Advice on buying an older Starcraft

[renns]

Greetings! I've been looking at boats for use at our water-access cottage, and this one came up locally. The fellow says it's a 1974 Starcraft 16', model unknown. It's powered by a 2001 50hp Honda. I'm hoping to go check it out in person this weekend. We're looking for a boat for up to 4 adults + gear, camper top, 4-stroke power, so this seems to meet the bill. For background, I have limited boating experience with an old 16 ft Springbok with 25hp Merc tiller, but very little experience with any 'steering wheel' boats! Here's some questions that come to mind:
1.) Any idea what model this is?
2.) Is the hull/power combination suitable to haul up to 900lb of people and gear?
3.) How do these closed-bow configurations deal with potential stern-heavy problems? Can fuel tank(s) be located up front, or is this not an issue?
4.) Any pointers on what to check on the hull? The owner says the boat is in the water 6 months per year, and doesn't leak a drop, so I'm assuming that's a good sign.
Many thanks in advance for any guidance.

 

[MNhunter1]

Looks like a Holiday model with the closed bow and full dash, but I can't seem to locate any of the 1974 brochures to reference. Can't tell in the pictures, but it looks like there may be a capacity plate located just behind the throttle/shifter that would give the model specs. With that boat, you'll be paying more for the newer Honda 4 stroke, and the HP would be about as low as I'd want to go if I was planning on a regular boat load of adults. I had a 45hp 2 stroke on a similar 1978 16ft hull that was great for two and okay for 4 if you weren't planning an winning any races or towing anyone on a tube/skis.

It looks like the hull has been stripped down at some point and the seats and deck covering are not factory, so not sure if the deck has been replaced or not. The transoms on these older Starcrafts are almost always in need of replacement, which isn't a terrible job if you have the ambition. You usually find the foam floatation under the decking to be saturated with water and adding extra weight, but you can't really check that without pulling up the deck.

I usually look at any of these Starcrafts with the knowledge I'll be tearing them apart, so aside from a good hull, what I'm willing to pay is usually based on the condition of the motor and what I might be able to sell it for if I plan on replacing.

 

[renns]

Thanks for the reply. I'm wondering the same thing about hp. He says it performs fine with 4 people onboard, but did indicate he changed to a finer pitch prop last year to get out of the hole a bit quicker. That is likely a sign it's marginal at best.

 

[matt167]

50hp is fine for that. It's probably rated for 75hp but that 4 stroke will make it nice... It's a Holiday 16 which was somewhat uncommon but it was available that year.

I have a '66 Holiday 14 with a '66 Johnson 40hp and it's no speed demon, but it comes up on plane quick and runs over 25 mph.

 

[renns]

50hp is fine for that. It's probably rated for 75hp but that 4 stroke will make it nice... It's a Holiday 16 which was somewhat uncommon but it was available that year.

I have a '66 Holiday 14 with a '66 Johnson 40hp and it's no speed demon, but it comes up on plane quick and runs over 25 mph.

Hi Matt, thanks for the reply. So you think with the 50 we can haul 4 average adults around without issue? The guy did mention they pull tubes and water skiers with the boat, but it's not suited for pulling big guys up out of the water. My experience is mostly with tiller utility boats, but I do have a soft spot for the older runabouts. We would also like to be able to slow-tour the lake in evenings without sitting on a bench seat and breathing smoky exhaust!

 

[MNhunter1]

Propped right, the 50 will be just fine. The hull is rated up to an 85hp (would have been crank rated at that time) and is a relatively light boat at 655lbs. I had a similar weighted hull in a 1978 16SS with a 45hp 2 stroke and it handled 4 adults just fine. If I were planning on bigger water and/or regularly pulling tubes/skiers, I'd personally be looking to move up in HP to a 70-85hp. You should be able to hit mid 20's to low 30's depending on load. Never owned a 4 stroke, so this is based on my experience with 2 stroke HP and these hulls.


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[renns]

MN, that SS moves along quite nicely! Thanks for the info. It's been a struggle finding specs on these older boats, and also trying to get a feel for performance with newer 4-strokes vs the older 2-strokes.

 

[renns]

The boat sold before I could make it up there. $5500 Canadian. Seems pretty steep given the age and condition.