Why aren't there more 15' Fish and Ski Bow Riders?

[nhmaina]

I currently have a '88 larson Citation 150 (15') which I am getting fixed up to use. But, I have been keeping my eye out for other brands that have newer 15' fiberglass boats for pleasure boating, with a bow rider in front. For some reason most manufacturers have gone to a 17' minimum as far as I can tell. What builders are still out there making 15-16' fiberglass boats and why have they dropped the smaller boats? I can't use a bigger boat because my vehicle that I am pulling with won't handle one.

 

[Brewman61]

Re: Why aren't there more 15' Fish and Ski Bow Riders?

I guess the only ones who could answer for sure are the manufacturers. But I'd offer a guess that it's a demand issue, at least a bit. If they think they can make money offering a boat like this, they'd probably do so.
In order to make it, they'd need to sell a minimal amount. I suspect that is the main reason.

 

[rwidman]

Re: Why aren't there more 15' Fish and Ski Bow Riders?

I can't speak for the boat manufacturers, but sucessfull manufacturers produce what customers will buy and they can make a profit on. If there were a market for 15' Fish and Ski bow riders, companies would be making them.

My opinion: 15' is pretty small for more than two people or in any but calm sea conditions. Many states require an observer in addition to the operator when pulling a skier or water toy. This requires at least three people.

But like I said, it's driven by customers willing to buy a product.

In your case, why not buy a vehicle capable of towing a boat you want? It's only money.

 

[ezmobee]

Re: Why aren't there more 15' Fish and Ski Bow Riders?

Look to the aluminum manufacturers. Plenty of 16' there and their lighter and easier to tow anyways due to aluminum being lighter.

http://www.loweboats.com/showroom/deep-v/fish-and-ski/fs165.php is one example.

 

[Home Cookin']

Re: Why aren't there more 15' Fish and Ski Bow Riders?

too small to be practical. the seating and consoles take up a lot of space; the smaller boats need to be more open to be functional. IOW not enough places for cup holders!

 

[Aviator5]

Re: Why aren't there more 15' Fish and Ski Bow Riders?

not to mention space for descent cooler

 

[avenger79]

Re: Why aren't there more 15' Fish and Ski Bow Riders?

my 15 footer is good for two people I've had three in her but we started getting crowded.

besides how many people do you know with a 17 foot who say it's too small and they wish they would have gone bigger. seems that for many 18 - 20 is a good range.

 

[H20Rat]

Re: Why aren't there more 15' Fish and Ski Bow Riders?

not to mention space for descent cooler

My boat is 16.5', rated and seating for 6, 4 is comfortable, 5 is doable. 6 is possible with 2 kids/smaller people only, as you have to have 2 in the bow.

The one thing it ALWAYS has room for is the cooler! The cooler never leaves the swim platform, always held on with bungi's.

 

[oops!]

Re: Why aren't there more 15' Fish and Ski Bow Riders?

the 70's saw glastron and other mfgr's do a tri hull open bow 15.....ie the t-156. johnny just restored one in the restoration section and that boat looks better than any new one.

the 15 footers had room for fishing and with a good motor, lots of power for skiing.
our weekends as a kid had us stuffing 6 or 7 people in the boat every hour of the weekend killing fish (3 early teenagers and adults)

 

[The Famous Grouse]

Re: Why aren't there more 15' Fish and Ski Bow Riders?

Because there's no demand for them.

As other have pointed out, anglers today want far bigger boats with far more featues than a boat boat that size can offer. Today, anglers want 7 foot rod lockers, dual livewells/baitwells, front and back casting platforms, and all kinds of other space hog features.

Fishing in a 15 foot tiller boat is cramped, even for 2 anglers, and add all that non-value-added equimpment like a windshield, steering console, etc just takes up more precious space and limits the size of featues anglers want like large live/baitwells.

If you look at the trends over the past 20 years, you'll see that boats have gotten deeper, wider, and longer. 25 years ago, companies like Lund and Alumacraft made only a few models in lengths greater than 16 feet. Now the vast majority of their current models are longer than 16 feet. They only make a few models in lengths less than that.

