What is a Webbcraft ??
 

There is a 1987 30' Webbcraft Concorde for sale near me.
It seems like it has a pretty broad beam(I didn't measure) Twin 454 w/Alpha drives, Red, definitly needs TLC.
I've never heard of the Webbcraft name...Anyone
He is asking $24,500, seems kind of steep.
Not that I need another 1987 boat to work on:rolleyes:

I looked at one too back in 1993. It was anew but unsold couple year old model, asking I think around $50k, but I bet I could have gotten it for $30k.) They are a small company in I believe Oklahoma. You see one on boatrader.com every now and again. One was on e-bay a while ago too. The one we looked at was BB/alpha, sheet metal tabs ... fairly low end equipment and rigging in my book.

-Greg

I don't know if they still make the Concord or not but I believe they are still in existance.

Webbcraft
13614 N Old Hwy 169
Collinsville, OK 74021
918-753-7811

Here is a link to another Concord for sale

i owned a 89 webbcraft equalizer w/502's
if was actually a pretty fast boat but small for a 28.
they went out of business in 91 i beleave.

i had a hard time selling do to being relatively unknown.

Pretty sure Webbcraft is out of business. They were built by a man named Bill Webb. At one time he built the largest open bow boats on the market, there are still several concordes on Grand Lake.

I would think that 24,500 might be a bit much especially with A-drives.

A buddy of mine has an '87 with twin smallblocks. They have a 9' beam. His is for sale also, 19k on a trailer.

Yes, they are out of business. I grew up in Collinsville, OK. There are parts, props, and what not all over the place there. Actually, I was home there a couple of weeks ago and my brother-in-law came in with a prop. He wondered if it would fit the Outlaw. Let's just say it would fit a very large boat maybe a cruiser.
Ask Gordo about it. I played a little trick on him with it.

Webbcraft went out of business because of a "freak" fire that burned down the plant. It was a little peculiar. The boats are all over the place around KS and OK. Mostly smaller runabouts.

Webb made a good (small) boat. But the Concords were very heavy and the ride was not very good - for a 30' boat.

Well now thats a lot of info,
thanks
Cig racer, funny you mention that Caddy emblem, when I first saw it from a distance I said to myself, who the hell put a Caddy emblem on that boat.
Now I've got another one....
A guy at my marina has a 1981 39' Chris Craft Scorpion,(damned if it doesn't look like a Cig!) Twin big blocks I couldn't see the drives. He told me "only 11 made and I've got # 9", another one for sale, and looking a little tired, but maybe with a little work.......
Any history on these????

Re: What is a Webbcraft ??
 

Where does everyone get webcraft parts? I bought a 27ft Velota in June. Show room floor condition but needs a switch here or there.

Re: What is a Webbcraft ??
 

I have a had two webbcrafts in the past and I have nothing bad to say about them. They are like most boats in being that they are a knock off of something else with a few changes. I remember when I went from a webbcraft to a baja and could not believe how better built the webbcraft was. Not very sporty but a heavy well built boat.

Re: What is a Webbcraft ??
 

1 word-----JUNK-- :evilb:

Re: What is a Webbcraft ??
 

Thats a good looking boat.

Re: What is a Webbcraft ??
 

They are a heavy boat aren't they lol. I think their almost a Baja Outlaw knockoff. I had mine parked next to an outlaw on the sandbar and the only major difference was mine has a tinited glass winshield where as the outlaw's is made into the boat. If you've seen one you know what I mean.

http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c1...lotaVagina.jpg

Re: What is a Webbcraft ??
 

they were all over loto back in the day. several still exist down there and i have seen several in very good shape. like a lot of these boats from this time frame, they have a lot of wood and teak in them. a lot of maintenance. i have seen several for sale down there, check some of the brokerage lots on the loto websites.

Re: What is a Webbcraft ??
 

I dunno. I don't have hardly any wood in mine. It's all fiberglass or plastic. There's two small cupholder/ashtrays with a wooden holder/mount around them aprox. 8inches by 8inches. That's all though. Was the Velota or the Concorde this nicer model? Or was the velota just the sporty model?

Re: What is a Webbcraft ??
 

The Velota was better, and probably their best original design.

Re: What is a Webbcraft ??
 

Probably. Never seen another webb besides this one. Where would be a good place to get emblems for the side of the boat? new or used. I thought it was 98 (last year they made them) when went to look at it , but heck its a 88 with 400 hours on it

A Little CLarity
 

I've read some of these replys and feel i should come to the defense of Webbcraft. I am employed in the marine industry and have been for many years.( Never by Webbcraft). I have had an opportunity to have a conversation with Mr.Webb perhaps a dozen or so times over the years and I know his boats quite well. I feel some people are being a little harsh on the webbcrafts, and also on the webbs. Webbraft made excellent boats. The Last year they were made was model year 1998( but only a handful). I will agree that webbcraft should have not ventured into the offshore racing market. Their runabouts are terrific boats and to say that they are copys of a cobalt is absurd. Anyone who looks at the Cobalt and Webbcraft models can see two very distinct lines of boats. To say they never had an originl idea is crazy and somewhat insulting. They made well built, heavy, long lasting boats. I will admit that the 28' model( named: Equalizer) was almost a carbon copy of a cigarette, and that they should have stuck with runabouts. But they do deserve credit for building quality boats. They aren't on a plane with Cigarette, Formula, Fountain,etc. , but they are certinaly as good or better than a Baja, Chris-Craft, etc. Don't be afraid to buy a webbcraft runabout. Their Offshore "racers" are a bit doggy. And as people go they are some of the most likeable, and hospitable people in the industry.

