tri hull ?'s

Silly Seville

Senior Chief Petty Officer
Joined
Dec 5, 2009
Messages
798
Re: tri hull ?'s

Wow! Two thousand bucks? 1974 OMC? I would offer $750 for it only if it runs fine on muffs and there are no cracks or crazing/blistering in the gel coat. I can tell you for certain that in this soft boat market, mid-eighties 18-19 foot i/o modified-V bowriders bring $2K. And you're more likely to get a modern Alpha style outdrive as well. Just my three cents worth.
 

Joshua Nichols

Lieutenant
Joined
Jun 29, 2009
Messages
1,431
Re: tri hull ?'s

bought my 87 Four Winns for a grand... That boat has a stringer outdrive... You don't want to step into that world... If you got 2k to spend.. Shop more.. Something better will come along
 

ezmobee

Supreme Mariner
Joined
Mar 26, 2007
Messages
23,767
Re: tri hull ?'s

Yeah you don't want that boat. An old Stringer drive? Ebay will be your only source for parts. Stick with Mercruiser or Volvo for I/O's.
 

H20Rat

Vice Admiral
Joined
Mar 8, 2009
Messages
5,204
Re: tri hull ?'s

and i would also guess that the main con would be the handling??? i cant imagine them having a very sturdy or tight turn on them??

Nobody addressed those two, so... Handling. They will maneuver just as well as a regular boat, if not better. Some v-hulls have a high speed turn angle they just do not like going past, trihulls don't really have that. They will lean into a turn also like a v, just not as much. They also do give you some on-plane efficiency that a v-hull doesn't get.

Durability. A 30 year old tri-hull will still withstand FAR more abuse than the bones in your body. No really, i'm not kidding! Ride in one in white cap conditions sometime... You would swear the hull is going to split open, but it just keeps slamming into the waves. Your spine on the other hand...


(owned 2 different tri-hulls in the past, back still hurts!)
 

jcupo6

Chief Petty Officer
Joined
Jul 13, 2009
Messages
512
Re: tri hull ?'s

I think that's a bit overpriced. The seller mentions new carpet, but doesn't mention the state of the deck. He may have laid the carpet over rot. Have you looked at the boat yet? Also, I have heard some horror stories regarding OMC drives, but I have no personal experienced with them. I would pass on this one, but if you like it (which is all that matters) show up with some cash and offer him $700-800. Boats aren't selling well right now, and buyers can take advantage. I just bought a boat selling for $5,500, I showed up with $2,000 and the owner accepted.
 

1979checkmate

Petty Officer 1st Class
Joined
Jan 15, 2011
Messages
261
Re: tri hull ?'s

Just as a clarification i believe the 165 omc was a GM block, but was an inline configuration, not a V configuration. I have a 79 Checkmate Trimate and i love the hull on that boat, jumps up on plane very very quickly with a 115 merc inline 6 hanging off the back and handles very well. However, this is not your standart 70's trihull..at first glance you may swear this boat is a v hull from the shape of the deck and so on (not square). It is more of a modified hull that has a large center v and two smaller v's one either side that flatten out towards the back to make a shallow-V transom.
 
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