# 78 Potter SeaCraft 20



## Ali Bobba 2 (Aug 22, 2015)

Heres some pics of my 78 (2018) Potter Hull Seacraft 20. I had the boat restored from the stringers up in the beginning of 18' and its been a love affair ever since...


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## Forcefed (Aug 5, 2016)

Holy
Boat
Envy !!!!!


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## Darkstar (Feb 2, 2017)

I’ve always loved the lines of those hulls! Beautiful boat.


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## devrep (Feb 22, 2009)

Awesome!


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## lemaymiami (Feb 9, 2007)

Wish I'd never sold mine (a '76 Potter hull - the baby SF18, actually 18'10").


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## Flatbroke426 (May 5, 2018)

P


Ali Bobba 2 said:


> Heres some pics of my 78 (2018) Potter Hull Seacraft 20. I had the boat restored from the stringers up in the beginning of 18' and its been a love affair ever since...
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By far the greatest Hull I’ve ever owned. You have a great boat. Wish I could find my old ‘76 and get her back


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## Ali Bobba 2 (Aug 22, 2015)

Thanks for the kind words everyone. Yes I’ve been blown away by the ride and overall performance from its shallow draft to taking on nasty ocean swell to absolutely devouring 1-2’ chop. I plan to keep this as lifetime boat.


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## devrep (Feb 22, 2009)

I've always wanted a 20 foot classic SeaCraft. Would be a great project but I'm starting to get a little old for major projects


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## fishbone (Feb 17, 2015)

Ali Bobba 2 said:


> Heres some pics of my 78 (2018) Potter Hull Seacraft 20. I had the boat restored from the stringers up in the beginning of 18' and its been a love affair ever since...
> View attachment 58290
> View attachment 58286
> View attachment 58288
> ...





devrep said:


> I've always wanted a 20 foot classic SeaCraft. Would be a great project but I'm starting to get a little old for major projects


Were


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## fishbone (Feb 17, 2015)

[QUOTE="fishbon, post: 540820, member: 8494" Were did you get the umbrella,very nice boat


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## FlyBy (Jul 12, 2013)

Sweeeeet!


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## Ali Bobba 2 (Aug 22, 2015)

fishbon said:


> [QUOTE="fishbon, post: 540820, member: 8494" Were did you get the umbrella,very nice boat


It's called a Mantis by Pro-Tech. I'm honestly not super happy with it considering its pretty pricey and doesn't handle wind as well as I'd like. I'll be adding a top at some point, but was hoping it'd get me by temporarily. It does provide some relief and has a ton of mounting options and works well for calm days when stationary. Folds up really small as well quickly...


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## TidewateR (Nov 11, 2009)

what a beaut! & perfect motor choice. Congrats

I looked hard at these hills before deciding to go a different route. Still find myself clicking through pics of those 20’ seacrafts tho


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## sidelock (Jan 31, 2011)

Awesome boats, I can't wrap my head around why someone hasn't recovered the molds and started reproducing them. I have an original 1975 18 SF and although it's in great shape, it has a 20" transom so at some point in time I would like to raise the transom and restore the hull. Who did your restoration if you don't mind me asking ?
Like many others on here, I'm having problems uploading pictures from a file for whatever reason.


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## Stevie (Jun 27, 2017)

Why do we have to keep this thread alive? That’s one of my favorite boats I’ve never owned!?!


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## LowHydrogen (Dec 31, 2015)

Stevie said:


> Why do we have to keep this thread alive? That’s one of my favorite boats I’ve never owned!?!


Wait.... There's a boat you haven't owned?? Lol

@Ali Bobba 2 that is a stunner!!


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## Flatbroke426 (May 5, 2018)

I ran my old Sea Craft with a Merc 175 She would yank the feet out from under you and the rougher the day the faster she wanted to run.. DAMN I MISS THAT HULL!


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## Flatbroke426 (May 5, 2018)

I ran my old Sea Craft with a Merc 175 She would yank the feet out from under you and the rougher the day the faster she wanted to run


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## chiphill (Aug 26, 2013)

Gorgeous! Tastefully done restoration!


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## Forcefed (Aug 5, 2016)

I’d be lying if I didn’t say this thread was part of my motivation to find a 20’ of my own.


