New Stabicraft 2350 Model

Kiwi Canuck

Active Member
This is the new 2350 just released, I saw this model being built when I was at the Stabicraft factory back in March and I was sworn to secrecy and was not allowed to take any photos or talk about it until now.



Looks awesome.

David.
 
I love the concept and design and had a chance to jump around one at the boat show. My first impressions were that the metal work was really nice but the finishing and details left something to be desired. There wasn't as much storage as I would have expected and lots of small spaces were underutilized, although that's been one of my main gripes with most builders. The pontoon design adds a lot for safety but really cuts into deck space, my boat 18' has more deck space than the 22' on display.
 
Looks really nice as featured. But the whole thing is painted (powdercoated???) and has acres of EVA foam decking. Can't help but wonder what it will look like in 5 years once its gotten some scuffs and the EVA decking starts peeling around the edges...maybe you just trade it in after the lease expires!:p
 
This boat looks unreal... Waay out of my current budget. We got the 2050 last year (2013 model). I LOVE ours. Love the cab layout. Pontoons definitely cut into the beam width. The similar size hewes/thunderjet/kingfisher... has more deck space. It's got a super high freeboard which I love. Super safe for the kids. It pounds in chop over 3'... but it's super dry & feels incredibly safe. 11 years old, and it's in unreal shape. The 3 pontoons have seperate drain plugs. I've had an issue where the drain plugs haven't perfectly sealed, and one (or more) pontoon has got a bit of water in it. It didn't change the nature of the ride too much, but knowing this, I wouldn't be super comfortable with having a Stabi moored full-time. You can't bilge the pontoons, and no good way to know if they've taken on water without bringing it on land... my 2 cents.
 
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This boat looks unreal... Waay out of my current budget. We got the 2050 last year (2013 model). I LOVE ours. Love the cab layout. Pontoons definitely cut into the beam width. The similar size hewes/thunderjet/kingfisher... has more deck space. It's got a super high freeboard which I love. Super safe for the kids. It pounds in chop over 3'... but it's super dry & feels incredibly safe. 11 years old, and it's in unreal shape. The 3 pontoons have seperate drain plugs. I've had an issue where the drain plugs haven't perfectly sealed, and one (or more) pontoon has got a bit of water in it. It didn't change the nature of the ride too much, but knowing this, I wouldn't be super comfortable with having a Stabi moored full-time. You can't bilge the pontoons, and no good way to know if they've taken on water without bringing it on land... my 2 cents.
I think the pontoons are filled with foam (at least according to the Stabicraft website). If they are air chambers, they wouldn't pass upright/level flotation test. The test requires that the two largest air chambers be filled with water during the test, and none of the air chambers can be larger than 0.5ft3. Any ports on the pontoon would likely just be where they filled it with foam, and are left in place for inspection. I know that boats over 20ft don't need to pass, but I think they design all models on the same principal.

I like the idea that the foam is above the waterline, so less likely to get saturated versus the traditional foam below deck. However, I don't see the pontoons as fundamentally safer than below deck foam. If you look on the Stabicraft website, you can see photos of the boat swamped during testing - its really low in the water. A swamped stabicraft is effectively a half submerged life raft, with water up to your thighs. Traditional foam below the floor is going to float you higher up - and if safety is your real concern, its not going to come close to the performance of a boston whaler.

I wouldn't kick one out my garage, but for the money I'd go talk to Jaxon, Bridgeview, Jasper, Walker, etc.
 
I think the pontoons are filled with foam (at least according to the Stabicraft website). If they are air chambers, they wouldn't pass upright/level flotation test. The test requires that the two largest air chambers be filled with water during the test, and none of the air chambers can be larger than 0.5ft3. Any ports on the pontoon would likely just be where they filled it with foam, and are left in place for inspection. I know that boats over 20ft don't need to pass, but I think they design all models on the same principal.

I like the idea that the foam is above the waterline, so less likely to get saturated versus the traditional foam below deck. However, I don't see the pontoons as fundamentally safer than below deck foam. If you look on the Stabicraft website, you can see photos of the boat swamped during testing - its really low in the water. A swamped stabicraft is effectively a half submerged life raft, with water up to your thighs. Traditional foam below the floor is going to float you higher up - and if safety is your real concern, its not going to come close to the performance of a boston whaler.

I wouldn't kick one out my garage, but for the money I'd go talk to Jaxon, Bridgeview, Jasper, Walker, etc.

I believe the foam-filled is an option on all newer models. Possibly it's standard now. I absolutely love my boat, and can't think of anything at the moment which would fit my needs better. The pontoons taking on water is just a concern I would have if it was permanently moored, and I find intriguing there is little talked about it.
 
@Flounder_pounder - Interesting on the foam vs air in the pontoons. Does it have foam below deck as well, or were the early ones greater than 20ft to avoid Upright/Level Floatation and rely on just the air chambers? How's the noise level?
 
@Flounder_pounder - Interesting on the foam vs air in the pontoons. Does it have foam below deck as well, or were the early ones greater than 20ft to avoid Upright/Level Floatation and rely on just the air chambers? How's the noise level?
To the best of my knowledge, mine has no foam at all. The deck drains into a bilge which has its own drain plug. There are then 3 air filled chambers - one below deck, and 1 on either side. Each of these air chambers has their own separate drain plug for inspection, and they are separate to the bilge/deck.
 
Is it really 4 feet of useable beam lost?
I'm trying to find floorplan drawings of Stabicraft 20-ish foot models, to see how much space is really taken up by the pontoons. I haven't found anything easily with google search yet.
 
Is it really 4 feet of useable beam lost?
I'm trying to find floorplan drawings of Stabicraft 20-ish foot models, to see how much space is really taken up by the pontoons. I haven't found anything easily with google search yet.
You lose 23" of usable beam on the 2050. It's not totally lost, as the top half of the gunwhale is usable storage compartment. I use them to store all my bouys, gaff, spare rope, downrigger weights, tackle boxes, etc... it also fits a planar diesel heater w/ tank perfectly which I've purchased and will be installing later this fall.

 
I see the internal vs external beam in their specs now...very clear, thanks. Like you said Flounder_pounder, 23" on the 21' boat.
Doesn't seem so different from a more conventional welded boat with a 12" gunwhale. I sort of lose usable beam, but there is loads of storage under there.

I guess the fact that stabicraft sticks with their tube based design, is why they also are stuck with that "distinctive" angular design.
 
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