Baja Marine... relaunching 2026 ??
 

Who has seen the new landing page for Baja Marine? https://bajamarine.com/

Supposedly re-launching in 2026...the smoked-out picture shows outboards on maybe a center console. *rolls eyes* If they get back to their 2005-08 styling (ditch the Fountain influence) and keep costs realistic, they might have a shot and getting some of us to jump up to new models.

https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.off...e743d44c8.jpeg

Interesting thanks for sharing

I would love to see Baja make a comeback. Just my opinion, but I always felt the big Islanders were a way to sell boats. People still want large bowriders with lots of space but still have some noise & performance. Not everyone wants a center console but a fast boat with space that's relatively affordable is the ticket IMO.

Agree 100%. IMHO, the 252, 272, and 292 Baja Islanders were some of the best boats available in that type. Of course I am biased but still...something about the styling, the multi-color gel coat, the interior...it just all came together. To this day, when people see my boat they cannot believe it is 25 years old or more.

Stepped bottoms in the 33,35 and 40 OL would probably have been a good seller and helped performance

Step hull definitely made them go aster, however for ride in the chop (very common at LOTO :rolleyes:, The media etc always wanted to ride with me because they felt more solid of a ride.

I agree the 33 and the 40 were great hulls (I had both), 33 molds were destroyed but the 40 Mold is still out back at Iconic.

Biggest problem in last number of years, other than only thing selling was CC's, was cost to build. Baja was always the budget styled Cigarette, "bang for the buck" performance. Hard to find the price point when everything costs the same to build.

Luckily I am privy to some of the new direction, will be interesting to where it lands. I am hoping for the best. Now..... If they would just ask me how to run it, it would probably work even better.....:D:ernaehrung004:

agreed
we looked at many used one this past year before we picke dup the liberator
islander is a perfect fit for many and can scooot and insurance seems to like them better ?
i hope they come out strong and not rinse and repeat.
costs of drive-trains is/are horribly expensive compared to the rest of the boat , but modern engines are so much more dependable for the weekend family boat times

I had a picture sent to me back when Brunswick gave Baja to Reggie back around 08/09 and they had a 40 OL deck mocked up on top of 42 fountain hull, it had about a 2’ gap between them to get the freeboard right and still had the beak on it.

Then the banking crisis hit and it never came about

I have a lot of Baja literature from over the years and you know, they seemed to deliberately eschew the stepped-bottom hulls, instead promoting their "Stable-Vee" hulls. I know a lot has been written about the pros and cons of both...for those that have had stepped versus non-stepped...your thoughts? Bajaholic, I believe you are saying the non-stepped is 'better' in the conditions you typically see at LOTO?

I'm not saying it is better, I am saying it is a different ride. When we used to do the Poker Runs, I was generally in the 2nd pack. (up to90 mph) I could never keep up with the stepped hulls, but when it got choppy, the straight bottom just pushed through when everyone else slowed down.

I just put the tabs down a couple of notches and raised the nose and it was a respectable ride. I never had people screaming to slow down or "white" when we stopped. Maybe it was my driving, but honestly, I say it was the stable ride of the flat bottom.

We just smiled when everyone else went by when the water was smooth, but we were still smiling when we got to the card stops as well. (FYI, we were generally in the 70-75 mph range)

From what I have heard, (wink wink) They will not be the Baja's of yesterday, but a slightly new direction. Again, I hope for the best.