In article , says...


On Wed, 05 Sep 2007 14:08:30 +0300, Matti Kaki penned the following
well considered thoughts to the readers of rec.boats:

Hello from Finland.

I just took a look of a finnish boating magazine from year 1991 and was
really allerted. There was a story about US-made boat which could not
pass a finnish yachtclub inspection at all.

This boat is made by SYLVAN MARINE Lagrande, GA. Model 17VFC / VFC 175

There is very low transom freeboard. If you put a 140 hp engine which
you can do according to the U.S. Coast Guard plate, the stern probably
takes water inside thru the two holes which probably are supposed to
drain the boat not fill it with water. There is no motor well.

I can't undestand that this boat has U. S. Coast Guard plate. How is
this possible? Here I have some pictures:

http://www.mattikaki.fi/starcraft/

Think about it..... in 1991 a 20 year old boat was still floating....
in spite of horrendous Finnish alteration, preventive maintenance, and
repair. Seems more like a testament to the superb quality of American
design and workmanship than anything else. Seems to me that the USCG
got it right!

How come 20 yrs? The magazine tells that this boat was imported 1989!
So it was only two years old. Or do you think that this was on old
and used boat made in early 70's? I undestand that the exporter
started to export these boats in 1989 and these were all new boats.

--
Matti Kaki at iki dot fi http://www.sci.fi/~oh2bio
=========== Location: 60.414 N 25.097 E ===========
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