Mariah Info

***ShabahZ280*** · 08-22-2013, 02:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by johnnymo

If you want to see another version of the old Mariah hulls you can check out www.challengerpowerboats.com

I am not trying to throw a comp out there for Challenger as they have not made one boat since 2008. Next year might be a different story for Challenger or maybe not.

Challenger bought the 25 ft and up molds, but only released a 245FPS (deckboat), 250FPS (cuddy), 252FPS (bowrider), and the 302FPS (open bow mid cuddy). The reason you don't see many of them is because they took the original Mariah hull molds and redesigned (cheapened) the interiors (hey, they were a speedboat company afterall) but the problem was, they astronomically overpriced them. I have an article from Powerboat Magazine showing a base model 302FPS (6.2L v8) with a sticker price of $123,799.00, and the 425HP version for $174,715..... And that was in 2007!! Then they went out of business in 2008 and auctioned everything off in 2009. I've got photos of all the molds that were auctioned off, but I'd like to know what happened to some of them, like the 272, which was Mariah's flagship bowrider since '95, and the Z260/Z280/Z308 cruiser molds. They seem to have just completely disappeared.

Is Mark planning to relaunch the line next year? I hope he can keep the FPS series alive.

johnnymo · 08-22-2013, 03:11 PM

I kept a 28 DDC for myself and it runs very well plus built solid as a rock. I ran all the time in 3 to 4 footers with no problems nor any quality issues. I still have it to this day. They are heavy and slow but a lot power will take of that. I was very picky about what boats I chosen from them as sometimes their quality was overlooked.

I had that yellow / black 252 in which was a quality build by them. I also used that boat for the Ft Worth boat show back in 2007 or 2008. If I was to buy persay a 250 / 252 boat I would want that yellow Challenger as that was their best build for those models. Challenger needed proper ownership and better management at that timeframe IMO. Kind of the story with every company in todays world.

A lot of their auction stuff went to that guy that sells a lot of parts on EBAY. Mark does have the molds for the models you listed. Most 30 ft + sportboats with twins with very decent power are going to retail for a min of $199,000. Heck take a look at these small wakeboard boats with single engines for 85 K to 125 K that's nuts for those boats. Big deal it has a fancy tower on it. Most of those owners stink at wakeboarding and play loud music all day from their tower speakers. Just saying.

I can not comment on the Challenger line at this time as to 100 percent what is going to happen but Gekko is back 4 sure and priced better than all other wakeboard boats. I would really like to see the old Mariah line up comeback as it was ahead of time with their looks and amenities. Maybe get rid of the 10,000 pleats it had in its interior lay out. Carbon fiber look interior would be cool. IMO no offense to anyone.