Grouse

 

[DuckHunterJon]

Re: Why aren't there more 15' Fish and Ski Bow Riders?

I think it's a social aspect as well. Look at cars today compared to 20 or 30 years ago. Look at houses. Anything else. Everyone wants to supersize it. Not throwing rocks - I went with a 20.5' fish and ski because my last one (17.5') seemed crowded. And I could afford it (OK, the bank could afford to loan me the money to afford it!). I couldn't back then! Evolution of consumption. That's my take.

 

[reelfishin]

Re: Why aren't there more 15' Fish and Ski Bow Riders?

I think that many of the odd sized hulls came about to get around some State's registration laws. Often a slightly smaller hull would fall into a cheaper to register bracket or not require the same paperwork or safety equipment. In NJ, a boat with a 15' title costs $16 less to register than a 16' boat. The same way that a boat measuring 11' 11" long doesn't need a title and one that measures 12' 1/8" does. One of the reasons I sold my 15' 3" long Sport Craft a few years ago in favor of a 14' 4" MFG was to save that $16 per year in registration, and to have a boat which ran far better on the same 50hp motor due to less weight. In NJ, they round up when assigning a title to an old boat. A boat that measures 14' 1" gets a 15' title. A boat that measures 15' 1" gets a 16' title and therefore gets charged the higher registration rate.

I wish there were more boats that fell into the 15' class too these days, the odd size has slowly gone away. When its a matter of owning and registering a half dozen boats, every little bit helps. I've stayed with my 14' 6" Grumman SS aluminum V hull because jumping up to the next size boat, a 16', would both cost me more to register it, and go even slower on the water since we're limited to 9.9hp here on several lakes. The difference between the 14 and 16 foot models with the same motor is only about 4 mph, but that's the difference between getting on plane or not with that size motor. Besides, when it comes to the aluminum boat, I have the same space in my 14 than in the 16' model due to the lack of a splashwell and bow deck plate up front in the 14' model.

If HP was not regulated, and registration costs were equal, I'd probably run a larger boat and motor but the way I see it I've got the best set up for my situation.

 

[nhmaina]

Re: Why aren't there more 15' Fish and Ski Bow Riders?

It is interesting how we have a need for more space all the time. Yes I will probably want a larger boat someday, but I am moving up from a 13'8" boat to a 14'10" boat, with a beam that is more than 10 inches wider. So to me it feels plenty big enough. I have had a person tubing behind the 13'8" boat with 2 adults and 2 kids on board. It is cramped, but still fun. I don't see why having at 15' boat wouldn't allow me to have 3 adults and 2 kids pulling a tube behind. I don't need to go really fast. I also think it has to do with the hull design. An older tri-hull probably has more room and is more stable,i.e. can hold more people.

 

[rwidman]

Re: Why aren't there more 15' Fish and Ski Bow Riders?

......... One of the reasons I sold my 15' 3" long Sport Craft a few years ago in favor of a 14' 4" MFG was to save that $16 per year in registration, .................

Seriously? $16 ? What does it cost you to take it out for one day?

 

[Wingedwheel]

Re: Why aren't there more 15' Fish and Ski Bow Riders?

I've slowly moved up. Went from a 12' to a 14'. Then to a 15'6" to a 16', and now running a 19'. It always seemed I needed more room for my gear. Its funny how my buddy and I will be out fishing and laugh about when we used to look for weeds and structure before I got a fish-finder. Funny thing is I don't think we catch any more fish than we did in the smaller less-equipped boats.

 

[eavega]

Re: Why aren't there more 15' Fish and Ski Bow Riders?

I have had a person tubing behind the 13'8" boat with 2 adults and 2 kids on board. It is cramped, but still fun. I don't see why having at 15' boat wouldn't allow me to have 3 adults and 2 kids pulling a tube behind. I don't need to go really fast. I also think it has to do with the hull design. An older tri-hull probably has more room and is more stable,i.e. can hold more people.

