Early 70s Chris Crafts

[Crossroads]

In the early 70s Chris Craft made some convertible style boats. In the 36 foot models some are called Tournament and others I think are called Angler. Are these blue water fishing boats and do they have any known chronic problems?

 

[lanbuilder]

Have a look on the Chris Craft Commander web site and you will see outline specs on most of the models from that time. They also have a bulletin board where you could ask for opinions.

Most of the commanders can handle seas well. One of the design parameters was that they should be strong enoungh to handle 6 foot seas at normal cruise speed. The construction on all commanders is bullet proof and the hull deck joint is fiberglassed so you effectively have a one piece hull. All stringers and frames are top-hat fiberglass sections fully bonded to the inside of the hull with no wood cores so nothing to rot. The deck which is cored uses a foam core so water intrusion does not seem to be a problem.

http://www.commanderclub.com/index.htm

 

[Grady Wahoo]

I believe I read somehwere that "Tournament" hull is either a copy of or a purchased hull from Bertram....

Now I gotta check my sources.....

Edit, interesting note on the "Tournament" model, although it's the a shorter version...

"I have the 30 CC Tournament which is basically the same Ray Hunt designed hull as the 31. Chris Craft produced this boat from 1975 to 1978 and only stopped because Bertram sued CC over coping of the 31 hull. CC did improve on the 31 by adding a lot of free board in the cockpit, increase bow flare, wider beam, larger flybridge (seats 5) and a much larger cabin. They even installed two usable in deck fish boxes. "

 

[seahawk215]

The 36 Tournament Fish was introduced in 1973 and was changed slightly in 1974 mainly on the flybridge . It was renamed the 360 Commander in the late 70’s or early 80’s and geared more toward a family cruiser sportfish with a v berth up front and a dinette instead of a side bunk bed cabin. In 1985 they changed the flybridge to a larger more streamlined version. I think the 1986 model was the last year of production. The hull was the same hull from 1973 – 1986.

Ray Hunt was hired by Chris Craft from Bertram and he designed the 31 foot tournament fish which is very similar to the Bertram 31 that was in the early 70’s to mid 70’s.

The 38 footer and the 42 footer were the Unflite hulls. Chris Craft bought Unflite and continued production under the CC name because of the problems Unflite had with blisters which finally drove them into bankruptcy. They were later produced as the 382 and 442 models.

Of course I am not bias to these boats in any way.