A few comments on the tin boat debate. I have fished river sleds in the northwest for the past 20 years. I presently own an Alumaweld SuperVee Pro with a Mercury pump. I'm always looking for a new boat (just for fun). This past fall my wife and I took a tour of all of the major Oregon sled factories, Northriver, Jetcraft, Willie, Fish Rite and Alumaweld. We watched boats being tacked together and examined structure setups and layouts for the various models. Our joint conclusions were 1)They all have super warranties and the welded aluminum is nearly indestructable. 2)The almost identical, super big, super strong stringer and floor structure system in the NorthRiver and Alumawelds was superior to the other three. 3)If you're a welder and appreciate a nice 'puddle', nobody even came close to the Northriver welding , final grinding and all around finish work.4) Willie was the most flexible as far as making a truly 'custom' craft.5)FishRite's 'lay it on the floor and randomly tack it together system was scarey.
Even JetCraft (a huge outfit) was guilty of quite a bit of flex, hammer and tack it welding... no jig, no preformed bottoms or deadrise. My top quality award definitely goes to Northriver and a close second for strength to Alumaweld. However seating, fishing layout and use applications probably outweigh all of these. I like an open , tiller, pure fishing sled, so I continue to go with Alumaweld even though some of the the other boats were much prettier and faster. I wouldn't really be afraid to buy any of these boats.Just get the one that fits your style and put a bend in those rods.