From what you know now about Aquasports boat

[Marcq]

What years are the best built Aquasport?

Marc..

[Capt. Bob]

Here we go.

I personally feel it depends on both the model of the craft and the year.

I can't tell you if all EX models have foam (except in the stringers) but my 91 does not. The early nineties models were fueled with fresh money from Genmar as opposed to the late 80s where Aqua was on the ropes. The lack of foam allows you to see a very large section of the construction and it appears to me to be very sound (as per typical Aqua standards).

I have absolutely no proof that the late 80s hulls suffered lower construction standards but my business sense tells me that when a manufacturer is suffering cash flow, they often try to hold production costs down. This could have very well been handled with reduced model offerings and options (though options is where bucks are made), thus holding the standards and reducing inventory.

Using that same reasoning, the late 70s/early 80s saw money rolling in. The gas prices had stabilized and boating was popular again. Does it mean they were a better built hull? I think my 84 is a pretty tough baby. It has ran a full bracket for over 14 years mounted on a factory stock transom with little signs of fatigue. Is that the best year? Well we have seen many rebuilds on this Forum that show defects in glassing and the CCPs foam is always wet. Hull design changes on these models from the late 60s/early 70s models are in effect so maybe they are.

The 60s/70s are classics and when rebuilt with modern materials are often better than any year Aqua in structural terms so maybe that's the answer.
For you, it's the 79.
For me it's the 86 170. Why?
The boat holds so many great memories and those overshadow any defects, of which there were few.

Next.

[seabob4]

Marc,
I have to agree with CB.  When AS was in Hialeah, and doing just fine, there were probably no finer boats out there for the money.  My tenure was under the Genmar range, and, although they were not cheapened, they became more like Wellcrafts...in some ways good, in some ways bad.  Euro-transoms?  Never, and still don't care for them.  Yes, they look good, but they basically take away 3-4' of fishing/entertaining/cruising room that you would still have with a flat transom and a splashwell, or better yet, a bracket.

Don't get me wrong about Genmar, as the construction was just as good as the Hialeah days.  It's just that, when a builder is under a corporate umbrella (read Brunswick), some things get compromised...JMHO

Bob

[cdoyal]

Marc,
 Euro-transoms?  Never, and still don't care for them.  Yes, they look good, but they basically take away 3-4' of fishing/entertaining/cruising room that you would still have with a flat transom and a splashwell, or better yet, a bracket.Bob

As a diver, I LOVE the Euro-transom. I can see the drawback for others though.

[Circle Hooked]

Marc,
 Euro-transoms?  Never, and still don't care for them.  Yes, they look good, but they basically take away 3-4' of fishing/entertaining/cruising room that you would still have with a flat transom and a splashwell, or better yet, a bracket.Bob

As a diver, I LOVE the Euro-transom. I can see the drawback for others though.

I used to do alot of diving and your right the Euro is great for that,but when i see Ricks 230, basically the same boat as mine but wide open in the back,i get jealous of that extra 3 feet.

[seabob4]

I guess there are features on every boat that some see desirable, some not...it all depends on what we use her for.


But the looks are still there, the construction was never compromised, it's just a shame that Irwin Jacobs found no more use for them...but Seaswirl lives on!!??

[Retimlap]

Marc,
 Euro-transoms?  Never, and still don't care for them.  Yes, they look good, but they basically take away 3-4' of fishing/entertaining/cruising room that you would still have with a flat transom and a splashwell, or better yet, a bracket.Bob

As a diver, I LOVE the Euro-transom. I can see the drawback for others though.

I used to do alot of diving and your right the Euro is great for that,but when i see Ricks 230, basically the same boat as mine but wide open in the back,i get jealous of that extra 3 feet.

I have a 1996 225 Explorer and I love everything about it including the Euro-transom!

[dbiscayne]

How far back do you wanna go?
I picked up an un-molested 1970 19-1 from the original owner, what I've run into while disassembling it has turned up mostly good construction techniques with just a few issues, not sure how long they kept building them like this but here's the bad:
- the foam filled stringers were butted up to the raw wood of the transom then tabbed around the stringers pretty good but didn't completely seal the wood.  And the wood against the foam was eventually going to get wet anyway due to the foam getting wet due to...
- the teak rod holders mounted on the sides of the boat were screwed down into the stringers running along the chines.  the sides of the boat eventually flexed enough to work the screws loose & water gets into the stringers & rotted the glass on the top of the stringers in those areas even though the deck appeared fine there.
- the screws holding the console & console seat down also penetrated the middle stringers, eventually worked their way loose & more water into the foam/stringers.
- and lastly, and really the biggest issue as the problems above could have been avoided with maintenance, is what I see as a fault in the stringer grid system.  The forward bulkhead, right at the beginning of the raised deck, spans the width of the boat and is as tall as the stringers, the vertical portion of the front to back stringers are discontinuous at this bulkhead.  So the only thing left to add longitudinal stiffness to the hull at this point is the top cap of the stringers and the foam, neither of which do much to keep the hull from flexing.  My stringers showed evidence of being over stressed just in front of this bulkhead.

With that being said there are plenty of positives about the older boats, the foam filled stringer system works great other than that one issue mentioned above and if the boat is maintained well it's probably not going to cause a problem.  At least theres no wood in the stringers to rot.  And although my transom was wet around where the stringers tied in it was still in pretty good shape, the layer of wood against the outside of the boat was still solid.  Plenty of glass at all the corners & other hi stress areas, didn't notice any stress cracks around the transom at all.  The boat has great lines, personally I like it a lot more than the newer models with the different cap, and was supposed to be around 1300 lbs when new which isn't bad either.  For a 40 year old boat it held up pretty well, soon to be back in action...