Quality of Advantage Victory
 

Looking for some opinions, what does everyone think about the 27 Advantage Victory. I have been looking at a few of them but don't know much about them. Are they a quality boat or do they have some known issues. I have also notice it does not look like they have changed much on these boats since at the mid to late 90s. How do they do in rough water?

I drove one of these for a few summers. I say drove because the boat wasn't mine, I just used it all the time. It was the mid-cabin, open bow version and had a windshield. Was a great boat to drive and handled well. Planned off well even when loaded with 9 people and coolers. The only issue I ever noticed on it was that the front cleats are in a weird position (too far forward) for tying up to other boat and the hinges on the engine hatch were always coming loose or pulling out. Other than that, there was lots of storage room and never another issue with the boat.

Can't say alot about the 27, but my 32 Victory handles rough water fine. I'm sure the 5 ft less may be a little less comfy. As for storage, my 32 has adequate but not lots! It's a closed bow and all the berth is used for is storage. Since I don't use the head (don't want to haul sh%% around), it is used for storage as well. Again, not knowing the 27, mine planes fast and runs very flat with little or no bow rise. The fit and finish is on par with most custom boat builds. Good luck!

I had a 2000 model 27 and now have a 2005 model 28 Victory. The quality is very good and you get a lot of boat for the money. They are not the fastest or the flashiest, but they are built solid. No 27' boat rides good in the rough.

Friend has a 32 MCOB here in Ohio. Nice boat and handles well, cockpit layout is very nice and roomy. Build quality looks good. They've only had it for one season so I can't tell you long term results but so far they've only had a couple of very minor issues with motors. Can't blame Advantage for those though. Nice thing is it has plenty of room in the engine compartment to work on them. ;)

Two things that stood out to me:
1. The "step hull" doesn't look to be a real step to me. It isn't very deep (like two finger depth) and only goes down the bottom of hull about a foot, maybe a little less. I can fit my whole fist in my Fountain steps, and they go all the way down the hull to meet the step on the other side. Not a big deal but it's something I noticed.
2. The cabin isn't closed off and so it fills up with water if you get caught in a rain shower. Boat doesn't have any drains/pumps up front. If you're looking at a enclosed cabin you shouldn't have that issue though.

Thank You all this is exactly the type of info I was looking for. it is the MCOB I have been looking at. Big Slow How does the ride compare to your Baja?

mine is a MCOB and has doors on the front and rear of the cabin. My 27 did as well. I do believe that they were an option though. After all, they are built and used mainly where it doesn't rain. I would bet that you can still get the doors from advantage as I don't think they have changed the hulls.

Theirs has the doors as well but they're just a flat plastic piece that slides out of the side pocket. They don't sit in a track that actually seals the cabin from water coming in. They just slide out of the pocket and hang and there is about a 1/4" gap from the bottom of door to the floor. I would actually consider it more of just a wind screen than an actual door. They do lock so I guess that is the only reason I would put them in the door category.

Water has also filled up their seat storage up in the bow with no way to get it out other than bailing it out with a cup/wet vac.

Quality is good. The 22 degree dead rise is not good for a rough water boat.

KCHOTBOAT aside from the holiday weekends how do you think it would do at the LOTOs I plan on taking it there and the river.

I agree you get a lot of boat for the $$. My 25 Citation bottom is based off the 27 Victory and in rougher water (3-4' slop) it definitely becomes a drivers boat but totally handles it. I've boated LOTO a few times for the Support Our Troops run and also a couple of the Great Lakes without any issues or feeling like I didn't have enough boat. (I've not seen LOTO at its worst tho and I hear that lake can get angry.) Just adjust your speed and trim for the conditions and operate intelligently.

Advantage does make a solid boat and mine does not show more than a few small stress cracks in areas you would expect it. In the 7 years I've owned mine I've not had one issue with build quality, rigging, etc. In fact with the higher end materials Advantage uses if the boat is well cared for many times they will look "new" for a long time.

A friend of mine has had two Advantages at the Ozarks. He had a 27 then stepped up to a 34. He couldn't get away from the built-in blender I guess.
He sold his 27 probably 4 years ago. As far as I know, the new owners are over in Papa Chubby's cove across from TanTara.

I have a 27 victory closed bow that's been used in everything from small local lakes to the Pacific Ocean and lake Powell. It handles rough water pretty well, should be no prob on LOTO. no it won't ride like a 38 cigarette, but it's comfortable. As far as build quality, one thing that always stands out to me is my drive alignment is never out, it's always spot on which tells me in the pounding, the motor isn't moving and neither is the hull. No stress cracks in. Mine after 14 years. As said, not the fastest hull and honestly doesn't like going over 80, but runs well with moderate power. Overall it's a great family boat with more room than any other 27-29' boat I've been in. Any other questions feel free to ask.
-Tom