I am interested in a purchasing a Wooldridge Boat. I have been looking at the sport model. I am looking for some info from folks who own a Wooldridge, specificaly how well you like yours, how it is set up, and if there is anything you would do different. Pics would be great.

Thank You

I bought a 14ft Wooldridge back in 1990 from Glen at the Factory. Obviously you are getting a much larger, newer and more expensive boat than I purchased. My boat has been great for what I use it for. My only complaint was the floor boards. They developed dry rot and I replaced them and they developed dry rot and I replaced them with Diamond plate. End of problem. Would I buy another Woolridge ? In a heart beat. I am LEOFF retired (sorta of )fishermen and only had a chance to buy one boat with the blessing of my wife and I choose a Wooldridge.

Local,

Thanks for the reply. Enjoy that LEOFF retiremnet. I have years to go!!

Wooldridge is an awesome boat. If you want a boat for the salt and you have to balance weight with size, one of your best bets is a Sport model. By far the largest boat for the weight. Extremely well built, tough as nails and a joy to fish out of. There is a decent V to the hull but you do compromise "ride" with light weight boats. These certainly do not handle the heavy chop like a big brauny fiberglass boat. But then you don't need as many horses to make it scoot either.

PM me and I will give the scoop on my Sport model.

I've done some serious jet boat research over the last two years (still saving $$$$$ to write a check!)and Wooldridge is at the top of my list. Everything I have learned about Wooldridge has been positive. They have an excellent reputation and build a quality product at a fair price and back it with excellent customer service. Get in touch with them and have them send you their literature and video. Very informative and lets you take a look at the options they offer.

Take care,
Chris

As posted before, I love my 20' Sport Offshore. The company will work with you on what you want/need. They installed my electronics, downriggers, etc.

I upgraded to the next size thicker bottom and put in a 50 gallon gas tank. I have the "offshore" bracket mount for the motors. Power is a 115 Yamaha with ss prop. It will crack 35 mph with two people, gear, and a half tank of gas. Faster than I need to go, but nice to know it is there if needed. The 8 hp high thrust kicker will push me along at about 8 mph or so. Not fast, but it would get me home. A 9.9 might be a little better, but puts more weight on the back end.

The 115 will troll all day and sips the fuel compared to my old SeaSwirl with a Mercruiser 260 Bravo V-8. I fished 7 days at Sekiu last year, ran the kicker for about 3 hours and the big motor for about 39 hours. Lots of trolling. Burned 29 gallons of gas for about 142 miles running according to the chartplotter.

A very stable fishing platform, easy to pull behind the truck, even with the camper. It fits on a single axle trailer. I like the Wooldridge boats.

ps If you are going out on the salt chuck, I strongly recommend the 20'. Have a couple of friends with the 17' and they really like them, but they seem a little small when the seas build.

I fished out of a 19' SUV model today with a 350 Chev in it. The boat was well put together.

I have a 18' Extra Plus and is a awsome boat very well built welded support all over the place everthing on it is very strong and sturdy handles water very good and with a jet will run very shallow because of the channel design, they are heavy so motor up I got the biggest I could get on it in an outboard (175) I have an in floor 55 galon tank. Extra plus you have alot of options to get it just how you want a very veritile boat I would buy another in second!

Thanks again for all of the info.

Willie

U get my PM?

I own the 20' Off Shore Super Sport. Ditto everything Bushbear said, except I have the 150 four stroke Yami. I was able to check on the boat as it was being built and I was truly impressed with the construction. The followup service is excellent. I had some custom boxes made so that I could lock up my downriggers and added the washdown pump.

Give Vence a call at the factory and you can go down and check out all the boats being built in the shop.

look at his sport-drifter...a 19 footer with his tunnel hull...o boy!!!

I had a new '01 17' Sport 2000 back in Sept-Oct 2001, seemed pretty nice, but I never used it.

Ditto on the Willie!!!

I've had my Raptor for 2 months now. I would put it up against ANY other boat especially a Woolridge. I have the 200 Optimax Sportjet. I love it. LOTs of power Low fuel cost (about 5-6 gph) Drives like a sports car!!! Don't buy anything untill you have looked at the Willie boats. like they say "Simplpy the Best"

p.s. the wieght of my motor and pump is about 360 lbs. mush less that the v-8. no matter what boat you pick get a Sport Jet.

dc

One caution on the Willie recommendation that I have is their customer service. In my search for both drift boats and jet boats I e mailed Willie boats on three separate occasions and NEVER received a response. That to me is a loud statement in terms of what to expect in dealing with their company down the road.

i have the 21 foot Alaskan II. Not much of a V for the salt, but drawing only 4-6 inches of water in the river is amazing.

Very stable rig. You can put three guys on one side pulling a pot and it hardly leans at all.

Wonderfull customer sevice. I'd buy it again in a heart beat.

I would agree with you Willie is a great boat to buy if you can not buy a Wooldridge. But first they would have to not use a 3 piece bottem and use Sportjets, I would love to to see you try to run with a Wooldridge. Humble yourself and go look at them next time your in Seattle I believe if you know anything about boats, you would reconsider you opinion.

"Willie-Simply the Best."
Unless, of course, you own a Lavro or a Wooldridge

I own a Lavro now. I will add a Wooldridge as soon as I can afford one!

Yo Brother FF
Do yourself a favor and look at a lot of brands and you'll gain ideas on what you really need in a boat. My personal experience with Wooldridge boat is while they are tough, the're also tough to fish from. Pick a rig that makes what YOU do on the water easier and more convenient. Personally, I've owned 8 boats in the 20' range and now I'm in a North River...to stay.
Stay safe, T