I'd have to agree with you on that now. I think the webcraft looks similar to other boats but nothing like a cobalt, especially from the rear.

I have had MANY boats including two webbcrafts. They are a very nice heavy duty built boat. I remember going from the 24 foot webbcraft to the 26 baja and the baja seemed like junk compared to the webbcraft. The baja was faster though.

I have a 91' 8M velota and have found nothing wrong with it. Everything on it is easy to work on and get parts for since they are Mercruiser parts for the drive train, and the rest can be found at any boat shop. It handles and runs as good better than any of my other boats. Just wanted to add this in due to all the bashing. I guess I could have spent 4 times as much to get the same syle of boat with a different name but I think I will use the money I saved to enjoy the one I have.

glad to hear ya on the defense of webbcraft.....seems that the ones that talk bad about them are the ones that have not had one or been in one......well i have one. not a runabout. i don't have any problems going offshore or in any body of water around......it rides and takes sea's as well as the highest end boat made within its length. put throttle there and leave it there......cuts and handles great..... but thats my opinion.

DaleSC

I have had to repair an A Class boat back in the day named Dueces -R- Wild .
The boat needed a lot of HP to go, due to the construction being so heavy. Unfortunately thickness doesn't always add up to strength. The boat was thick, but managed to break the deck several times. Fix 1 spot, it would then break in the next weakest point.

From what I could tell, they had to be using a General Purpose Polyester Resin. The pieces I would take out of the boat were very brittle.

The boat was a hard ride with a very wide pad as it reached to the stern. I don't feel the hull design is anything close to a Cigarette.

For a general purpose boat it is probably fine.
If you plan on running some heavy seas, expect to be making repairs.

1981 was the first year the 390 was built under the Chris name. It is the exact same hull as the 40 Excalibur. Rumor has it some of the earliest year boats were even laid up at the Excalibur factory. If that is true, they would have a hand laid hull, no chopper gun. I have a 1983 Scorpion with 540's in it. In 1982, the 390x won Powerboats Outstanding Offshore Quality of Workmanship award. Boat only weight, 6400 lbs, twin 370 Merc's added another 2740 lbs. Mine ran 62 with 420's and now runs 73-75 with 630 HP 540's and TRS's. Runs and drives just like the Excalibur. Anything else you want I may also have in one of my brochures. Probably going to sell mine because I bought a 43 Black Thunder and the wife says downsize the fleet.

Parts INFO.
 

Hi everyone. I heard from "MR.Lake-XII" that there was a forum on this page talking about Webbcrafts, and people looking for parts and whatnot. I have some help for those of you looking for parts. Especially emblems, crests, etc. I also can answer pretty much all of your questions about Webbcrafts. My name is Alex Webb and my family owned Webbraft for all the years it was in existence. 1972-1997. Lots of changes have taken place at the old plant and what parts were left from years past are in a storage building. If you would e-mail me with parts requests I will do my very best to locate what you need.My e-mail address is [email protected]. I would also like to say thank you to all of our loyal customers. You made it possible for our family to do what we loved for 25 years. Not to shabby I'd say. Please don't hesitate to e-mail me your parts requests. Keep in mind that we don't have tons and tons of parts leftover, but we do have some things and you'll never know what we have until you ask. I'll also keep checking this thread for questions. Again thank you to everyone who supported us, and to offshoreonly.com for putting us all in contact.

Welcome to the board Alex. We had an 18' Webbcraft growing up on Keystone and it was a great boat. Never had a problem with it and it was a heavy thing too. I have always heard great things about your family and it looks like you are living up to their reputation.

We sold the Nexus line of boats back in the late 80's Nexus were built by Brad's son if I'm not mistaken...using the Webbcraft molds. We sold 3 35s and a 28...which looked nothing like a Cigarette 28... it had much more freeboard.

Our experience with Nexus was pretty good...they were an inexpensive alternative to the Cigarettes and Formulas our competitors were selling. They even custom built an orange 35 for us... The 35 was a decent boat...good for lakes and such, but offshore was a different story...

Well built but VERY HEAVY. All that cruiser stuff they packed in there didn't help things but they were laid up like CC's cruisers- heavier schedule than the 70's Cigs, if you can imagine that. Full liner, if I remember correctly. Boat probably has 400's and TRS drives. Might hit 50 if the motors are fresh.

