Pacecraft boats

[syke-o]

I saw a fwe placecraft deck boats this weekend in havasu and was wondering what everyone thinks of them. They look like a nice set up for a small deck boat....

[01RENEGADE]

We were out this last weekend and also saw a few placecraft boats. IMO they are the nicest deckboat for that size. Not sure what they run but they look good.

[STGP]

A friend of mine just took delivery of one last month, I have only spoke to him breifly since his first time out. He has a 496HO, I'll be interested to see top speed when he gets it broke in. I'll post his report shortly.

[jbtrailerjim]

Yah, I saw a few last weekend also. Nice looking boat. I considered buying one but wanted something a little bigger with a mid cabin. I visited there place in El Monte where they rig them. Not sure who lay's up the hull's for them. The father and son rig the boats themselves. Nice guy's and I was really impressed with there boat. If I remember right they told me the boat runs in the low 70's with a 496mag (375hp).

[Back To Havasu]

You might want to contact Zuumer (Ron Priscilla) on the boards. He has a new Placecraft with a 496 Mag HO. Saw him in the channel at Havasu two weeks ago. He is the Mercruiser specialist at Lakeland Marine, and a very nice guy. wink

[bigq]

I like them, nice looking deck.
Here is Zummers
http://www.***boat.com/image_center/data/520/698NewBoat_005-med.jpg
I think this was Frank Places' boat
http://www.***boat.com/image_center/data/500/107placecraft-med.jpg

[SL1111]

I have a 2001 Placecraft. I bought Ron and Scott's Demo Boat from that year. They have always been very helpful. My boat has a 454 MAG MPI. Turning a 24p Bravo prop. Low to mid 70's depending on on-board load and has always ran strong. Does well in cross chop and rough water. I am very happy with it. E-mail me if you want more info....

[Cs19]

i hae seen a green/white one on the needles area of the river with a blown motor and a jetdrive. ran over 100 with like 6 guys on it. no bullshit.i think it was in ***boat, i was very impressed.

[syke-o]

what kind of bottom is on that boat?

[ROZ]

syke-o:
what kind of bottom is on that boat? I think it's a deep-V... :p :D

[LVjetboy]

PlaceCraft deckboats? Someone sold out? Now I hope the buyer goes under. Like Farrari yielding to financial pressure and offering a combo SUV Motorhome. Sure it'd be fast for the breed, but what's the point? Doesn't Farrari stand for anything? Or PlaceCraft? An all-purpose SUV soccer mom sports boat jack of all trades...master of none? In my opinion, deckboats are a disgrace to the formally exclusive PlaceCraft name, legend, and passion.
jer
[ October 11, 2003, 03:08 AM: Message edited by: LVjetboy ]

[Rexone]

Just like Maytag should only make washing machines,
GE should only make light bulbs,
Ford should only make Model T's,
Cat should only make traditional bulldosers,
Hershey should only make chocolate bars,
Wrigleys should only make Spearment gum...
Perhaps Place wanted to make some $ by building what people want and are buying? :rolleyes:

[Goodtime$]

The placecraft is a great boat, i dont know why you have to knock it, claiming a sell out. That means that every boat maker is a sell out, i dont see too many new flat bottoms being made?
change is constant in the world.
its a great value, fast with a big motor and room for all the friends, what more do you want in a boat for that size?

[LVjetboy]

