Starcraft Freedom?

Hey guys~while this forum seems to focus on older boats/fixing them up (I've been greatly inspired myself! :wink: ) I am looking to move up to a bigger boat in the next year or so. My boat is ideal for myself and a buddy, not the 3-4 people who end up in it on about every third outing! The top of my wish list is a 20' Lund Alaskan....but they're as rare as hen's teeth around these parts. Deep-V aluminums are not, but light-weigh/minimal..but BIG aluminums just are. In trying to research these boats, and get opinions on them, I came across a discussion about the Lund Alaskan vs. Starcraft's new "Freedom" model. I think they go up to about 18', and are (apparently) less money than the Lunds. Do any of you have a Starcraft Freedom OR a Lund Alaskan?

BTW~the only Lund Alaskans I've found used are in the US, and I am not. :roll: (a Canadian living in Toronto) If I were to buy one down there, it would need to be one heck of a deal...considering the hassle and taxes involved to get it back into this country.

Thanks for taking the time to respond,
Rob

Lowe also offers a deep V hull design but I don't know if they are available in your neck of the woods https://www.loweboats.com/showroom/deep-v/fishing-machine/. I'm surprised that Lund's aren't available up there, I thought they were very prominent in the North including Canada. Many years ago my Dad took me to a fly in lake in Ontario out of Red Lake and I think they had Lunds and Alumacrafts there. Now that I think of it, you may want to check out Alumacraft as well https://alumacraft.com/landing-pages/tournament-series.php. And War Eagle makes larger aluminum boats too https://www.wareagleboats.com/boats/category.asp?catID=1. What brands of boats are prevalent up there? Are you looking for a tiller steer, side console or center console boat? Oh, and what size boat do you have now? I don't think you can go wrong with a Starcraft either, I'm just not up on their product line.

Mike

Hey Mike~thanks for the response. There are Lunds up here, but there seems to be no demand for Alaskans, or the Outfitter 1750-style boats. Plenty of 14' Lund/tiller utilities, plenty of Rebels and ProV's...just not the bigger, more "plain Jane" type of Aluminums. There are literally thousands of Lakes in Ontario, and the number of boats reflects that. Starcraft, Lowe, Crestliner, Lund, Sylvan, Princecraft to name a few. I've even seen some of those Triton aluminums~nice! As odd as they seem up here, I've also seen southern "flats" style glass boats like Cobias as well. We have it all....EXCEPT..big Alaskans for sale used.

There is a Starcraft dealer 30 minutes from my home..he just informed me that he has an 18' SC Freedom in stock. With my dream motor~a Yamaha 115hp four stroke, the package would come in around $25K (CAD dollars). That might as well be $25 million...it just ain't happening. Might have a look though..to torture myself.

My boat~a 16' Crestliner, originally a tiller. She has a rear deck and bow-mounted Minn Kota 65PD since this photo was taken;

Just something to think about.....

https://www.jetcraftboats.com
2075 jet model. (my dream boat.) They also have outboard models.



To locate your nearest dealer, phone 1-888-545-9171



E-mail:
[email protected]

Mailing Address:
WestWinn
67 L&A Crossroad
Vernon, BC
Canada
V1B 3S1

I'm sure they're kind of pricey, but don't hurt to wish huh? LOL

Thanks for the link~very cool. We have some boats made in Ontario here that I've heard referred to as "floating hummers" https://www.stanleyboats.ca/aluminum.html Some nice stuff, and tough as h***. I found a photo of one that got my blood pumping, but a TINY bit more in the way of storage would be needed. They build to order, so I'm sure it wouldn't be an issue. Check this thing out;



drool........... =D>

Awww sweet. =P~

yeah....they're alright eh? I see a couple of their "PulseCraft" boats used as shuttles to/from a big Island I fish around here in Ontario. They're impressive boats.

that'd be a sweet boat to have

yall got a pretty place up there

Rob,
Man, those Stanleycraft are some nice boats!!! Definitely workhorses. I would think though that they'd be expensive too, especially with a nickname of "floating hummers". I was fortunate enough to go on a fly-in trip to Ontario at Lake Mannekewash which was 65 mi. NE of Red Lake when I was in high school and I can't wait to go again. So yeah, I know about the thousands (and thousands and thousands) of lakes up there. It is so freakin beautiful up there and quiet too!!! And I noticed too how clear the water is - it looks like the prop of your boat is out of the water! You see that very rarely down here. I really like your boat and I saw your other thread where you made some mods to it - very nice.
After seeing the Stanley's, are you still mainly wanting a Lund? I think that would make an excellent 2nd choice, or maybe even jump to #1 if build quality is on par with a Lund!! The Camp Tiller 20' could be modded out to a really nice boat...

The Lunds max HP rating though is 125 and the Stanley's are only rated for 60. I wonder why? The Lund specs give transom height but not freeboard and Stanley gives freeboard height but not transom. Seems to me both numbers are important when trying to make a decision.

Mike