Steiger craft

[smartin]

Any body have any info or experience on these boats? They appear to be of good build quality(lifetime hull warranty), but I haven't run into anybody who has ridden on one.

[CWitch]

I had a 1992 25' pilot house. It pounds like the C-Hawk, Privateer, Maycraft and Parker with a modified-v. Mine had nice fit and finish comparable to a Parker. Awesome fish/dive platform. Very stable at anchor. The older hulls, pre 94ish, had a few flaws. The decks rot out...fast. Not glassed on both sides and subsequently absorb water like a sponge. The cabin has a liner...nice looking but when Steiger layed it in there, they used blocks between the hull and liner and created a sort of echo chamber. With no foam. When you hit a wave, little or big, it makes it sound like the hull is going to explode.

I sold the boat a long time ago but it is hanging on a lift at the Sunset Dr. bridge and you can see it if you look north.


I personally think they are overpriced. You can get the exact same boat, without the premium fit and finish, in a C-Hawk for way less money. Good luck.

[smartin]

I was suspicious of the 14 degree deadrise, and the pilothouse being so far forward. Hard to give a good ride with that flat of a bottom. Do you know if they have addressed the deck bonding?

[CWitch]

I was suspicious of the 14 degree deadrise, and the pilothouse being so far forward. Hard to give a good ride with that flat of a bottom. Do you know if they have addressed the deck bonding?


Yes, they have. They are now bonded prperly and the sides are foam filled. The boats are, as I said, very well built but are very expensive. Also, there is a reason that all those types of boats have that deadrise. I wish there was a perfect hull out there!

[Jaizzen]

Steiger Craft = Gulf of Mexico Azz Woopin!

Great boat if you need to massage your Kidneys.

Pound, Pound, Pound, There are far better choices for our area.

Jason

[Spearchucker]

I was suspicious of the 14 degree deadrise, and the pilothouse being so far forward. Hard to give a good ride with that flat of a bottom.

My back is starting to hurt just thinking about that... :eek:

[smartin]

The 10'6"x7'7" open rear deck was the most appealing feature, and there is a brand new 25 with twin zuks for sale for under 60k. Not worth getting a good deal on something that will piss you off everytime you use it. Has anybody been on a maycraft? There is a 27' pilot house on e-bay right now that looks like a good layout.

[Jaizzen]

Repeat after me...
Deadrise
Deadrise
Deadrise
:D :D

Good Luck!

Jason

[smartin]

Maycraft's website did not list deadrise. I had to do a search. 16 degrees!! What's wrong with these boat builders? Can't imagine there is a big market for 27' pilot house bay boats.

[Jaizzen]

Alot of these boats are made for shorter runs up north. People who only have to travel 8 miles to get to deep water, some are very stable platforms. They don't rock and roll much and offer wide beams.

The gulf in particular requires longer runs and differnt seas. I personally am not a big fan of wide beam boats. Yeah you have another 6 or 12" of room, but at what cost. You have to push that wide body through the seas. If rooms is a concern, just get a longer boat, it will benifit you more in my opinion. It will bridge the gap between waves better, likely be more efficent, and give you more room. It will also trailer easier in my opinion.

I also wouldn't buy a new boat here in Florida. Why? If your diving, free or scuba, its just gonna get nicked up and you've paid a premium for it.

Just my opinion, Jason

[inletsurf]

Alot of these boats are made for shorter runs up north. People who only have to travel 8 miles to get to deep water, some are very stable platforms. They don't rock and roll much and offer wide beams.

The gulf in particular requires longer runs and differnt seas. I personally am not a big fan of wide beam boats. Yeah you have another 6 or 12" of room, but at what cost. You have to push that wide body through the seas. If rooms is a concern, just get a longer boat, it will benifit you more in my opinion. It will bridge the gap between waves better, likely be more efficent, and give you more room. It will also trailer easier in my opinion.

I also wouldn't buy a new boat here in Florida. Why? If your diving, free or scuba, its just gonna get nicked up and you've paid a premium for it.

Just my opinion, Jason

I don't think anyone could have said it any better :thumps:

Deadrise!
Deadrise!
Deadrise!

[smartin]

I don't have a problem with used boats. I have a problem with used outboards. We have a 25 mako with 89 evinrudes that run perfect, granted they spent a good chunk of their lives in fresh water. Problem is that most people don't take much preventative maintainance in salt water. Most people I see around here have a boat that sits on a lift for months on end and then they launch, go out for a couple hours and then back on the lift it goes. No flushing, nothing. Then they go to sell and want premium dollar because there 2002 4 strokes only have 40 hours. This is why I am very leery of used outboard boats down here. If I end up buying used I think I would have to go inboard diesel.

[Capt.Gene]

Repeat after me...
Deadrise
Deadrise
Deadrise
:D :D

Good Luck!

Jason

Oh sure you say nthat now that you have a Seacraft! :D

[SPEARIT]

Maycraft's website did not list deadrise. I had to do a search. 16 degrees!! What's wrong with these boat builders? Can't imagine there is a big market for 27' pilot house bay boats.
All of these builders(C-Hawk, Parker, DownEaster, Maycraft) are located here in NC and started building boats back in the late 70's/early 80's for the commercial grouper fisherman here, which were/are mainly small operations. They wanted a smaller boat that would go 40 to 50mi offshore without taking alot of power to push it, especially after the fishboxes were loaded, and was economical on fuel. The boat also needed to be stable on the anchor as most of them were staying out for 2 to 3 days and a cabin to get out of the weather. The flatter deadrise provided the best compromise, since the commercial guys were not concerned about running on the pins all the time and just slowed down when running to a headsea to prevent pounding. Something must have worked for they sure sold a lot of them and still do.
When the builders started moving into the recreational market they also started building CC's and cuddy's with 21 to 24 degree deadrise.
My 29ft C-Hawk pictured below has 17deg of deadrise and seems to get the job done OK since I'm not hearing alot of charter complaints and I seem to have no trouble filling my charter dates. I ran about 120mi last Sunday in 2 to 3ft seas (55mi leg in under 2 hours) and have been caught 40 to 50mi off in 4 to 6ft seas so we're not doing short runs here.
As someone said earlier, "there is no perfect hull to do it all" and I don't care to get into a debate over what hull is best. It comes down to what do you want to do and what works best for you.

[CWitch]

Spearit, I am with you on all that. I owned a C=Hawk way back and have owned a bunch of boats since. I came back to the C-Hawk I have now beacause it fits my needs better than a 8'8" 21 degree cork bobbing back and forth in a beam sea. When it gets shitty, I just trim it down and slow it down. I burn less fuel, plane at a lower speed and enjoy the stability of my wide beam when I am on the hook or running in a through. I almost always run 40 to 50 miles out and have never been in sea conditions that concerned me. Fot those like Jason who want to get there quick, jump in, and scoot to the next spot...that Sea craft is a mighty fine way to do it. I guess I am getting to old for that style. Just like to take it easy.