I'm reasonably sure they made more than 11. If you recall, the CC was the original Miami Vice boat, before the Scarab.

My uncle still owns his 1973 webbcraft. i think its about 17-18' bowrider

Yep. The Nexus was built by Brad Webb, and the 28' your talking about is a different 28 than the one being compared to the Cig. And just a side note about the Nexus, they caused a pretty big probelm( a foreseeable one in my opinion) with Webbcraft dealers. Since they were Webbcrafts with different names. Gotta love a family business sometimes don'tcha.

I'm checking on a '86 Webbcraft deck boat. Not sure what model it is actually. It is 21' and has a 260HP engine. Anybody know what the actual model is? This would be my first boat to own and i'm just looking for something to ski behind and party on. Didn't really want to go the pontoon route and don't want to spend a lot of money. Anything I need to be leary of when I actually go look at it?

i remember my father talking about that. it was no big deal here in the northeast, because there were no other dealers nearby, but i remember that it may have been a problem around your home state...

good boats...good people...

Ah yes, I remember that boat. Frank & Joe Bonaduece, or some think like that, from Sumerville, NJ. They had a summer house in Forked River, around the corner from me. The boat was also know as Moly Black Gold. I remember a Longport drive and alot of HP. It was heavy for such a small boat, and quite stiff. Never knew you did some of the repair work for them, small world.

yeap I remenber it racing in plymouth, and NH it took on water at one of the NH races . I thimk a hose let go I liked the boat it was black right.

I was a dealer for Webbcraft
 

Back in the '80s, I owned a boat dealership in Fox Lake Illinois. At the time, we sold Webbcraft and SleekCraft. We later partnered up with some other people in the area and sold Cigarette, Sonic, MasterCraft and Skeeter (I think it was Skeeter). The runabout line that Bill Webb was building at the time were really nice boats. We always stocked a 19', 21 and 23' or 24' open bow models. The build quality was really nice and we managed to sell quite a few of them. Back then, they were considered on par with Cobalt. I remember that the interior construction was particularly nice. Another thing that sticks out in my mind was Webb was always proactive and very accommodating when it came to warranty work. If my memory serves me, Brad Webb owned the trailer company at the time. We sold probably 45 to 50 boats that were used on the Chain of Lakes in Illinois, Lake Geneva in Wisconsin and several large bowriders that went to Chicago for use in Lake Michigan. I spent a lot of time with Bill Webb during that time and got to know him fairly well.

There was a guy by the name of John Sheppleman (I think that was his last name) who was if I remember correctly, the national sales guy. Around 1990 he went off and started a company in Paxton Illinois called Sunray Boats. These were a direct knockoff of the WebbCraft line. I know that the 21' open bow was because he bought one from us and popped a mold from it. Sunray later went under and last time I heard, John was semi-retired and building tail-sections and cockpit fairings for Gambler Sprint Cars and building tail-sections of the C-3 Corvette for a guy who builds and sells car-furniture.

A funny story: Bill Webb came into town to work the Chicago Boat Show with us. This had to be either the '87 or '88 show. We had a 30' SleekCraft Enforcer and Bill brought one of his 30' “sport” boats which again, if I remember correctly, was a new model. We had both boats parked right next to each other on the main floor of the show. Right before the show opened Bill came up to myself and my brother and bet us $1,000 that his 30' "sportboat" would sell before the SleekCraft. It was opening day on Wednesday. On Thursday, a woman (she was a commodities trader with a seat at the Chicago Board of Trade) came waltzing up with her $1,000 per week boytoy (significant money at the time), crawled through both boats and proceeded to crack off a check for the SleekCraft. To make a long story short, Bill never did pay the $1,000 and he ended up taking the boat back to the plant with him after the show. The following weekend this guy shows up to take delivery on his new SleekCraft with a full-sized Pontiac. A company had come up to our store earlier in the week and installed the components for a “load-leveler” hitch. He took off that day headed for Florida with that 30’ boat on the back of a car! I still have pictures somewhere of this clown driving down rt. 12. It looked like a cartoon!

Overall we had a good run with WebbCraft boats, but when one considers where the technology of boat building has gone since then, you couldn’t give me one on a bet. Same goes for SleekCraft. They were good in their day and we did really well selling them, but they cannot even compare to whats out there now.

Hey Airtime!!!!
 

How are things?

I Know Of A 28 That Is For Sale Rigged With Nothing But The Best I Will Get Some Pics Of It.... It Was Called 50 Cal Choppers

very few parts left.
 

I posted on this forum a while back telling people we still had parts left and to let me know what they needed. There was a good response, and now alot of the parts are gone. I still have very old stuff. 20-25 year old stuff. Other than that I have a few old Crests and Nameplates, but you'll have to fight me for them:D Anyhow, it was( and is) great hearing from all you webbcraft owners. If you still need a part you can still email me. It never hurts to ask, just don't hold your breath:D