The Boating Forum - Century boats

Does anyone have any feedback on the older style Century center consoles. I understand they changed their hull design in 2001 which is a sweet ride on the 26& 29's. I am looking to find info on the mid 90's design as to ride etc. I am looking at a 30' center with twin 250 yamahas. Thanks.

Pascoe's YachtSurvey site has an interesting comment about the Century 30:

"And then there is the matter of rough water performance. While our pair of four + year old Yamaha 250's performed flawlessly, we had a nice day out on the Stream with an 12" - 18" chop. The hull banged and slammed something awful heading straight into it, so much so that I quickly changed direction to take it on the beam. While we neglected to measure the dead rise, it certainly looked adequate and we expected better."

The thirty foot boat slammed while running in a sub-two-foot chop!

I had a 23 Century and the ride was terrible and the construction was a bit shoddy, IMO.

I would stay away from the older 30 century, IMO.

Best,
Terry

Thats what I think as well, was looking at the newer 29' and talked to some that tourney fish them and they swear by them with the new hull design. I rode on a 26ft 2003 model Saturday in about 2-3 ft and it was hands down better than my Grady.

I had the opposite opinion huntrig, I switched from the century to the Grady and find the grady to be a far superior rig. I have yet to be able to separate the hull from the liner on my Grady, and the grady has only seen the shop one time, and that was for a motor recall. The century literally spent half of the years I owned it at the dealer. I sure loved the layout of the century though.

What year and model Century did you have? I am looking at models since Yamaha has taken over. It seems as a major overhaul happened after 2000. I am just a weekend warrior and am looking for something semi fast that has tons of storage space as I dry stack my boat. It sucks hauling 12 rods back to a condo before and after every trip.

Huntrig, I just fished the King of the Beach kingfish tournament in a 2006 Century 26 cc that was provided to me by "Boats n Such" in Orlando. The seas were 2-3 in the morning and we were headed dead into them and the boat rode great with the tabs down. The boat has twin 150 four strokes and at 30mph we were burning 12.8 gph. I have been on the older 30 footer and like it says in the post above it is a bone shaker. Everything was loose on the boat and it rattled terribly. The 26 is a whole different boat, very stable and comfortable. Great layout for fishing. I think the sticker was around $80,000. I will be heading to the Abacos June 10 in a new Century 29 and I will report on it when we return.

I think for the money there are better 30 footers out there. Keep looking. Capt. Rodg

I totally agree. The boat in question was towed behind some rich dudes yacht. It is a 95 with twin Yamaha 250s with 86 hours but its still not enough to make me jump with that style hull. Thanks for the help.

I think you hit it right on. The older Century's ride is more of a pounding however since Yamaha bought them it has improved drastically. I own a 2000 26' walk and thought I would not buy due to the ride (I sea trialed the 26 in '98) but I sea trialed the boat again in '00 and it rode well. Can it pound? Sure. I cruise at about 26-28 MPH and burn 14-16 GPH. This is with 2 stroke twins. If it gets choppy and closely stacked then I ease up on the speed and put the tabs down. I have my boat listed to sell to upgrade to a 30". However, if it does not sell, then I keep it and save money for a bigger boat next year. ;cool; I would also watch out for the boat being that old and only having 86 hours on them, Too little hours can be a problem as well. These motors like to be run.

-mike

In your opinion, if you only fished blue bird days, mainly flat calm, how bad would you suffer. I only average around 10 trips per season and only fish on high pressure days following the low pressure departure so sea condition isnt a huge concern although it could always blow up. I found out the motors have 386 hours, talked to the actual owner this AM. For the money he wants, I could suffer a couple hours a month but dont know if I would be happy. Please advise. Thanks.

whats a season? summer? in my experience you'll be very disappointed waiting for those days when high pressure yada yada.....and since when is it always flat calm after? being an old fart i wait for 2-3 and that can be rare at times. i my opinion if you want to fish offshore you need a boat that goes over 2-3 like its glass.....

Where is the boat located you are looking at? I might have some info on that hull.....


RS

Huntrig, there is a reason the boat you are looking at has such low hours, the owner can't take the boat out without losing his teeth. If you were going to use the boat on a river or lake I would say go for it, but even on glassy days the wind can kick up and you can get caught in some nasty stuff and that is when you need the boat to perform. This hull is a poor design. No amount of discount will make you feel like you got a great deal when you get into the chop. You will be sorry just as the new owner is if you buy it. How many times have we all heard, If a deal is too good to be true, blah, blah, blah.
Nobody wants an offshore fishing boat that can't go offshore!

You got that right. Thanks for the input. I am anxious to move up but dont want to jump into something I would regret. Does anyone have any input on the newer Hydra Sports?

My dad owned a 98 26 CC and it would knock your kidneys out in anything over 6" chop. It was very stable at rest but I think my dining room table has more deadrise. I would keep looking.

I purchased a new 2006 Century 2400 Walkaround in April. The boat so far as been flawless. The ride is dry and comfortable. The boat is powered by a single Yamaha 250HP 4 Stroke. She cruises @ 28 mph/4600rpm 10.5 gal/hr. Top speed is 41mph/6100rpm. We fished in 4-5ft seas last week in cape may rips and boat met and exceeded my expectations. Especially impressed with stability while we were drifting and how she cut through the 4-5ft seas (DRY). I had a friend on board who owns a 25ft Parker and he thoroughly enjoyed the ride compared to his Parker. The only negative so far has been that the boat does have a slight list to port when on plane however the lenco trim tabs correct the problem with a tap on the trim tab indicator switch. Fit and finish is above average. The century's quality and performance has really improved post 2001 year models. Not sure how the older models perform, only can give input on the new vtech designs. Good Luck!

After many posts getting opinions and testing out many boats I finally settled on a 2006...Century 2200 CC...My boat has a yammy 225 4 stroke with all the bells and whistles. I have to say you guys who bash Century really need to get on the new ones because my boat is very impressive....I tested a Boston Whaler 21 outrage...I tested a 22 Scout (nice boat too)....I know I have just a 22 foot boat but I've taken her 15 miles offshore already with not a single problem----only 16 hours on the 4 stroke. The whaler and scout were nice boats too but my wife really liked the layout of the Century and the price was very good. I think the fit and finish on the centuries is far and away better than any boat in this price range.....So if I hear one more post about how Centuries take such a beating I'm gonna scream...my boat loaded and out the door was $40,900 and the people at Indian Springs marina in Indian Rocks are absoluely fantastic to deal with!!!! They gave me 2 months free high and dry until I get my electronics installed and so I could accumulate my 20 hours...They'll do the 20 hour service then off I go! NO MORE CENTURY BASHING...The past is the past