Mike, I care less about who makes appliances or light bulbs...or how they diversify for profit copy?
About my jet? Yes, I'm very passionate.
PlaceCraft used to mean exclusive as in Drag Boat! A very fast lake boat here and there. Either way, a specialty high-performance hull meant to go fast, NOT meant to carry family and friends. Now PlaceCraft's a freakin' Lake Winnebago? With enough expensive blower power sure, very fast, in the end...no less a lake bus.
Bogus!
To me that's like designing a vette to carry ten of your party buddies. Never mind the vette a premium sports car, with a passionate following. Inspired long ago by someone's vision and passion to take a stand and fight the system...now it's just about money right? Hell, let's make an SUV-soccer-mom-vette what do you think? Capitalize on the name, combine that with the latest craze and someone else's hard work...make a buck. What do you think?
Freakin' corporate thinking going on here Mike.
Similar corporate thinking bucked to get the vette born in the first place?? And gee wiz, all that extra room for friends and family...who could question that feature? Who cares about roots after all? Sell to the highest bidder and cave to mass-marketing like HBM. The rest of us don't dare question in hopes of change. After all, sensible ones know it's all about profit, right?
Where's those brave enough to follow the passion, not marketing, bean counters and bullshit? Think about how all great visions are born. Are they from majority vote of a committee or business focused on profit? I think not. I think from passion and vision of an individual bucking the "system" no matter the profit.
jer
[ October 12, 2003, 03:05 AM: Message edited by: LVjetboy ]

[Rexone]

jer I have nothing against legends and all believe me. Simple fact is though Place (or any boat company) would go out of business if it didn't build what people were into. Not that many into new 18' jet dragsters these days in case you haven't looked around the lake lately. A few sure, enough to keep a business viable today, not hardly. It's not what people want to buy. So it's much more than corporate mentality jer, it's about survival of the company point blank. A defunct company doesn't build many dragster legends either.
And yes if Chevy thought they could sell 10 passenger corvettes I think they'd be all over it. :D

[MagicMtnDan]

LVjetboy:
Mike, I care less about who makes appliances or light bulbs...or how they diversify for profit copy?
About my jet? Yes, I'm very passionate.
PlaceCraft used to mean exclusive as in Drag Boat! A very fast lake boat here and there. Either way, a specialty high-performance hull meant to go fast, NOT meant to carry family and friends. Now PlaceCraft's a freakin' Lake Winnebago? With enough expensive blower power sure, very fast, in the end...no less a lake bus.
Bogus!
To me that's like designing a vette to carry ten of your party buddies. Never mind the vette a premium sports car, with a passionate following. Inspired long ago by someone's vision and passion to take a stand and fight the system...now it's just about money right? Hell, let's make an SUV-soccer-mom-vette what do you think? Capitalize on the name, combine that with the latest craze and someone else's hard work...make a buck. What do you think?
Freakin' corporate thinking going on here Mike.
Similar corporate thinking bucked to get the vette born in the first place?? And gee wiz, all that extra room for friends and family...who could question that feature? Who cares about roots after all? Sell to the highest bidder and cave to mass-marketing like HBM. The rest of us don't dare question in hopes of change. After all, sensible ones know it's all about profit, right?
Where's those brave enough to follow the passion, not marketing, bean counters and bullshit? Think about how all great visions are born. Are they from majority vote of a committee or business focused on profit? I think not. I think from passion and vision of an individual bucking the "system" no matter the profit.
jer I don't know anything about Placecraft boats but I can tell you that you sound like a lot of Porsche people who were whining when Porsche announced they were going to be making...an SUV!
The Cayenne is the best performing SUV on road and if you're wealthy enough to take it off road it'll outperform most SUVs off road as well (as long as it has offroad tires on it). Well, the Cayenne's performance has silenced the whiners.
Sometimes the only thing that doesn't change is people's perceptions.

[MagicMtnDan]

