v bottom boats ?

**thornl01** · 01-18-2010

With the current price of engines (v6''s) & fuel, Wouldn't it be feesable for a company like Allison to return to the smaller boat market ?

If you look on this site, S&F, and others, you always see folks looking for smaller, 13-14' boats.

A good used 14ft Allison is like gold these days.[/b]

The new engine that Mercury is producing (formula 60) would be a super set-up for a 14' boat like before

This size rig can be towed with a smaller truck / car, is easy on fuel, and certainly would not cost what these v6 / 20 ft rigs are costing.

Just my opionion, but I bet there are a lot of folks out there that agree w/ me.

Lawrence Thornton

**Ron Hill** · 01-18-2010

20 years ago or more, we had a Mini Boat Enduro with more than 50 boats running 5 hours. The more powerful Personal Water Crafts with pretty fast speeds zero down deals, killed the Mini Boat revolution.

At about this same time, I started building a Mini Boat with Nick Barron or Hallett Boats. What we soon found out was that a 12 foot boat costs as much to build as a 20 footer and sells for 1/3 the cost..... We built about 10 boats and quit, slicking our wounds.

Motors now cost so much.....Who knows... What the future will bring.

**Skoontz** · 01-18-2010

Eliminator and Shiada are making 11-12 footers, big deep pickle forked models....Don't know the cost. Seems the squirrt gun powered canoe crowd is getting sick of being wet all the time, like this weekend for example, if you had a 12 footer of some sort, jump in, have a ball, come out dry.

Rumor has it, and they are the worst.....

**Baitcaster** · 01-20-2010

Funny, I was talking to Greg Rothwell about the same thing this past Nov. about Bullet. He said the same thing as Catch 22. He said he had discussed it with Bullet to revive the 17CC, feeling he had a good market for the boat with the cost of such rigs being to high for the average boater, but the cost is to high. It is a shame; you wouldn't suspect that a 20 footer and a 17 footer would cost about the same to make, entry level or smaller boats are a thing of the past.