Before Posting, Please Read Our Posting Guidelines Below.
1. Use the full 4 digit year for everything you are asking your question about. Example: 1962, 1988, 2000, 2011 2. Include the correct name of your Whaler model. Example: Montauk 17, Montauk 170, Outrage 26, Outrage 260 3. Include the length when necessary. Example: 16, 17, 18, 20, 22 4. Do not post your email address anywhere on this site as it is already in your user profile.
I've never seen a non-smirked, rectangular bow locker Montauk with a decal that said MONTAUK-17' on it just I have never seen a non-smirked, rectangular bow locker Montauk with a decal that said MONTAUK-16' on it. Whaler didn't start using those remodel identifier decals until 1977, so they are irrelevant to this thread.
I think, as a practical matter, it is fine to use the 16-footer/17-footer designations to distinguish the two hulls. That is simply what Whaler was doing with the doodle note you linked to above (from the Mills installation instructions) but the fact remains, the 16'/17' distinction came not with the change of hull, but when the 15 footer was introduced, in the year before the 16'-7" hull was changed.
When the Sport 15 came along Whaler had the 13, 16, 19 and 21 in production. It was only logical that they changed the name of 16'-7" hull to 17'.
One need only look at the 1976 Boston Whaler catalog to see the non-smirked, rectangular bow locker MONTAUK 17', BASS BOAT 17', SAKONNET 17', SPORT 17' & NEWPORT 17' models.
Dead, I don't think so, not yet. The information in this thread was not finished or accurate.
New information pops up from time to time and reopens the investigation.
1. I have seen several 1976 Smirked hulls with the MONTAUK-17' decals on the side.
These decals started with some smirked models in the 1976 17' models that I have seen.
I have never seen that on any 16' smirkless hull.
2. I have never seen a Smirkless 16 hull with any decals on the side for Nauset, Eastport, Sakonnet, etc.
I have never seen a decal on either hull, smirkless or smirked with the name of Sakonnet on it.
3. I have not researched the Newport that much but again, have never seen Newport on a 16 Smirkless hull.
Not sure about the 1976 Newport 17'.
So, I will ask everyone the question again.
Anyone see anything different?
Hey, I like these discussions to try to get these details straight. So, just a few notes from an old guy who was working at a Maine Whaler dealer at the time of the new hulls.
--as has been pointed out, BW wanted to clearly distinguish the new hulls from the original designs (even though the same length), because they were distinctively different and PERFORMED SO MUCH BETTER. I wonder if the folks who spend so much restoring the older flatter-bottomed hulls (or places like Metan Marine who reproduce them) really understand that.
--Whaler designers called the 'smirk' the HYDROFUBAB, or 'fubab' for short around the factory floor. Really. I had the chance to meet the guy who designed it.
--if I am not mistaken, a limited number of the OLD 16s used the Desert Tan/white gelcoat scheme of the originals. Just for one year if I recall correctly. Sorry if that has been discussed and I missed it.
--for several models and years, the hulls were Desert Tan interior and White exterior. We only had 2 cans of official BW gelcoat to do gelcoat repairs. When I attended factory training school around 1978 I learned how to match faded interior tan by mixing in a little white. Same story with blue on the older hulls. But this was just for small repairs. For larger sections, sprayed the entire area (up to some kind of dividing crease) in the color and then sanded and polished that area down. Just like in auto body work.
It must be Winter. One must be bored half to death and have finished all boating related chores to revive a nine year old thread. Admittedly, as old as it is it remains entertaining.
On the subject of OLD THREADS--Seems to me that expecially since large portions of this site are tuned to those devoted to classic, TIMELESS Whalers, that there will always be new users of all types and special interests, all around the diverse subjects of "All Things Boston Whaler".
Since folks getting into Whalers and forums is a continuous, never-ending flow, and we have both first-timers, returning members and old hands here, bringing up (not 'bringing back') older threads might be seen as a rather normal event, looking at it that way.
With all the valuable, interesting info on this site, I wonder if some sort of quicker, more efficient search tool would be good, so potential contributors would not worry so much about posting stuff already fully hashed-over. Really, there has to be a lot of hesitation about that, especially with so many old experts sharing here.
Old threads deserve respect and are almost always as relevant as newer ones. Sometimes better.
BTW, still looking at more precise facts about the old question of gelcoat colors on the 16/17 hulls as they made the transition to the new hull in 1976.