LVjetboy
Mike, I care less about who makes appliances or light bulbs...or how they diversify for profit copy?
About my jet? Yes, I'm very passionate.
PlaceCraft used to mean exclusive as in Drag Boat! A very fast lake boat here and there. Either way, a specialty high-performance hull meant to go fast, NOT meant to carry family and friends. Now PlaceCraft's a freakin' Lake Winnebago? With enough expensive blower power sure, very fast, in the end...no less a lake bus.
Bogus!
To me that's like designing a vette to carry ten of your party buddies. Never mind the vette a premium sports car, with a passionate following. Inspired long ago by someone's vision and passion to take a stand and fight the system...now it's just about money right? Hell, let's make an SUV-soccer-mom-vette what do you think? Capitalize on the name, combine that with the latest craze and someone else's hard work...make a buck. What do you think?
Freakin' corporate thinking going on here Mike.
Similar corporate thinking bucked to get the vette born in the first place?? And gee wiz, all that extra room for friends and family...who could question that feature? Who cares about roots after all? Sell to the highest bidder and cave to mass-marketing like HBM. The rest of us don't dare question in hopes of change. After all, sensible ones know it's all about profit, right?
Where's those brave enough to follow the passion, not marketing, bean counters and bullshit? Think about how all great visions are born. Are they from majority vote of a committee or business focused on profit? I think not. I think from passion and vision of an individual bucking the "system" no matter the profit.
jerI don't know anything about Placecraft boats but I can tell you that you sound like a lot of Porsche people who were whining when Porsche announced they were going to be making...an SUV!
The Cayenne is the best performing SUV on road and if you're wealthy enough to take it off road it'll outperform most SUVs off road as well (as long as it has offroad tires on it). Well, the Cayenne's performance has silenced the whiners.
Sometimes the only thing that doesn't change is people's inability to accept change.
[ October 12, 2003, 08:37 AM: Message edited by: MagicMtnDan ]

[bigq]

syke-o:
what kind of bottom is on that boat? to Answer your question, it is a tunnel bottom. Placecraft was knwon obviously for the placediverter and being the fastest Jetboat. He builds limited quantity a year and does a great job. The Shop is down in Elmonte I believe. Great attention to detail and solid build. I like them.

[jbtrailerjim]

LVjetboy:
PlaceCraft deckboats? Someone sold out? Now I hope the buyer goes under. Like Farrari yielding to financial pressure and offering a combo SUV Motorhome. Sure it'd be fast for the breed, but what's the point? Doesn't Farrari stand for anything? Or PlaceCraft? An all-purpose SUV soccer mom sports boat jack of all trades...master of none? In my opinion, deckboats are a disgrace to the formally exclusive PlaceCraft name, legend, and passion.
s.
jer Give me a break. :rolleyes: If they continued building the same boats over the years; they would be out of business.
[ October 12, 2003, 05:20 PM: Message edited by: jbtrailerjim ]

[syke-o]

bigq:
syke-o:
what kind of bottom is on that boat? to Answer your question, it is a tunnel bottom. Placecraft was knwon obviously for the placediverter and being the fastest Jetboat. He builds limited quantity a year and does a great job. The Shop is down in Elmonte I believe. Great attention to detail and solid build. I like them. thanks, that is the answer i was looking for :)

[LVjetboy]

Glad you got your answer syko. So you won't mind if I go off-topic a bit?
Now I'm wondering about this going-out-of-business mantra I'm hearing.
You know the theme...if a business doesn't make big boats these days, well alrighty then, they'll just go out of business. 'Cause every one "knows" there's no future for 18-19' boats these days. Yachts chopping up the waters these days and all. Never mind companies like Sea Do filling the void. Other potential small boat customers forced to buy the used market, because nobody makes the type of boat they want. Even hot boat magazine used that theme to justify straying from their roots. Or was it a maximum profit thing?
Anyone out there feel the same?
How many PC's per year did the old PlaceCraft build in the early 90's when I bought mine? I doubt drag and lake boat PC's were ever then, or will be now a high-volume commodity. More of a specialty? How many did they build before that?
Has there really been a drastic drop in demand for small high performance boats, or just a bigger increase in demand for deck boats? Those two different things. Sure if you wanna maximize profit...go with main stream volume. Crank out those lake Winnabegos. But to me, small high performance hot boats have NEVER BEEN ABOUT VOLUME!
I bought my PlaceCraft in 91, I doubt even then there was BIG VOLUME in drag boats. Yet the company still made them.
BOGUS!
jer

[LAPD Gary]

