Albie 24

[Chris Craft 21]

I have got down to the short hairs on my next boat and the only thing left to work out is whether I buy a newer jack shaft model or no. So to anyone having experience with the jack shaft model or even better with both - do you find the mid cockpit engine box more or less bothersome than the traditional sterndrive box? My crew is typically the wife and I and 2 small boys. We spend probably 70% of our time trolling and the rest anchored or drifting. I assume the jack shaft boat handles/rides a little different due to the engine placement but having gotten very used to a traditional stern drive layout I can't decide if the extra 5K-10K or so of a newer jackshaft boat is going to give me any particular bang for the buck or not. All opinions are very much welcomed.

 

[shrew]

Re: Albie 24

The weight displacement will allow the boat to handle better. IT centers the weight and makes the boat less stern heavy. You're looking at a dedicated fishing boat, so most of the time anglers would be either trolling, allowing open space acros the transom, or jigging, allowing free space all around the gunnels.