I have had two adults and three kids on my 15' bowrider (circa 1976) and there was plenty of room for everyone as long as everyone was sitting down. I probably wouldn't want to do a half-day cruise on it, but for pulling the kids (and adults) around on a tube or for two adults and a kid fishing, there is ample room. I can't go much bigger because the 15' because it is about what I can keep in the yard without the HOA getting on my case about having a boat on the property (against the HOA rules)

-E

 

[convergent]

Re: Why aren't there more 15' Fish and Ski Bow Riders?

I think it's a social aspect as well. Look at cars today compared to 20 or 30 years ago. Look at houses. Anything else. Everyone wants to supersize it. Not throwing rocks - I went with a 20.5' fish and ski because my last one (17.5') seemed crowded. And I could afford it (OK, the bank could afford to loan me the money to afford it!). I couldn't back then! Evolution of consumption. That's my take.

I went the same way... tried a 17' and it was tight, so moved to a 20' and its seeming just right. I think there are a couple of factors that I'm not sure have been mentioned on here. I traditional fish and ski boat has fish platforms on the bow and stern, and then drops traditional bowrider seating in between. On the 17' boat, the platforms, especially in the front, were really tight. I needed one of those angled seat pedestals to be able to get my foot on the trolling motor control, and it was really cramped even at that. On the 20', I have plenty of room. Likewise, the seating area was also very tight. I had to angle my legs to slide under the wheel, where now I can just plop into the captain's seat no problem. I can't imagine how tight things would have been in a 2' smaller boat. I think it works fine for a pure bassboat or pure runabout to go down in size, but for a fish and ski with two platforms and seating, it is just not enough space in there to make it work well.

The other thing that may be playing into this is manufacturing costs and pricing. I know that many manufacturers are trying to cut costs by simplifying their product line and cutting out lower selling models. And I would also bet that they can't make the 15' version for much less cost than the 17' version... the labor has to be the same and the material cost difference can't be much. If there has been downward price pressure across the product line, that leaves them with a 2' shorter boat they have to sell for the same price as the larger one; or they may have to go to a lot less margin on the smaller one than they want. Very few people are going to buy a 2' smaller boat for the same price as the larger one. So that would push the sales numbers way down and it ends up not being worth it for the company.

I know that in my case I originally wanted the 19-20' version and they were very hard to find used. I don't know if its because a lot fewer of them have been made and sold, or if people just don't get rid of them. The 17' versions seem to be plentiful on the used market. I guess that could support either side of demand. The 17' was nice because it was a lot lighter and easier to work with, trailer, etc... but I like the space of the larger boat and its serving us better so far.

 

[geeco1]

Re: Why aren't there more 15' Fish and Ski Bow Riders?

In my opinion, I think that the hull design of choice in the mid 70's was a tri-hull. This allowed for more room in the bow, thus allowing a 15' boat to be a bow rider. Most of today's hull designs are Vee hull and the boat needs to be longer to provide more room. If you look back to the 50's and 60's, most boats had a closed bow.

I think another reason for larger boats is that people are larger. My first boat was a 14' bass boat. My 2 boys and I fit when they where little.....I quickly out-grew that boat. Now I have a 17' with a little more butt room for me

 

[nhmaina]

Re: Why aren't there more 15' Fish and Ski Bow Riders?

I have had two adults and three kids on my 15' bowrider (circa 1976) and there was plenty of room for everyone as long as everyone was sitting down. I probably wouldn't want to do a half-day cruise on it, but for pulling the kids (and adults) around on a tube or for two adults and a kid fishing, there is ample room. I can't go much bigger because the 15' because it is about what I can keep in the yard without the HOA getting on my case about having a boat on the property (against the HOA rules)

-E

Well said. I don't have an HOA, but I do have a wife that doesn't want a huge expensive boat in the yard. Also, our lake is small and it just wouldn't look right to be driving a 20' power boat around in it. It would constantly have to be turning in a circle!

 

[nhmaina]

So...are there any 15' boats being built?

So...are there any 15' boats being built?

I would like to re-ask my question. Do people know of any 15' bow riders being made right now, and if not, who was the last builder to stop making them so I can look used? I don't really want to go with a bayliner, I have seen too many with rotton floors to last me a lifetime. Again, fiberglass is preferred.