CONTINUOUSWAVE

Q1: other than a blue gel coat interior, what are the design difference between 13-foot hulls made prior to 1980 and those made after 1980?

Q2: [in the manufacture of 13-foot hulls by Boston Whaler], are there any bad years to avoid [due to defects in manufacturing]?

Q3: what particular models of 13-foot hull are considered to be particularly good ones?

emrufish wrote:Q1: other than a blue gel coat interior, what are the design difference between 13-foot hulls made prior to 1980 and those made after 1980?

In the non-forum areas of the continuousWave website, particularly the WHALER section and its REFERENCE section, there are several articles on the 13-foot hull. There is a very good collection of information about variations in the hull design and other elements by model year. So rather than try to duplicate all that information, I will ask you just to go read it for yourself. Visit

https://continuouswave.com/whaler/reference/13/

emrufish wrote:Q2: [in the manufacture of 13-foot hull by Boston Whaler] are there any bad years to avoid [due to defects in manufacturing]

The only really notable problem in manufacturing of the Unibond hulls occurred in some larger models in which the hull sides tended to develop some waviness in what should have been flat hull sides. This problem was in some 18-foot hulls. See more details at

https://continuouswave.com/whaler/reference/FAQ/#Q10

I am not aware of any particular manufacturing defect in 13-foot hulls that occurred in a particular year. In general, as has occurred in all manufacturing of all products, the uniformity and freedom from defects has probably tended to improve over the years. In the early days--the late 1950's and early 1960's--many operations were done by hand and subject to some variability. By the 2000’s the manufacturing of Boston Whaler boats was generally under very tight control and supervision, and the variations among hulls were probably less than ever before

Different parent companies owned Boston Whaler at various times, and that could have some influence on manufacturing variations. Also, the primary manufacturing plant moved to Florida from Massachusetts. Read the company history article in REFERENCE for details.

https://continuouswave.com/whaler/refer ... haler.html

For many years I would expect the biggest variation would have been in hull weight. Hulls too far out of specification may have ended up getting cut in half and used as display models at dealerships.

Of course there are always some anecdotal accounts of a hull that had some spectacular defect and failed in service, but all hulls had ten year warranty protection against failure, and what other boat manufacturer was or is now or has ever offered a warranty like that?

You are not buying a knock-off boat built by three Cubans in a Miami garage, you are buying a Boston Whaler.

jimh, this is extremely helpful information. Thank you for going through that and providing the link with the additional info. Much appreciated!!