Baja by Fountain.
 

Wich is the first year of the "by Fountain" -Bajas?
What did Fountain change with the boats?

2009-2011 I believe only 2 boats were built in 2010-2011. 2008 was last year for Baja in Bucyrus,OH. 2012 will be liner boats again built by Liberty Financial in NC

Excuse my ignorance.... what is a liner boat?

Fountain did away with liner system and installed stringers, raised x dimension, added hydraulic steering, and installed carpet in the cabin. I have an 09' 26 outlaw and love it. The boat is solid no rattles when beating it up on Lake Michigan. They did add some weight to it with the changes they made and my best top end is 65 with little gas/people.

I've got one of those Baja by Fountain plates for a truck if anyone is intersted. Very nice heavy duty metal.

Ok. I personally dont like tha cabin carpet. I have that in my 29 and that sooks upp all types of smell.

Im as ignorance as puzzleboy. What is a liner boat?

A liner is a all fiberglass grid/shell that replaces typical wood type grid supports, and it is bonded in the hull before it is pulled from the mold.

XT

I have probably one of the last 26 Outlaws made in Ohio and it is a liner boat. Personally I really like the construction as it has a much nicer finish and is easier to keep clean IMHO. No cracks, rattles, or other issues here and there are plenty of times where I drive it like I stole it :)

Why would fountain replace that with stringers? That seems like a more advanced design.

I agree! Wierd! That is one of the things I really like about the 35 that I want to by. Just did´nt know that was the liner thing.

Because there might have been one or two issue
with the liners ;)

I cannot answer questions that happened at Fountain Powerboats in 09'. I do agree that it was a more advanced design IMO. There were other build methods along with the liner system that I did not agree with at Baja. I always felt the void between the hull, and liner should have been foam filled like a Whaler to eliminate the hollow sound from waves. A wood stringer w/carpet like the 29ol that I owned at that time did a better job with sound, but as stated before....once you get that musty smell, it's hard to get rid of in carpet. I think you will find many boat owners with liners defending them, and wood stringer owners supporting that system.

XT

My....
 

old 24' Sonic is a liner boat and I hate that part about it. The factory globs glue all over the inside of the hull and hope they get a good contact between liner/hull.
Both of mine pulled loose under the V berth in the bow and thats the only access place to inspect the liner/hull joint. But they save a ton on labor building them that way so........
Not that that's an important or highly loaded area or anything ;)
I'd much rather have a traditional stringer boat. You lose a ton of interior space in a liner boat too.
The older stringer constructed Checkmates are huge inside compared to the newer/current liner style. Cockpit but especially in the cabins.

If your buying a 35 and it has a liner you need to check for cracks in the engine compartment where the liner meets the side of the boat. They had a ton of issues with the 30 Outlaws. I know a few people that received new boats they were so bad.

Is my boat a liner boat or a stringer boat?

95 24 O/L right ?....that would be stringer.

I agree with russellhorn. I really like how clean everything is and how easy it is to clean up. No cracks or rattles with mine either. Cabin is sweet and easy to clean as well. 4+ years and still smells new. Pretty sure cabin is not smaller as someone mentioned. Looks to be the same size or bigger as the older 25's with stringer system.

Are all the 33 & 36's stringer boats?

Yepp.

True.
 

There are many benefits to a liner boat you listed most of them.
If engineered and constructed properly they are also plenty strong.
Many pf the cracking problems we see are from poor workmanship during assembly.
The bad is:
You cannot gain access in most instances to assure the integrity of that liner to hull bond so you have no way of knowing whats under there.

It hides everything construction wise so same as above applies.

If you have any void/breach in that seal over time and in an area where you get water, it will get under liner and never come out in most cases.

As far as space, the liner in my 24' sonic is approx. 8" away from hull on inside of cockpit. That means I'm losing 16" of bench seat length/storage area, same inside the sun lounge, same with bulkhead storage/lack there of from lounge seat to cabin bulkhead (life jackets, bumpers etc).

In the cuddy it's the same. My settee's are 8" narrower (they're against the liner walls), my vee berth is 16" narrower and about 12" shorter. This also eliminates any storage around the perimeter of the vee berth.

May not sound like a lot but it really is if you compare boat to boat and if you actually stay/weekend on the boat like we do.
By cutting into my liner I've added probably 20% storage space to my boat and it still gets packed full of crap.
In the attached picture you can see the three storage hatches I added to the vee birth and also in the liner above the vee birth.
There are one more on each side of walls not visible in picture and then the two under the settee's are orig.
Did same in sun lounge and cockpit.

http://i290.photobucket.com/albums/l...pixs/cuddy.jpg

Wow, I don't think I like how Sonic did that liner at all. They cut into it for storage space, when Baja molded theirs in. I still think the best method would be like a Boston Whaler and completely foam fill the void, and connect the compartments with PVC pipe for drainage.

Liberty built their 1st factory 26 Outlaw with the original liner installed. They should invite all of us down there to test drive it.....:coolcowboy:

XT

Agreed.
 

No question there's a right and a wrong way. Structurally, in theory....., and assembled properly the hull becomes a monocoque like an F-1 or Indy car.
The 24' Sonic had more flaws than just the liner though ;) Every 24' twin O/B on the planet (except the two I owned and corrected) will have cracks on the deck where the side deck transitions into the transom cap due to lack of support going from an orig. I/O design to O/B's.

I had a 23' Mako walkaround that was also a liner boat. The front & side deck area sucked! In the cut out where the deck line around the cuddy (bellow the gunnel level) was, on the outer wall they mirrored the inside of the hull but held it out 4" - 6".
So the top/opening to that walkway was 18" or so wide but was 10" or 12" on the deck w/that outer wall having a 10* or so angle down.
Know how many times I fell over the side due to that?
It also had molded in storage areas under the vee berth cushions but they were tiny and I never used them.

Only one or two , I heard the yard at the factory
was full of crack ones and thats why brunswick
got rid of Baja.
No liner boats for me , I know of 4 of them
that crack !!!!!!!!!

I heard...
 

same from a friend who had a friend at the factory.

Can´t you just find, or make a small hole somewhere in the liner and fill the void with foam?

The stuff....
 

expands wicked crazy! Parts have to be designed for it.
Way more to it than most of us know/think.
I've looked at several Whalers that had breached hulls and were water logged. Some of the foam types actually breaks down w/time/water/heat also.
I see old center consoles down here where that's happened. I think old Aqua Sports ??
Looked at one that when thumping the side of the hull it sounded like you were hitting the side of an empty plastic trash can! Flexed as much too. Foam was gone.