The Place Deck was designed by Frank Place after he owned another 21ft. jet deck boat that he felt had a low freeboard (after it took some water over the bow at Havasu). I'm pretty sure Frank does'nt get too involved with the building of these boats anymore as that co. has evolved into a separate branch from his orig. divertor co. in La Habra. Only thing I can say is it is best powered by an I/O as you need a ton of HP to make it run with a jet drive.
As for staying "true" to it's roots, you can't knock anyone for changing their products for custormer demand. Bob Leach of Eliminator sold all kinds of 18-21ft. hulls that were'nt his designs (ie: Liberty/Spectra formula/Scorpion/Stoker) to pad the profit margins as not everyone wanted a 19 ft. Daytona. It obviously made good money for him to expand his line to meet demands of the time.
If you want a boat maker who stays to his roots, go to Calif. Performance. Bill Scotten still only makes 3 styles of low freeboard jet boats. But remember, that business is a hobby for him as he's made his profits in other ventures. Just remember, he has final say on whether your color scheme will be allowed and he won't sell you a boat if he thinks you're too inexperienced to drive it.
To each his own, there's pros and cons any way you slice it when it comes to "purity"/LOL

[OMEGA_BUBBLE_JET]

Hey Jer,
what are you gonna do the first time one of these 'motorhomes' outruns your ass???? :p The world turns man and people's interests change. the same way most car manufacters now build front wheel drive automobiles with 4 bangers when 25 years ago just about everything was rear wheel drive with V-8's. I wish GM would have never stopped building the 1967 chevelle. Does that mean I should BITCH and complain because they did. NO. they are driven by the market. Bottom line the demand for 2 seater drag boats is slim to none. 25 years ago they were hot. So were rear wheel drive muscle cars. Now Honda Civic's with huge mehcanical aluminum spoilers rule the roads. times change and company's have to adapt to the demand of the customer not the customer to the demands of the company.
Omega

[LVjetboy]

Ya I've met Bill. He made my transom adapter, then chewed me out when I told him I "cut" it to fit. "You never cut fiberglass, only grind it!" But he's cool and it's good to hear there's a few still specializing.
I just wonder if demand has dropped that much or just a perception. Aren't more people buying boats of all types these days? So as a percentage, small boat demand less. But in total numbers would it be less? If more mfg's offered them that is.
Omega, A lake 'Beggo out run me? Well then I suppose I'd chill, crank up my stereo and hope he had less speakers :) Always someone faster...
jer

[OMEGA_BUBBLE_JET]

LVjetboy:
I just wonder if demand has dropped that much or just a perception. Aren't more people buying boats of all types these days? So as a percentage, small boat demand less. But in total numbers would it be less? If more mfg's offered them that is. you got to keep in mind this generation 'y' are some strange mofo's. have you seen that element thing that Honda makes. the damn thing is plastic with rubber floors and calls itself an SUV. Now my 5.3L vortec pushrod gas guzzling V-8 Tahoe is an SUV. face it you're just getting old...... :D wink
LVjetboy:
Omega, A lake 'Beggo out run me? Well then I suppose I'd chill, crank up my stereo and hope he had less speakers :) Always someone faster...
jer very true. there always is someone faster. So have you seen triple digits with your new setup yet. (not stirring just curious)
Omega

[Blown 472]

LVjetboy:
Omega, A lake 'Beggo out run me? Well then I suppose I'd chill, crank up my stereo and hope he had less speakers :) Always someone faster...
jer Did hell just freeze over?? or is this the lighter side of Jer??? :p :p

[RotorHead]

I hate to change the subject back again but.... How many of these boats are built a year? Actual length? Price with a big block? I've seen a few about and they look pretty tits. I tried to research them and didn't get anywhere. Thanks in advance for your help.

[LVjetboy]

Blown, only the dark side.
RotorHead? Reminds me of Hueys. Back when PlaceCraft built dragboats, I saw one at the HydroBowl and searched for info too...no luck. Finally a little old librarian researched it and got me a number to someone who used to own the company. When I called them, they said sorry we sold, but hooked me up with Mr. Hamilton. Thank god. If it wasn't for her...
But I'm telling you, I came a c*nt hair short of buying a Kachina just because they had lots of info and there was so little info on PlaceCraft. And you wonder why they went out of business? Could it be poor marketing? Have you seen any ads for PC deck boats in HBM?
jer
[ October 14, 2003, 12:16 AM: Message edited by: LVjetboy ]