Why the 25' Seafari so rare ?

[bgreene]

With the reports being the 25' was a superb rough water hull, I'd expect more would have been produced - and sold.

Why so rare with the 23' being so much more popular ?

[McGillicuddy]

I don't have a real answer, just random thoughts on this...Seafari was Moesly's brainstorm. A driver's boat and definitely not for everybody. A very different concept and purpose than the 23.

The 23 was Potter's evolution, and geared to a more popular and competitive class of boat. Marketing the open design of the 23 was much easier, especially in the Florida heat. Smart money was to build on the success of the 20 hull, and and fill that more capable 23' niche. Potter made a nice mark with the 23. Why market the bigger, much more expensive to build boat? Arab oil embargo probably made production even more expensive and the 25 degree dead-rise Seafari 25 even more expensive to run.

Potter had 3 concurrent applications for the 23 by altering only the cap. The CC the Tsunami/Sceptre and Savage all from the same hull fitting very different needs. Pretty good business in my mind...

[FishStretcher]

I think McGillicddy hit the high points. The 25 is also a lot less trailer friendly than a smaller boat.

And these were offered only with twin I/Os, as far as I can tell, although my engine cowl fits a single v8 pretty well. That seems like a deterrent there, too.

[kmoose]

Originally Posted by FishStretcher

I think McGillicddy hit the high points. The 25 is also a lot less trailer friendly than a smaller boat.

And these were offered only with twin I/Os, as far as I can tell, although my engine cowl fits a single v8 pretty well. That seems like a deterrent there, too.

I noticed the 25s with single IOs needed the outdrive way lower in the water due to the transom deadrise. I get itchy when I see one totally submerged and wonder how that effects performance. If I had one with an IO I would be tempted to couple it to a surface drive. It would certainly be overkill but they have some pretty small units they use on the smaller offshore V hulls and they are magic for boats with similar deadrise issues.

Here is a similar Euro vessel running a surface drive. Surface drives have been popular in Europe for decades and have come to considerable refinement here in the US.
Conner, does the bow look familiar?

[Ryan]

Originally Posted by McGillicuddy

I don't have a real answer, just random thoughts on this...Seafari was Moesly's brainstorm. A driver's boat and definitely not for everybody. A very different concept and purpose than the 23.

The 23 was Potter's evolution, and geared to a more popular and competitive class of boat. Marketing the open design of the 23 was much easier, especially in the Florida heat. Smart money was to build on the success of the 20 hull, and and fill that more capable 23' niche. Potter made a nice mark with the 23. Why market the bigger, much more expensive to build boat? Arab oil embargo probably made production even more expensive and the 25 degree dead-rise Seafari 25 even more expensive to run.

Potter had 3 concurrent applications for the 23 by altering only the cap. The CC the Tsunami/Sceptre and Savage all from the same hull fitting very different needs. Pretty good business in my mind...

4......don't forget the sexiest SeaCraft of all, the Seavette.

[cdavisdb]

Yep, looks like some pics I've seen recently.

The above seems right on. I think there is something else as well. The 25 is set up for more than fishing. In some ways, The cap is laid out as a ladies boat, but the hull is a flat out offshore performance type, its sensitivity isn't likely to appeal to most ladies. Further, it might be a turn-off for any test rider who doesn't have a lot of experience driving boats, or need the offshore performance. Seems like the 25 ended up in a fairly narrow niche. If its right for you, its over the top wonderful, but its not for everybody.

[McGillicuddy]

Originally Posted by Ryan

4......don't forget the sexiest SeaCraft of all, the Seavette.

Thanks Ryan, leaving out the Seavette was a significant woopsie

[Bushwacker]

I think Gillie's right, in that the 25 was Moesly's last and most advanced design, but built only by Potter starting in 1972, since Moesly was off sailing around the world by 1970, so he wouldn't have had the benefit of Mr. Moesly's coaching that he'd had in building the earlier models. It was designed to have a ballast tank per Moesly's patent for the "Self Stabilizing Boat Hull" http://www.moeslyseacraft.com/upload...st-3503358.pdf, which would have lowered the CG as well as shifting it forward and probably improving stability. Since Potter left out the ballast tank, I suspect that he wasn't 100% comfortable with the reduced stability and unique handling characteristics, so perhaps he didn't market the 25 as aggressively as he did his own more conservative designs (the 23 and 18). Since most SeaCraft customers were primarily fisherman, the Seafari layout was probably less appealing than the CC design, which SeaCraft pioneered in the offshore fishing market with the 20 SF. The demand for a cruiser was probably much less than for the 23 CC which was introduced only a year or two later. As Connor mentioned, most folks focused on cruising are probably more interested in amenities than they are in ride and performance capability in 6' seas, even though that should be a significant consideration for anyone that wants to do any serious cruising to the Bahamas! Although there was definitely a market for a very seaworthy premium quality 25' cruiser (the 25' Bertram was very popular at the time), Potter's 23 sold well, so can't blame him for focusing on his best seller at the expense of a more sophisticated and expensive model that appealed to a much smaller market. These same factors may also partially explain the low production numbers for the Moesly 21, i.e., although it had better rough water performance than the 23, it didn't have the CC layout, and it had fewer amenities than either the Seafari 20 or 25! Sort of begs the question as to why Potter didn't just start out with a CC version of the 21 before launching the 23!