Spectrum Boats in the early 90's

[mallarddog]

I am considering an aluminum 18' or 19' spectrum fish and ski from the early 90's. Anybody ever have one or know someone who does to give me some info, good or bad, on the boat?

 

[DJ]

Re: Spectrum Boats in the early 90's

mallard,<br /><br />Spectrum was Bayliners answer to aluminum boats.<br /><br />In my opinion, they were not nearly as well constructed as some of the more popular brands ie; Lund, Starcraft, Crestliner, Lowe, etc.

 

[mallarddog]

Re: Spectrum Boats in the early 90's

Thanks for the info., would they be a decent fishing boat?

 

[roscoe]

Re: Spectrum Boats in the early 90's

Actually, Spectrum was a Brunswich (Mercury) product. It is a cheaper copy of the Fisher Marine line, which Brunswich also owned.<br /><br />The short version is: Back in the 80's Brunswick, owner of Mercury Marine, bought up a bunch of boat manufacturers. Blue Fin/Spectrum, USMarine/Bayliner, Sea Ray, MonArk, Astro, Starcraft, Fisher, ProCraft. Brunswick put Force engines on most of the Spectrums, Mercurys on most Fishers, Mariners on some. <br /><br />Supposedly in 1991 the Fisher and Spectrum lines were sold to Tracker Marine. I say supposedly because my '95 Spectrum shows Brunswick as the manufacturer. Tracker does own them now. I believe the welded hull came from the Fisher line.<br /><br />In 1998, Tracker also acquired Astro, ProCraft, Myacht, Silver King, Kenner and Mako boats.<br /><br />The boat is pretty decent. The original Fisher was all aluminum, no wood in the floor-bulkheads-stringers etc. I'm not sure if they carried that over to any of the Spectrums.<br /><br />I have a 16'+ Avenger SC with a 70 hp Force. It has a wood floor, over aluminum supports.<br />It doesn't cut and turn real well due to the very smooth and rounded hull, but it rides very smoothly. I find I feel more comfortable when I power down in turns. My live well is used for dry storage because of its small size and poor location, plus I like to drop my fish right onto some ice to keep them fresh.<br /><br />Features I like best are the 8.5'+ long rod storage locker and the amount of overall storage, and the open floor space.<br /><br />Worst complaint: The seats are a bit soft, plan to spend the bucks to replace with firmer more supportive seats. <br /><br />My hull is starting to show slight marks where the bulkhead and stringers are welded into the hull from pounding into the waves. No big deal.<br /><br />Info on Spectrum came from these Brunswick and Tracker web sites :<br /><br /><http://www.esu.edu/~mguesto/Billiards/series_4/series_4.html><br /><br /><http://ww2.basspro.com/mediapresskit.html>