Opinions/history on Renken boats?

[rzawora]

Hey everyone. I'm a new boat owner...bought my first bought earlier this season from a 78 year old neighbor down the road who was original owner and meticulously took care of it. It's a 1998 Renken 210CC, 21' cuddy cabin with 4.3L I/O. Since then I have found out that Renken is out of business and this was the last year any vessels had their name. It's my understanding that United Marine took-over Renken around 1995 due to bankruptcy. I guess really what I'm trying to figure out is the overall quality of the boat? Reputation of the company/manufacturer, etc.? Anyone have any experience with these things? Any insight someone can give will be greatly appreciated...and hey, I won't kill the messenger! This boat may be 10 years old, but you can hardly tell...he was retired Navy (heck the boat's name is Sea Bee), he was 68 when he bought it brand new, and was always kept on a lift at his house and maintained by a very reputable (and very pricey) marine shop around here. Let me know what you got for me...thanks in advance...

 

[tashasdaddy]

Re: Opinions/history on Renken boats?

they have great reputations. sounds like a nice hull, power plant combo.

 

[Gary H NC]

Re: Opinions/history on Renken boats?

I used to have a 1983 Renken 18 footer.It had a Mercury outboard on it.
I owned it for several years and sold it for more than i bought it for.
It was a well built boat.I would buy another one if i found a good deal on one.
I never had one problem with it.

 

[reelfishin]

Re: Opinions/history on Renken boats?

I've owned three older Renken boats, I've had '82 and '83 Renken 900 Fisherman models and an older 1978 Cuddy cabin with an I/O drive and 302 Ford engine. All three were great boats, none had any issues what so ever.
Excellent hull design, dry ride and lots of room. Renken went through a number of ownership changes in the later years, its always been my understanding that the original Renken boats were all prior to 1985, then after that the company was run by the original owners sons or something who then ran it till 1995.
They eventually came back as Sea Fox boats, same owners, same factory location. You can find more info at fiberglassics.com.

 

[rzawora]

Re: Opinions/history on Renken boats?

Thanks for all the info guys. I've been extremely happy with this boat so far. Not a single problem. This is my first boat, but my father and other family members have always had boats that I helped use, abuse, and take care of. Unfortunately for me, they all had outboards, so a lot of this mechanical stuff is new to me. Most things don't seem that difficult though.
As for the boat, I would agree with what you guys said so far. I'm happy that the couple comments are positive, I was starting to wonder if the one I had just didn't have problems yet. I guess I say that because I don't see many of them around for sale, and prior to me purchasing this one, I had never heard of them. The hull is in great shape and seems to be well built and strong. The boat shows no sign of damage or rot. The original owner had problems with the original gas tank and had it professionally replaced and the floor professionally refinished to the tune of $2k several years ago. The owner told me that he could count on his one hand how many times he's had it over 4000 rpm's. Even when I test drove it, he was asking me to take it easy...all I did was go over 4000 r's. lol. I even talked to the shop that did all the work on this boat for 10 years, and their exact words were, "...that's all you paid? Damn what a deal, run the hell out of it cause he never did." They told me he would call them over the littlest noise or vibration, and never spared a dime. The only thing the mechanic did tell me to watch for was if it ever started mis-firing to look to the manifolds for the problem...something about they were one piece then, I'm assuming he means risers and mani's...not sure though. Maybe I can get more info on that in the other section.
Thanks again for your input...I just hope I can take care of it as well as the original owner and his mechanics did...if so, it should have many many more years on it. I'll look forward to sharing the time with all you mates

 

[Neil2167]

Re: Opinions/history on Renken boats?

i have just bought a 1990 renken spitfire, 20ft with 5.7l Cobra V8 with King Cobra drive with twin thru hull exhausts, sounds nice

 

[TilliamWe]

Re: Opinions/history on Renken boats?

Our 1983 Renken was junk from day one. The hull almost cracked it two when the boat was 4 years old.
It got a brand new 1988 hull put under it at the factory in Charleston SC, where they completely reconned the top deck, and it was a good solid boat after that.

 

[ezmobee]

Re: Opinions/history on Renken boats?

King Cobra drive

 

[ping65810]

Re: Opinions/history on Renken boats?

I have a 1988 Renken 20' Bowrider with a 3.0 MerCruiser AlphaOne. Owned it a few years now, and love it. The hull is great, planes great and very smooth, and seems to be pretty solidly contructed. I would put it on par with any other similar boat of the period, I mean, I did replace the floor, but thats not unusual for 1980s boats. I definately love mine though and have no complaints

 

[Frank Acampora]

Re: Opinions/history on Renken boats?

I had an 81 Renken 18 foot, closed bow outboard. It was an entry level boat and the previous owner used it on the Delaware Bay in rough--really rough--water. When I got it I quickly found that the deck had separated from the hull from the bow halfway back to the stern.

The "pop" rivets holding it together were not backed by washers and in the pounding of the rough water. they pulled right through the fiberglass. There was no scuffing of the hull or other damage so it had to be wave pounding related. I replaced all the rivets with 1/4 inch truss head bolts.

That was the only problem I ever had with the boat. The boat was a great riding, excellent rough water boat. It would handle almost anything you could expect from a boat that size with no fuss. The only reason I sold it was because I wanted a larger cuddy cabin boat.

 

[HarleyBlack]

I’m looking at a 1988 Renken Classic Cuddy cabin but I can’t find the HIN on the rear where they usually are. Is there some other place that I can look to get this information (HIN#)? Thanks