All Crestliner Sportfish Owners

[RJ]

I am looking at a 98 1850 SF O/B. I was checking into having a 9.9HP 4-stroke kicker rigged on it and was told by a credible crestliner tech that one thing to be aware of is that the deep cut out in the transom of the SF series combined with the weight of a 4-stroke kicker will not leave much transom above water level. He said it's not necessarily a major problem, only to be aware that docking overnight(waves washing into transom), backtrolling, etc., can lead to excessive intake of water. My question is finally, have any of you SF owners that are rigged with kickers had any problems, and if so, do you recommend a fix(wave wackers, smaller kicker,etc.). Let me know what you think. Thanks to all that reply...

[Tom Duerr]

Here is some info for you- I currently one a 94 crestliner Sportfish V170 .Rigged with a 90v4 Johnson and 98' 9.9 4-stroke.Iwill agree with the low riding transom especially full tanks, 3 or more people.(its rated for 7 people) My kicker is on the passenger side .The transom is "pulled back" about an inch on that side and so is the seam down under it, witch now leaks. I plan to have the whole back well area re-welded.The only reasons I can figure why this happend is from pounding big waves and trailering long distances.The boat is rated for up to a 140HP.Could you imagine the problems I would have with all that weight back there?I love fishing out of this boat but it sure doesnt handle heavy waters very well.Im not even sure if this boat is desiged for a kicker(void warranty?) Any response would be appreciated.

[Pete H]

I have a 1998 1850 Tournament SC with a 175 Yamaha with a 9.9 Yamaha 4 stroke kicker that I picked up last year. To my understanding the sportfish (in those years) is the same hull as my tournament but without a full windshield. Yes the back is low in the water. I had a small 6 inch strip of rubber around the lower transom area of the motor attached to the sides. Cut out the rubber for the motor area. This keeps most of the water out of the splash well. I have only seen water go over the upper part of the transom once on Petenwell. My back end had 2 livewells (Special) full at the time (means there were fish in there!), it was rough (we were rigging) and my partner was walking around on the livewells (how he does that, I don't question, I just have the throwable ready). I too think it rides low back there, but it hasn't been a problem on big water like Lake Michigan, Green Bay etc. I further covered myself this year. If I ever have to back the boat into big waves, this year I bought and installed a splash guard. I have plenty of transom height and a piece of mind. I bought a WhiteCap brand splash guard on the advise of this website and some investigation on my own. Looks good back there - now the ice has to go to give her a workout.

In the end, it is up to you if you can trust the low back or not. I chose to cover myself, better to be prepared.