info on wellcraft boats

[GRUMPY]

looking for good lake erie sportfishing boat,looking at a 22ft wellcraft, with volvo io with hardtop.anybody have problems with this make or model thanks dave

[Gator]

We have the 24' Tournament hardtop model, but we looked hard at the 22' prior to purchasing. Wellcrafts are made with wood, but it's encapsulated in fiberglass, so no worries about rotting. What the wood does is dampens the vibrations when you're running and makes for a really smooth ride. We'll open it up in 3-4 footers and she takes the waves beautifully. So that's a plus.

As for the build, we've noticed a few issues with things like screws, small plastic tabs, peripherals mostly that are really annoying when they go, but not essential. For example, the front light keeps blowing for reasons unknown. No problems with the big stuff, though, ie no cracks in fiberglass, everything's held up well for six years now.

I do know that the reason we went with the 24' was that we weren't comfortable with the freeboard on the 22', especially with kids on board. Overall, we really like the boat, though from a fishing perspective we might go with something different in the future....maybe a Penn Yan or Cherokee, and definately an I/O over an outboard.

Good luck.

KWN