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I'm looking at a used Sylvan 186 sport and can find no information regarding this bowrider. On forums all I've heard is "I'm not familiar with that". Is anyone on here familiar with the boat. If so, can you give me any insights?
Sylvan 186 is made by Starcraft and it's 18.5' long. Starcraft is a very popular aluminum boat. So what sort of information do you need? Guess we'll need to know more from you and maybe a photo or 2.
Thanks Watermann, this one is a fiberglass. Basically what I've heard on forums is that no one knows anything about these boats, but they're telling me to stay away without any concrete reasons besides not being familiar with it. So I'm hoping that somebody is familiar with it and will just let me know what their experience has been.
Just doing as much research as possible. I posted pics on another thread here and on another forum and was told to steer clear even though nobody knows the boat. I'm taking it out on the water on Sunday and just wanted to do more research.
Read the sticky about buying a used boat... Lots of good info there on what to look for.
For the most part a glass boat is a glass boat... The high end boats when left in the weather turn to absolute junk in short order and the cheapest of the cheap last many decades if taken care of.
Really, brand means very little if it has been taken care of.... If it hasn't, it's junk anyhow.
Good advice. That's the way I feel. Posting around, commenters started to make me feel crazy for even considering the boat, so just thought I'd check to see if anyone had any experience with the boat/brand.
Just talked to a Sylvan dealer. They said that Starcraft made the Sylvan bowriders and just put the Sylvan name on them. Now they are under the Starcraft name. Goes back to what Watermann said.
Sylvan is a spin off from starcraft after starcraft went thru monopoly problems. Both companies (same original owner) wanted to have a competitive priced fiberglass line of boats so an outside source was hired to make glassers for them. They were an economy built glass boat with a cheap price tag and relatively short life span. That is the reason people are telling you to stay away from them. Now if you ran across one that has had exceptional care then it could be worthwhile but........keep in mind all the hidden places rot can occur in an economy built glass boat.....just beware....very beware.
Well I bought the boat today. It's really in beautiful shape. No soft spots in the flooring. All the gauges worked. Checked everything over as best I could, took it out on the water and put it through its paces and it performed well. We are excited about it and I got if for $1500.00 under the posted Nada value.
