would you trade?????????????

[Oneday]

im looking at trading my 1985 stars and stripes. for a 1992 ski brendella open bow. can any one tell me any think about the brendella. im wanting to get an open bow. the 2 boats are in the same shape and all that. im worried about the stringers. (wood or not). or anything else anyone knows. thanks.

[waterlogged882]

..........

[Oneday]

Its my 85 and it runs great. I was just trying to see if any one know anything about the 92.

[madcityskier]

Brendella is squarely a third tier boat. Most of the second tier got rid of wood stringers around 93-95. You'd be looking at cheaper components, likely wood, and from what I've been told a company that was buying a lot of old molds from other companies when they were taking them out of use. That info could be wrong, but the boats I've seen from them look like old boats from other manufacturers, so I tend to believe.

[itch2ski]

Originally Posted by madcityskier

Brendella is squarely a third tier boat. Most of the second tier got rid of wood stringers around 93-95. You'd be looking at cheaper components, likely wood, and from what I've been told a company that was buying a lot of old molds from other companies when they were taking them out of use. That info could be wrong, but the boats I've seen from them look like old boats from other manufacturers, so I tend to believe.

Please explain boat tiers and what manufacturers fall where.

[Wired_Right]

Originally Posted by Oneday

im looking at trading my 1985 stars and stripes. for a 1992 ski brendella open bow. can any one tell me any think about the brendella. im wanting to get an open bow. the 2 boats are in the same shape and all that. im worried about the stringers. (wood or not). or anything else anyone knows. thanks.

My friend bought a 93 Ski Brendella at the beginning of this season (2012) He has only taken it out 4 times. (maybe 6 hours)
I told him not to buy it. Well now he is stuck.
I told him if, I go 2 weeks between uses on the lake and I'm garaging it. I pull my seats cushions and and back seat. (to let my boat air out/dry)

Well this is when his misery came. He pulled the rear seat. - Fell apart (dry rot). Rear floor under seat (dry rot) Pulled floor. Guess what? .???????

He is so mad. I add insult to injury, when I keep inviting him out on my 85 S&S.
I know what I'm doing this labor day weekend. Using my boat!!!!

I personally would not trade. Keep it or sell it out right. You can buy a open bow Mastercraft. There are so many inexpensive older option mastercrafts with open bows.

But remember, Do whatcha like!

[Jason.H.]

I have a 1990 tristar 190 open bow and its been a great boat. I picked it up pretty cheap too.

[Ski-me]

I'd go the route of selling the S&S outright and then go and buy a MC 205. Great boat for sure. 92-95 are great years and 94 & 95 have fuel injection. I would push you towards a better quality boat vs. something that is "easy" to make a deal. Work a little harder and I think overall, you will be happier with a nicer boat.

No wood stringers in this era of 205 either so you're good.

[etduc]

Originally Posted by Ski-me

I'd go the route of selling the S&S outright and then go and buy a MC 205. Great boat for sure. 92-95 are great years and 94 & 95 have fuel injection. I would push you towards a better quality boat vs. something that is "easy" to make a deal. Work a little harder and I think overall, you will be happier with a nicer boat.

No wood stringers in this era of 205 either so you're good.

Word!

Your '85 MC is a much higher build quality, than a '93 Brendella.

Early '90s MC 205 has a huge bang, for the buck.

[madcityskier]

Originally Posted by itch2ski

Please explain boat tiers and what manufacturers fall where.

Well, we haven't started a fight here lately, so why not. Please keep in mind that to some degree the tiers would be relative to innovation, not just build quality. Also, that the tiers beyiond the first would be subjective and based upon your experiences and those of people you know with regards to a particular brand of boat. Finally, as is often said, if it's not a competition boat, it's second best. Very few i/o's would make a boat that could make it into the second tier in my experience.
Now let's get it started

Fist Tier: Not much discussion here. Known throughout the industry as the big three MasterCraft, CorrectCraft, Malibu

Second Tier: open to discussion and based on my experiences. Supra, Centurion, MB, Tige

Third Tier: Moomba, Epic, Supreme, Gekko, Brendella, American Skier, Infinity

I don't know enough to place Axis, Calabria, Svfara, Aztec, Sanger

The strongest cases I could make would be to move Moomba or Infinity up. I would leave Infinity due to a lack of longevity and the likely problems re: finding parts. Moomba based on experiences with their earlier boats and the fact that they are the step-down from Supra which is already a second tier boat.

This is all my opinion, your experiences will likely vary.