YCM Sea Trials - Boston Whaler 17 Standard, Yamaha F70!

Sea Trials - Boston Whaler 17 Standard - Yamaha F70!

This one’s heading to Edgewater Florida -literally a mile and a half from the Whaler plant!
The new owner wanted a low maintenance, reliable, hose it off and go Classic 17’ Boston Whaler with as little upholstery as possible.
He spotted our 1997 17 Standard deep within the YCM inventory and requested numbers with a Yamaha F70 re-power.
Sooo many folks want a Classic Whaler, but not the classic two stroke!
At 253 pounds, Yamaha’s F70 is almost always our recommendation for classic 15 and 17 Whaler re-powers.
While these older Whalers can generally handle the weight of heavier outboards, they handle, and ride better with a lighter engine hanging on the transom.
On a 17 Montauk, Super Sport, Standard, etc, the stern sits higher in the water, handles more like a sports car than a muscle car, is more predictable, self bails better, and in following seas, is less likely to take water over the stern - than with a heavier 90 hp four stroke.
She jumped effortlessly on plane, and we were able to reach 40 MPH (with a bimini top up and with bottom paint), which is generally good enough for most!
So, what’s a Boston Whaler Standard? Here’s the story…
Boston Whaler put a wrap on the side console Classic 17 Sport series in 1992 when the last 17 GLS rolled off the Rockland, Massachusetts production floor.
The Commercial Products Division of Boston Whaler however, continued to offer a no-frills, beefed up version called the Alert, which was sold primarily to government and law enforcement agencies.
The Alert hull was made with more fiberglass, a heavier duty rub rail and generally had a molded fiberglass side console, and bench seats made of Starboard.
By 1996 Boston Whaler saw enough demand on the consumer side to offer a non-commercial version of the 17 Alert, which they called the “17 Standard”.
The 17 Standard utilizes the same self bailing 16’ 7” hull as the classic Montauks and Sports that proceeded it. The only exception being the removal of the below deck center rigging channel.
The interior was designed for low maintenance, with Starboard benches and a simple, tough, molded fiberglass side console.
The dated, and always fragile three piece classic Boston Whaler rub rail was also updated -to a heavier duty rubber rail, similar to that which was used on the Commercial side’s Alert.
The Standard’s run was from 1996 to 2000 -and we still get a lot of requests!
She’ll be heading down i95 next week - weather permitting!
YCM a different kind of boat dealer