Great Boat

Wellcraft is an excellent brand.
Like said before, they only make Center consol Scarab type fishing boats now.

A wellcraft dealer was once on our lake and I still see tons of them! Nova's, Scarab, Eclipse, Excallaber, They made some of the most beautiful machines on the water especially the 70's through mid 90's.
 

TimBobCom

Petty Officer 2nd Class
Joined
Aug 21, 2007
Messages
139
Re: The Marina Guys Tell Me That Wellcraft Is A Great Boat

See them occasionally around here, can't remember when the area last had a Wellcraft dealer though, but we don't have too many options to choose from locally really. Lots of Sea Rays, Cobalts, Regals, and Crownlines around here.
 

jestor68

Commander
Joined
Jun 12, 2012
Messages
2,308
Re: The Marina Guys Tell Me That Wellcraft Is A Great Boat

Wellcraft is an excellent brand.
Like said before, they only make Center consol Scarab type fishing boats now.

You may want to visit their(Wellcraft's) web site for an update on what type boats they make now. Hint: it's more than CC boats. :)
 

Philster

Captain
Joined
Sep 15, 2009
Messages
3,344
Re: The Marina Guys Tell Me That Wellcraft Is A Great Boat

They make dual consoles based on the center console hulls and some others, but they are out of the high-performance runabout and bow rider market.

They are average boats by almost every standard known. Nothing wrong with that. Sort of like a Chevy, Ford or Toyota.
 

Home Cookin'

Fleet Admiral
Joined
May 26, 2009
Messages
9,715
Re: The Marina Guys Tell Me That Wellcraft Is A Great Boat

you don't see many b/c of where you are. I can look out my window and see a couple. I see 0 bass boats even when I go out and see a hundred or more boats on the water. The "sparkle boys" don't come around here much.

Wellcrafts are well respected boats among salt water boaters. They are also more expensive than other boats of the same size and design (or used to be). however I think the reputation has slipped some.

Keep in mind that seeing a lot of a certain brand does not mean they are good; it means they are popular. Things are popular for two reasons: they are good or they are cheap. Not the same thing. Also, what's popular among a community of life-long serious boaters says more than what's popular among the weekenders lake/trailer boat crowd (not putting them down; it's a different use that doesn't demand quality, durability or seaworthiness)

so maybe you can believe what you hear about, well, you know. Here's a clue--do you see many old ones? People (who are boaters) keep their wellcraft hulls for 40 years and repower as they go along. No problem selling old ones. Not so with, well, you know.
 

haulnazz15

Captain
Joined
Mar 9, 2009
Messages
3,720
Re: The Marina Guys Tell Me That Wellcraft Is A Great Boat

They make dual consoles based on the center console hulls and some others, but they are out of the high-performance runabout and bow rider market.

They are average boats by almost every standard known. Nothing wrong with that. Sort of like a Chevy, Ford or Toyota.

Agree in full. Wellcraft made decent boats, but I'm not overly impressed with them, nor underwhelmed. I'd put it right there with SeaRay to be honest, despite so many people being partial to the 'Rays.
 

bekosh

Lieutenant
Joined
Apr 27, 2004
Messages
1,382
Re: The Marina Guys Tell Me That Wellcraft Is A Great Boat

I would agree with what everyone has said. Equal to SeaRay in quality, but you do get some advantages with Wellcraft because as a company, they were primarily designing for ocean use. So you tend to get a deeper deadrise and larger fuel tanks compared to similar sized boats.

I had a 1991 Eclipse 216XL cuddy with a 20? deadrise and a 52 gallon tank. While many of the other boats in that size range and style are 18? or less deadrise and 35 gallon tanks are common.
 

laserbrn

Petty Officer 1st Class
Joined
Jan 18, 2011
Messages
268
Re: The Marina Guys Tell Me That Wellcraft Is A Great Boat

I don't think I've actually ever seen a Wellcraft fishing on the lakes around here. I have seen PLENTY at the Marina. They aren't as popular as the Striper, Skipjack, Grady-White lineup when I'm checkin' out the fishing boats to be honest. I see more boats like yours. Big cuddy's from the 90's.
 

Maclin

Admiral
Joined
May 27, 2007
Messages
6,761
Re: The Marina Guys Tell Me That Wellcraft Is A Great Boat

The one around the corner is a mid to late 70's Wellcraft Airslot 185 with MerCruiser, looks pre-Alpha to me(?). VERY nice condition, all original. He took the next door neighbors out in it 2 weeks ago, all had a good time evidently.
 

dingbat

Supreme Mariner
Joined
Nov 20, 2001
Messages
16,317
Re: The Marina Guys Tell Me That Wellcraft Is A Great Boat

A good friend of mine had a Wellcraft 248 WA for 5 years. He changed the last 2 letters in the name from "ft" to "p" when asked about. No serious issues, just a bunch of irritating ones.
 
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