Old Starcraft Boats For Sale

Old Starcraft boats are aluminum runabouts and fishing boats built across the 1960s, 70s and 80s, and they still turn up regularly on the used market as solid, fishable hulls. The lineup that shows up most among older Starcraft boats includes the Holiday from the mid-1960s and the Islander of the early 1980s, typically rigged as 18- to 20-foot family fishing platforms with cuddy cabins. These classic Starcraft boats suit anglers who want a heavy, stable aluminum hull they can repower and outfit rather than a finished showpiece, and most carry the marks of long ownership rather than recent restoration.

Sorting vintage Starcraft boat models by year helps set expectations. A 1966–67 Starcraft Holiday is a sterndrive aluminum boat with the wooden transom exposed on the inside of the hull, which makes condition easy to verify. A 1976 Starcraft 18-footer runs a 120 MerCruiser, a 120-horsepower four-cylinder driving an SEI 106 outdrive, often paired with a 9.9 Johnson kicker for trolling. The 1984 Starcraft Islander, around 19 to 20 feet, sold recently for $11,000 with a clean hull, almost no waterline staining and a roller trailer with guide-pole extensions; it was clearly kept by an owner who fished it at night.

Power on these boats is typical of the era. The 1984 Islander uses a 2.5-liter GM Iron Duke rated near 120 horsepower, hooked to an OMC drive, while the 1976 18-footer pairs its MerCruiser 120 with a kicker fed by a shower tower that pumps cooling water up over the small outboard's gearbox. The Iron Duke is a strong, simple engine, and both boats start readily after winter storage when the fuel and batteries are sound. Restored Starcraft boats often add modern touches such as lithium batteries, a NOCO Genius onboard charger, an electric fuel pump with a pressure gauge, fish finders and downriggers including Cannon electrics and a center Walker unit.

Build quality is the main reason these boats outlast their model years. The aluminum hull holds up well, and because the transom wood sits well above the bottom of the boat with the drain hole below it, water in the bilge rarely reaches the structural wood. The most common problem when restoring a Starcraft aluminum boat is the seal where the outdrive mounts to the transom: dried, cracked sealant there can open a quarter-inch gap and let water in fast, fixed by cleaning the joint, applying 3M marine-grade silicone, drawing the gap closed and snugging the aluminum mounting bolts. Trim systems are another weak point, since old trim pumps leak down under load; replacing the pump and lift cylinders, as on the 1976 hull with SEI Marine parts, restores reliable trim hold.

Shoppers looking at vintage Starcraft aluminum boats for sale should test-fire the engine on muffs, confirm strong water flow from the lower unit, check the bilge pump and blower switches before launch, and verify charging output near 14 volts. Budget for fuel-system work, since old tanks and lines collect sludge and old fuel connectors pop loose under tilt. For used Starcraft boats for sale by owner, a solid floor, good transom wood and a recently serviced outdrive matter more than cosmetics, because a clean-running 40- to 50-year-old hull can still be a dependable fishing boat for a modest price.