Stingray vs Mariah

[saaristo]

I think I have this case closed - sort of unsure about the boats. Taking into consideration the unknowns and/or issues that need to be refurbished etc etc...I don't dare to take the risk. Good or bad I don't know.

 

[jkust]

There's always more boats right around the corner.

 

[Jerry200LX]

Here's some info on the Stingray you might find useful. You're not going to have rot with the Stingray stingers. That year and model of Stingray has a fiberglass stringer system. There is no wood below the floor. The floor is 1/2" plywood covered in fiberglass mat and resin, completely sealed on top. A lot of folks are knocking the Stingray because of age but I have a 1997 model and I can guarantee there is no rot in the boat. It's all in how the boats are cared for.

​With that said, if the Stingray has been taken care of at all, I could go that route over the Mariah in a heartbeat. I would not bother with the Mariah. I am very familiar with the Stingray brand, and have worked on a couple of Miriah's and have some familiarity with them. I wouldn't want the Mariah from what I've seen. On top of that Mariah is out of business and Stingray is still going strong.

​A bit of history of both brands. The lines of the Mariah probably look very similar to the lines of the Stingray. There is a reason for that. The owner of Mariah copied Stingray when they designed their boats. Some of Mariah's models look just like a Stingray.

​On a boat that age a good way to tell how much care it was given is look at the upholstery. If it's still in good shape, the boat obviously didn't sit out in the weather a lot. If it's worn, cracked and aged, then the care wasn't the best and probably a good reason to pass on it.

 

[Blind Date]

A bit of history of both brands. The lines of the Mariah probably look very similar to the lines of the Stingray. There is a reason for that. The owner of Mariah copied Stingray when they designed their boats. Some of Mariah's models look just like a Stingray.

Google the 2 boats he's looking at, they don't look anything like one another.

When Celebrity Boats was purchased by Bombardier one of the owners started Crownline & the other Mariah. Crownline's bowlders look a lot like Celebrity's. I used to own a Celebrity 180. Mariah's cuddy boats resemble the Celebrity cuddy boats with the way the freeboard extends past the rub rail.

I know someone that owned ta Stingray cuddy like he was looking at. Looks nothing like a Mariah.

 

[Jerry200LX]

The key word in the last sentence you quoted is "some". I know all their models don't look alike. Compare late 1990 and early 2000 model bow riders and it's easy to see the similarities. On some, the upper deck design and windshields are darn near identical. I do know for a fact Mariah copied a lot of Stingray's design, sort of straight from the horse's mouth.

​I'm sure they didn't have a problem copying other people's designs for other models also.

 

[Blind Date]

On some, the upper deck design and windshields are darn near identical.

You'll see that with a lot of boats because Taylor Made supplied the windshields to the majority of the boat manufacturers at one time. Not sure if that is still the case. Guess I've never noticed any resemblance of a Mariah to a Stingray or vise versa.

 

[saaristo]

Hi. These boats were not on my radar because they look similar, but because the tick the same boxes (more or less) and because they were available at all. US boats around here are not very common, specially sporty-looking cuddy's. The price point of what I'm looking would give me roughly 10 years newer boat around US (that's all because of non-existing used boat market compared to US and all kind of EU taxes and fees and stupidities). Both of the boats are priced at around 15K dollar mark and still needing refurbishing and detailing and so on.