Posted: November 20 2007 at 01:29 | IP Logged

Hi Kcolney,

G. Dale Murray bought out the original Chris Craft in 1980 and as part of the deal had to have a name that was different from the original Chris Craft.  So if you are looking for a 1980-1988 Chris Craft it will be a Murray Chris Craft.  Most of the boats Murray Chris Craft built were the same as those built by the original Chris Craft and were built in the same factories by the same people and to the same standards as the original Chris Craft boats. Their quality is quite similar.

But Murray did have trouble in the late 1980s with the Amerosport 250 one of the smaller high speed runabouts which developed hull cracks.  This is the only Chris Craft that I know of which had structural problems.  Chris Craft voluntarily recalled the Amerosports after Boat US publicised the problem.  I don't think this was true of any boats above 30' but the best thing to do is to have a competant surveyor check over your prospective boat before you buy it.

The Murray Chris Craft Constellation 500 forum is dedicated to one type of boat built by Murray at a factory in Swansboro, NC.  This boat was originally a 46' motor yacht and was built by Pacemaker to a David Martin design from 1977 to 1980.  After Pacemaker went out of business Uniflite built them from 1981 to 1984 at which time Uniflite foundered and was bought out by Murray who built the 46' and an extended 50' model from 1985 to 1988.  So the Murray Chris Craft Constellations are not descendants of the original Chris Craft.  Their heritage comes from Pacemaker and Uniflite.

Pete37

Posted: November 20 2007 at 08:31 | IP Logged

kcolney - I've surveyed many of these 80's model 33 series Chris Crafts.  As with all vessel of this vintage, you'll want a surveyor to give her an in-depth Condition and Valuation (C&V) survey.  You most likely won't have a choice the bank and/or insurance company will require one anyway.   These boats are very strudy vessels.  They were known to be very heavy and somewhat over-built. With the Deep-V hull and 18 degree deadrise they will take some pretty heavy seas.  I rarely find many, if any, blisters on the bottoms and I've never found one with a serious bottom issue.  You'll want your surveyor to pay special attention to high moisture content or rotten core in the decks and toe rails.  Rarely will you find one of the mid-80's that won't exhibit moisture intrusion (this can be said of most any boat that has some years on her).  The is especially true if she has had a deck mounted windlass.  Your surveyor should percussion sound the decks and utilize a moisture meter on any areas of concern.  Never ran across one with stringer problems either, not to say that there aren't some out there of course.  I almost bought one of these several years back but the wife talked me out of it and we bought a 381 Catalina instead.  Hope this helps and have a great Thanksgiving!