[johnnymo]

Hi everyone, I am in depth about Mariah boats and most boats in general as being in the boat business for 24 years. I have owned and have sold many pre owned original Mariah's in the past.

I am looking at getting a 1998 Z275 or 99/00 Z278. My question is why has Mariah thru out the years posted different deadrise's in their brochures as it appears to be the same model just carried over to the next following year. To constantly change a deadrise of the same model you would have to change the mold for that boat. Tthat is very expensive to do especially every couple of years.

Example 22 degree deadrise for the 1998 Z275 and in 1999 the Z278 deadrise was 24 degree as it looks to be the exact same model boat. Also some of the specs are different 30 lbs less weight and 2 inches shorter. Seems like other models deadrise has changed thru out being a carried over model year. Thanks.

Also this seems to be a very great site even for experienced boat owners and people who are in the boat business.

[mikeyt]

First off, welcome aboard. In answer to your questions though....i dont have one. None of us were part of the management at Mariah so weren't privy to some of the detail changes you mentioned. It also wouldn't surprise me if those 'changes' were simply typos or data input errors that weren't caught when the brochures were put out. Perhaps our Admin (ShabahZ280) might have some insight on those subjects though as i believe he had a discussion or two with the late Jimmy Fulks.

[johnnymo]

Thanks for the quick reply. I really like this website. I would wonder if there is any difference of the ride quality in the Z 275 Limited compared to a 1999 / 2000 - Z 278.

24 degree deadrise bottom in most cases will have a better ride quality in rough waters than persay a 22 degree deadrise.

Also was any of the 1998 Mariah boats bigger than 22 ft. constructed with the fiberglass liner and foam stringers or was that still a wood design lay up? Basically no wood construction except the transom I believe was still wood. I think Mariah went to fiberglass floor / foam stringers lay up on all of their builds in mid 1999 or am I wrong about that.
Thanks for any info.

[ShabahZ280]

I'm unaware of the answer to the deadrise question. I'm quite sure you'll get a similar ride out of both models. My '99 Z280 is listed as having a 20º deadrise. My 2000 Z250 also was listed as having a 20º deadrise. However I can tell you the Z280 cuts through the waves and rides like a champ as compared to the Z250, which was a quite a rough ride in heavy seas.

If you really analyze the brochures, you'll find many different specifications change each year. I'm not sure if some of these were intentional, or misprints. I do know the standards for weight measurements changed around '99-'00 which explains some of the number discrepancies. However, it's fairly evident that Mariah put way more effort into manufacturing their boats than their marketing and print materials, as proven by their owners manual, which never changed from 1990 to 2001, despite the obvious changes to the boats and the onboard equipment.

The fiberglass stringer system went into full implementation in the 98 model year, but they didn't receive the official patent numbers until March and December of 2000. (6,032,606) and (6,161,496). Also, despite claiming a "no wood" system, there is still wood used in various parts of the boats. I don't know of any boat manufacturer that has a truly wood free build construction.

[johnnymo]

Thanks for all the info and I'm still learning more about the Mariahs. I have always liked them and Cobalts.

Bryant boats in Tenn. who makes family runabout boats started an all wood free construction in 1996. They did use a tiny bit of wood persay for backing plates that's about it. In the sportboat & offshore Center Console boats a lot of the eastcoast based boat builders use no wood.

Also when Glastron & Larson boats went to the 100 % VEC system construction their was a lot of wood free with those apps. Today a lot of builders will use Coosa board composites, or Space age composites, or Penske composites for the transoms and foam filled fiberglass over stringers.

length and weight also help with rough water conditions just adding to deadrise mix.

Glad to know that 1998 all glass floors and foam stringers went into the build as I thought it was only the 21 ft and down boats. I think the brochures even said 18 thru 21 ft boats only were fiberglass floors / foam filled stringers or the Mariah newsletters stated that for those years.

Thank you for your time.

[johnnymo]

Forgot to add that I was a Challenger Offshore / Challenger Powerboat dealer until they went under in 2008. Challenger and myself had the old Mariah 250 openbow & Cuddy models along with the Mariah deck boat model and the Mariah 300 model. Challenger's version 252 / older Mariah 250 ran very well for a boat of it size. I never bought or sold the Challenger 300 nor the deck boat.

Some of the old employees at Challenger still say today that the 300 model (old Mariah 300 mold) was a darn good running boat in all water conditions. Look down the road for these boats to comeback in the near future. Just FYI if anyone cares

[Motoxxx43]

Sounds intriguing. I can't wait to see them!

Sent from my DROID RAZR HD using Tapatalk 2

[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.

I have been talking to the owner of the molds. He also owns Gekko wakeboard boats. Anyways click on the models to see them if you want.

As I said I always like the Mariahs and really want a Z 278 or the 1998 Z 275. Anyone have a Mariah Z 278 or 1998 Z 275 for sale or any info to whom might. thanks for all the help

[EricG]

The DDC 28 looks like it could be my next boat!!! Nice looking boats!

[ColoradoDiablo]

johnny ,
If your looking for one .............stay in touch here. The members are always finding new "toys" that are out there.
BTW: Glad to see you as a member!