Alumacraft new boats for 2023

Wow new rear decks and Rotax integrated outboards for next year. Thoughts?

Not a fan of that deck at all. Having it level with the gunnel is not a fish friendly design IMO. My father in law had a Crestliner Sport Hawk I think it was with an IO and it was like that. It was a terrible boat.

Wow, after seeing these comments I was expecting a back deck similar to a bass boat. Not like that. Not sure that’s going to go over well with too many people. It’s not like we’re sight fishing tarpon or bonefish in clear water up here……

Link?

Man that back deck just looks freaking weird. It would also be like fishing off of a pontoon boat. I don’t like being that high above the water for a whole variety of reasons.

I think the back deck is less about trying to design an optimum fishing feature and more about trying to figure out how to accommodate the Rotax inboard outboard.

Some things are neat.

Interesting will be anxious to see them in person.

As a fish and ski that back deck is nice. Having the extra space for tubes and such makes it great when the family is with.

Not so sure I’d really like to fish off of it though. Nice to be able to pee that close to the edge though….

I’ll give em props for thinking outside the box! Could be nice, but will want to check it out in person. I don’t know anything about the Rotax tho, so would be interested to hear others opinion on that.

New Rotax engine

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I was just thinking the other day what happened to that Project Ghost that was announced right as Evinrude shut down. Guess I got my answer. I am disappointed that they didn’t slap the Evinrude name on it, but I can also see how that name is tainted right now. Maybe down the road they can bring it back.

I think the back deck is an interesting idea and kudos to them for pushing the boundaries. The classic fish-ski design hasn’t really ever changed, and this makes the boat compete better with other options for that ski portion. Huge swim deck to lounge multiple people on or to just sit and dangle your feet in the water like a swim deck off the back of an I/O bowrider. Put a couple pedestals back there and fish a couple people for bobber fishing. I definitely wouldn’t want to fish kids back there though, but I wonder if they will have attachments to add some sort of safety walls or something for that.

The curved side profile matches a lot of fiberglass boats. You can just see how they were just trying to shake things up to see what they could improve on.

How do you get back in the boat?

I’ll reserve true judgement until I see them in person.

My early thoughts are that they will be good for those who are into the “fish and ski” type boats with the additional storage and space at the back. I could see myself using one to cast or bobber fish the backwaters. I’d be extremely hesitant to go all-in on that brand new rotax until there were more firsthand accounts of reliability, ease to maintain, longevity, and so on. I rarely buy the first year model of anything that’s completely renovated.

Interesting. I believe Alumacraft hosted a dealer meeting in Salt Lake City to unveil this. Equally as odd. This would make for a good April 1st joke.

I can appreciate the gamble though

BRP tried something new with their E-Tec motors with the color panels. Didn’t really work all that well. That rear deck as a option will get a few bites.

Brilliant!!!

But how does a tiller work with that config?

Wouldn’t have a problem with the rotax engine, but what is the big deck supposed to accomplish?

Saw on the Manitou site they claim no oil changes, maybe they’re going the same way as lawn mowers with burning some oil? Or maybe old Ole Evinrude was rolling in his grave and they stuck to a two stroke 😂😂😂

Joe Jarl wrote:

Wouldn’t have a problem with the rotax engine, but what is the big deck supposed to accomplish?

More square footage…

So they dropped the E-tec name, put it half underwater, and call it a Rotax?

I see these boats likely being huge failures in the long run (though I wish I were more optimistic)

They’re too specific. You can hang any outboard you want on any normal boat. If these engines turn out to be flops, you’re stuck with a proprietary hull that’s married to it….which makes it virtually worthless

It may seem functional for some, but to me it’s butt ugly, I’d give it a hard pass on the showroom floor.

Beast wrote:

It may seem functional for some, but to me it’s butt ugly, I’d give it a hard pass on the showroom floor.

The rear deck is optional otherwise it’s just as butt ugly as previous alumacraft.

It would need to be pretty calm for me to fish off that deck. I live in ND, so I could maybe fish off it once or twice a year

B-man wrote:

So they dropped the E-tec name, put it half underwater, and call it a Rotax?

I see these boats likely being huge failures in the long run (though I wish I were more optimistic)

They’re too specific. You can hang any outboard you want on any normal boat. If these engines turn out to be flops, you’re stuck with a proprietary hull that’s married to it….which makes it virtually worthless

Not exactly…Rotax motors have been around for years. Snowmobiles motorcycles (some big name bikes) small aircraft etc…

Kick a$$. Love companies that go for it and don’t play it safe year after year. Someone has to push innovation, and this concept off the bat certainly looks interesting enough!

Front trolling motor guy always was nice first shot w casts, being the back guy with that platform certainly gives your partner a much different angle than has ever been possible.

Family stuff don’t even need to mention, already blows away anything else out there for fish ski stuff currently available. My kids would go ape$hit over the deck.

Boat engines have stayed relatively the same size and location for sometime now and is past due for a change. Glad to see something else and really hope it performs really well and stays that way.

Obviously isn’t a true fisherman boat, but welcome to 2022 where the outdoor rec market has been flooded w a huge influx of folks who aren’t your traditional outdoor rec kinda folks.

Hope it works out, excited to see one in person hopefully the shows this winter have one to check out.

I kind of like it. And if the Rotax ends up being a proven motor then that’s a bonus.

B-man wrote:

They’re too specific. You can hang any outboard you want on any normal boat. If these engines turn out to be flops, you’re stuck with a proprietary hull that’s married to it….which makes it virtually worthless

Under the Rotax section here, they say that there is an option to go with a normal outboard as well. I wonder if they have a modified deck then with a cutout to make room?

https://www.alumacraft.com/us/en/models/what-s-new.html?utm_campaign=08%2F08%2F2022-ALUMACRAFT-Guided-MY23-Club-AUG22-LAUNCH-EN-US&utm_source=AdobeCampaign&utm_medium=email

Kind of cool, awesome you can mount 2 12″ on the console and flush a 12″ at the front.

Any concern with the engine sitting that low, seams like it would be easy to have water coming over the top of it.

The max deck is an optional add on. The standard rear deck looks good and will accommodate any conventional outboard. The dash is a pretty nice improvement with the standard 7″ Garmin display. Storage looks good. 3 options for rear jumpseats/livewells/storage. I wonder if they made any significant changes to the hull besides the gunwale shape? I’ve run Alumacraft for the last 10 years, but I still think my next one is a glass boat.

Standard back deck

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