Jupiter, Starmist, or Stardust?

I looked at an aluminum boat last night that after some thinking may become mine.

Its titled as a 1963, but I see no original markings. Since the original Hull ID numbers are too short, its titled with a modern 12 or 17 digit HIN.

I'm trying to figure out what model it could be, I took a few quick measurements so maybe they will determine what it is.
Its 16' 4" long, its got a 69" beam width. There are three knee braces under the splashwell, and the transom is 59 3/4"
It has no windshield on it now, so the length measurement should be dead on. Its a flat bottom type hull, so its early 60's for sure.
I just can't find a match to any of the measurements in any of the brochures? Its as long as a Jupiter, but not as wide, and the transom width is less than all three of the early 16' hulls.

I don't have any pics, didn't have my camera with me, but if the price is right it may follow me home the next time I get up that way.
The boat is gutted down to only a wooden deck, no seats, no steering, no dash, no windshield. There's a stack of new plywood in the boat and its been hoisted up on a pallet rack in a warehouse with a fork lift for storage. It appears to have been there for years. The owner says a former employee bought it and was restoring it but had long since gone.
The title for the boat was signed and in an ammo box in the boat!

Was there another variation of the 16' outboard aluminum hulls in those years? There's a 1963 sales brochure in the boat too, so I'm guessing the title may be correct on the year, or at least the last owner thought so too.

Re: Jupiter, Starmist, or Stardust?

Does anyone have one of these here from this era to compare measurements with?

Since this one is basically flat bottomed, it appears its at least older than 1964.
The beam width and length don't match any of the 1963 models.

16' 4" long
69" max width at windshield.
59" transom
3 knee braces under HUGE splashwell.
Light aqua blue top with white bottom hull.
Plexiglass windshield.

There are no factory numbers on the boat, only PA assigned numbers from back in 1972, when they determined it to be a 1963 Starcraft.

From what I see, its an inch longer than the Jupiter should be, but that could be a matter of where or how they measured. I measured it from the tip of the bow to the center top of the transom with the windshield removed.

The beam width matches a Starmist or Stardust, but not the Jupiter.
The transom width matches none of them. Its wider than both the Jupiter and Starmist/Stardust models by several inches. 9Measured at the actual aluminum hull width not counting the corner caps).

Every year Jupiter shows a wider beam width of 76, if it were close then I'd say its a matter of how I measured but the difference is 7".
Considering that I'm measuring length at the motor cut out, the overall length is even a bit more due to the slant of the transom. Without going to elaborate lengths to take a precise measurement, I'd say I'd be closer to 16' 5". I get 16' 4 5/16" to be exact from the rear top edge of the transom over the top to the front edge of the bow molding piece of the rub rail, measured with no windshield and no motor.

The hull is no doubt a Starcraft, the two plastic Starcraft emblems on each side, and the four Starcraft scripted step plates all point to it being a Starcraft.

Re: Jupiter, Starmist, or Stardust?

Photo?

Or 2?

Re: Jupiter, Starmist, or Stardust?

Vintage - We really need some pics. All of the details mentioned are common to many SC's but the combinations are model unique. A pic of the windshield is helpful too.

Re: Jupiter, Starmist, or Stardust?

vintageglass said:

Does anyone have one of these here from this era to compare measurements with?

Since this one is basically flat bottomed, it appears its at least older than 1964.
The beam width and length don't match any of the 1963 models.

16' 4" long
69" max width at windshield.
59" transom
3 knee braces under HUGE splashwell.
Light aqua blue top with white bottom hull.
Plexiglass windshield.

There are no factory numbers on the boat, only PA assigned numbers from back in 1972, when they determined it to be a 1963 Starcraft.

From what I see, its an inch longer than the Jupiter should be, but that could be a matter of where or how they measured. I measured it from the tip of the bow to the center top of the transom with the windshield removed.

The beam width matches a Starmist or Stardust, but not the Jupiter.
The transom width matches none of them. Its wider than both the Jupiter and Starmist/Stardust models by several inches. 9Measured at the actual aluminum hull width not counting the corner caps).

Every year Jupiter shows a wider beam width of 76, if it were close then I'd say its a matter of how I measured but the difference is 7".
Considering that I'm measuring length at the motor cut out, the overall length is even a bit more due to the slant of the transom. Without going to elaborate lengths to take a precise measurement, I'd say I'd be closer to 16' 5". I get 16' 4 5/16" to be exact from the rear top edge of the transom over the top to the front edge of the bow molding piece of the rub rail, measured with no windshield and no motor.

The hull is no doubt a Starcraft, the two plastic Starcraft emblems on each side, and the four Starcraft scripted step plates all point to it being a Starcraft.

Click to expand...

There are many small things that I use to date these boats and it's almost impossible without pictures because folks lied all the time when registering boats with whomever was responsible for it in a given state. But I'll bite!

First, Starcraft used the semi V (almost flat) hull on the Jupiter up until 1965 when they went to the concave V on the big 4 and the Jupiter. In 64 the big 4 was offered in the Deep V but starcraft didn't change the Jupiter until 65 so it never came with the Deep V.

Also the jupiter was large enough that the one different paint color each year rule applies just like with the big four. All the other smaller models didn't follow this rule. They sometimes were the same color for several years running and they all came tith the Semi V (flat at stern ) hull.

The 63 brochure shows the Jupiter being the aqua blue top with the white bottom. The brochure also says it's (if I remember correctly) 16' 2 1/2" long.

I think the combination of the color (usually a dead giveaway) length, your title, and the brochure pretty much nails it (since we can't see the pics).

My guess would be that maybe you are measuring the other measurements differently than they did at the time. Or they could have published incorrect data? Wouldn't be the first time....

We can always visit this again when you put some pics up for us.

Hope this helps!

Re: Jupiter, Starmist, or Stardust?

So far the only pic I have is the one from the CL ad. The ad is gone but the guy still has the boat. Its most likely going to be partial payment on a boat I'm selling.
Its got a windshield but its not attached, the deck and transom will need replacing, and there's a ton of snaps riveted all over the gunwales and along the side under the rub rail.

I can believe the length being a matter of how I'm measuring it, or a misprint, but every year Jupiter is listed at 76" wide, this thing is 69" at the widest point including the rub rail.
As far as length, there's no way to measure this at or under 16', I get 16' 4" from the tip of the bow to the top rear edge of the transom with the windshield removed. I suppose it would measure a bit more if measured at the outer edges of the transom due to the added height and how it slants outward a bit.
The boat looks sort of long and narrow to me, I owned a 1972 SS before and this hull isn't a deep, and not as wide, but a few inches longer. The bow has more of a point to it than my SS did, but then again there's a big age difference between that boat and this one.

Its an older model, the hull goes almost dead flat at the stern. The aqua blue is very light in color, more blue I guess than aqua.

Is there any one feature that says its a Jupiter and not a Starmist or Stardust? Or even some other model?
Does anyone have a Jupiter that has a 69" beam width?