[DC3693]

Hello,
So far all the interior pictures I have seen of this model have a bench seat in the stern. I am looking at one tonight that has two "jump" seats inbetween what is apparently the engine access compartment. Does that make sense for this model/year?? I don't have the pictures from the listing.

Thanks

[mikeyt]

Yes. The interior layout came in 3 flavours: 2 fold downs & 2 jump seats; 1 captains chair, 1 fold down & 2 jump seats; 2 captains chairs & a rear bench seat. Those layouts are/were fairly standard in the industry.

[DC3693]

Thanks, I had tried to find other photos in the gallery but everything had a bench - I was surprised to see that the capacity plat was only for 6 - 900 lbs.

[Slash9point5]

I also find the 6 person capacity plate odd. Especially since I think later year (~1998+) 18 foot Mariahs had a capacity of 8 and ~1050 lbs as far as I know, and the same mold and approximate me engine weight was used.

I have thought I could maybe print out evidence of this and have it in the boat if we ever wanted to have more than 6, but if we were pulled over I don't think it would fly with the enforcement officer anyway...

Kris

[ColoradoDiablo]

Yeah , I never quite understood that either. I too have seating for 8 and tagged at 6 or 950lbs. But , I never have more than 6 in the boat anyway. Haven't ever had my capacity tag checked here around Colorado , Utah , New Mexico , but I would imagine the CG would be a lot more thorough than the DOW boys I see.

Larry

[mikeyt]

Originally Posted by Slash9point5

I also find the 6 person capacity plate odd. Especially since I think later year (~1998+) 18 foot Mariahs had a capacity of 8 and ~1050 lbs as far as I know, and the same mold and approximate me engine weight was used.

I have thought I could maybe print out evidence of this and have it in the boat if we ever wanted to have more than 6, but if we were pulled over I don't think it would fly with the enforcement officer anyway...

Kris

My '96 180 Shabah is 8 / 1050lbs

[Slash9point5]

Originally Posted by mikeyt

My '96 180 Shabah is 8 / 1050lbs

Exactly my point. I believe you have the 4.3L engine and the same hull design, so I don't understand how the capacity plate could be different.

Also, with how deep these boats are, I believe they could easily take the weight of 9 people on a normal sized lake. I have loaded up my homemade ballast system to get a bigger wake (~500 lbs) and had 4 people on board and there was still plenty of freeboard...

[mikeyt]

I'm not exactly sure of what all goes into the calculations of a boats capacity but...what i did note was that the 182 Barchetta is a couple of inches longer than my Shabah 180, it weighs approx 75lbs more (2200 vs 2125) and the Barchetta has a slightly larger fuel tank (30 gals vs 28 gals). Those differences might just be enough to explain the 100 lb difference in capacity ratings.

[Slash9point5]

Interesting info there that I didn't know for sure. Although I always thought I had a 25 gallon tank (but I won't doubt the brochure).

However, I am primarily concerned with the number of people allowed, and although I am not really sure what goes into the formula either, my math makes me really wonder if they believed the weight of an average boater went down between 1995 and 1996. Because:

1996 Shabah 180 = 8 people of 1050 lbs(-75 lbs for total weight and ~12 lbs for less 2 gallons of gas capacity) = 963 lbs

compared to

1995 Barchetta 182 Rating = 6 people or 900 lbs

So, just by straight comparison the rating should be 950 lbs.

But, the main question I have is, how does the extra 150 lbs of capacity (900 vs. 1050) equal 2 extra people (6 vs. 8)?

And the real answer, there isn't much I can do about it anyway, so it doesn't make a lot of sense to track this answer down.

Thank you,

Kris

[Paul F]

I had 6 adults in my 180 last weekend. I was ok by the number, but the weight was probably close to 1000 lbs.

One guy probably weighed 230 and he chose to ride in the bow. It really affected performance and my full gauge fell like a rock.

On the other hand I could take my myself, my wife, my 2 teenage daughters and 2 of their friends. We would be over the capacity by 2 people, but under the 900 weight limit.