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## Net 30 (Mar 24, 2012)

I think that one above might be my old boat!


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## Forcefed (Aug 5, 2016)

Net 30 said:


> I think that one above might be my old boat!


repowered in Miami ? If so this is prob your old rig.


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## BassFlats (Nov 26, 2018)

As for reproducing the Seacraft hull. Many boat manufacturers have copied the variable deadrise hull. My neighbors 23' Sailfish was almost identical to my brother in laws 23' Seacraft.


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## monzi (Apr 8, 2009)

nice boat, good restore


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## Ed C (Mar 8, 2020)

Ali Bobba 2 said:


> Heres some pics of my 78 (2018) Potter Hull Seacraft 20. I had the boat restored from the stringers up in the beginning of 18' and its been a love affair ever since...
> View attachment 58290
> View attachment 58286
> View attachment 58288
> ...


Beautiful boat, just puchased a 20 and want to almost replicate yours. What console and leaning post did you go with, and what size ad degree is your stainless bracket? Thanks


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## kjsea (Aug 24, 2015)

How do you like the trailer, any complaints am looking for a new one for my 20cc seacraft. Ameritrail easy to work with?


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## CuzzyBubba (Apr 13, 2020)

Nice SeaCraft! I'm struggling with whether to enclose the transom on my '78 18SF. It rides so perfectly I'm afraid to change anything with the setup.


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## lemaymiami (Feb 9, 2007)

Bubba, are you talking about re-doing the transom and adding a bracket? That would greatly change the handling characteristics on that 18 (maybe for the better - maybe not...). What that setup was originally designed for was to have splashboards - two of them, hinged together, one on top of the other across that inlet in front of the motor well (you needed to be able to drop the top board when the motor needed to be raised to the horizontal... I had the lower one on my 18 - but never went to the trouble to add the second one... My splashboard was five quarters mahogany with five or six coats of polyurethane way back then (early eighties...). Like most have said - wish I'd never sold her.








This pic was taken during the restoration in the early eighties - you'll note the indentation at the top of the gunnels at the motor well (you could make a motor hood for it if you chose...) it carries all the way around to the front where the splash board was mounted (not in place for this pic....).








This pic shows the custom bait wells and the finished stern of my 18. In this pic the splashboard is laid down and barely visible in front of the motor. I commercial hook and lined with this rig in the mid- eighties working solo one or two days a week. There were some days I was 30 miles offshore with her... That low transom design that was the bane of 20' foot hulls was pretty much sorted out with the 18... Even with a low transom I never worried about getting overtaken from the stern by a wave... the splashboard solved that problem...

Like I said, wish I'd never sold it... After the initial Potter built hulls (seventies - mine was a stolen/recovered 1976 model...) sold out. The brand was taken somewhere else and produced for a few years until it was finally taken in as one of Bass Pro Shop offerings... but they were cheaply rigged out and didn't have a very good reputation at all in those years.. I have no idea where the molds ended up...


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## sidelock (Jan 31, 2011)

Some would also argue if you take a huge one over the bow, the open transom will dump the water out but a closed transom can't. 1975, 18 SF


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## Forcefed (Aug 5, 2016)

An 18 I worked on with a co-worker to repaint and do some restoration on.


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## Ali Bobba 2 (Aug 22, 2015)

kjsea said:


> How do you like the trailer, any complaints am looking for a new one for my 20cc seacraft. Ameritrail easy to work with?


Sorry I don't come on here as much so I'm late to reply. Yes Ameritrail was awesome to work with. It tows extremely nice and balanced. Their construction, materials, and welds are as good as any of the more high end trailers. They were also about 30 min from me and took 3 weeks to build. Loading and unloading is exceptionally easy as well. It's really a custom fit. I personally am all about overkill/ quality componets when it comes to trailers. I have a very beefy custom Competitor trailer for my Lt25 Gheenoe and a Pace Optima enclosed full aluminum trailer. The Ameritrail was more pricy compared to others, but I feel like it was totally worth it and sets the boat off. Only complaint is the clear coat on the rims is chipping which kinda irks me because it really hasn't been dunked in salt all that many times.


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