Which boats to buy?

[dustmobile]

Hi all-

Here's my question: If you had about $30,000 to spend on shells for your quickly growing high school crew program, what would you get?

We are located in eastern Massachusetts and race fours, although we'd welcome the opportunity to race smaller boats, and have combined once or twice to make an 8, but don't own any. We already own a couple of mid-range 2-year old vespolis, and it would be ideal to stick with 7/16ths hardware rather than starting to mix metric boats into the fleet. We're not totally in love with the construction or customer service we get from Vespoli, though, so are tempted by some other options. All of the following add up to less than $30,000, at least before you add taxes, oars, other extras...

Option 1: 2 WinTech international (middle-range of 3 levels) 4+'s at $14,490 each.
Option 2: -1 WinTech international 4+ at $14,490
-1 WinTech international 2x/2- at $7805
-1 WinTech international 1x @ $5250
Option 3: -1 Hudson Predator (lower of 2 levels of construction) 4+ @ $17,300
-1 WinTech international 2x/2- at $7805
-1 WinTech competitor (lowest of 3 levels, fiberglass/carbon) 1x @ $4275

Note: with Hudson, we could stick to 7/16ths throughout our fleet; and with WinTech, the quick-release wing riggers are an option for $40/seat--fantastic on singles, haven't seen it in person on sweep boats.

Any other manufacturers we should be considering? We are certainly budget-conscious and WinTech offers fantastic bang for your buck and customer service. Hudson builds a beautiful boat, but does anyone have any more information on the Predator construction than their website? It's pretty sparse. Is it worth $2800 more than the midrange WinTechs?

I thought this might be fun for people to discuss, and I'd love to hear your input! It's a wonderful dilemma to have, I know.

Cheers,

-Matt

[bloomp]

I cannot recommend WinTech without a few caveats... They are not very fast boats. Thus, if you want a competitive 'package' go with the Hudson 4+ and the rest of that list. That way you could have a very fast new 4+ and some excellent smaller training boats - that could be raced if your rowers were keen on it. To have boats that do not require coxswains is great if you need to just fill a few more spots, and the work done in 2x/- or a 1x requires more technical ability than anything else. You would do well by letting your 'worst' technical guys spend a few days in small boats and then putting them back into a larger boat.

[dustmobile]

Thanks -

Are you / others sure about WinTechs being slower? How so, due to poor hull design? The construction is similar to the standards of most other manufacturers... and I was under the impression that the hull shapes were... *ahem*... borrowed from some top-tier designs.

[Nosmo]

I think you really need to ask this question on the board at RowingIllustrated.com

I';ve heard various things about WinTechs, so I'm not sure what to say.
I think you may have other options. Why are you not considering Vespoli's? Not necessarily the best boats but they have excellent customer service, and they are certainly good enough. They are very common in schools.
For the smaller boats, why not go used? You can probably find some really good deals and maybe even get an additional boat. (checkout the used boats at craftsbury at look at row2k.com)

[bloomp]

Nosmo brings up some excellent points... The boats used by Craftsbury are well maintained, and run just a bit more than the WinTech 2x/2- and 1x. You could also pick up a used Filippi 2x/- on Row2k (saw one recently) or find many other bargains. If you find a Filippi/Empacher, GET IT. A 4 year old one of those is better than a brand new WinTech, Kaschper, or Vespoli in terms of small boats.

http://www.craftsbury.com/sculling/camp ... r_sale.htm

As for Vespoli, I have had nothing but good boats from them. Their M2 4+ is what my high school was buying as I left and they are fast. You are pretty close to their factory in New Haven, CT so meeting up at a race to get new boats would be easy and you could readily get repairs done.