Sea Raider tri cabin vs F-36 tri cabin

[randyp]

I have a 1975 model brochure showing the F-36 Tri Cabin and the F-36 Sport Cruiser. The Sport Cruiser looks similar to the F-32, which is one of Trojan's most popular models. The "F" designation means the boat hull was fiberglass. The aft cockpit deck could still be in teak. I bet the 71 Sea Raider was wood hull, but I'm not sure.

[62seaskiff]

The 36 tricabin got a fiberglass superstructure in 1972, thus making it a crossover from the sea raider series (trojans first forier into fiberglass ) to the F series, trojans first all glass boats. I believe they made thes F series tricabins from a different mold than the sea raiders. The sea raiders all had bows that sloped slightly downward at the fordeck. the F36 tricabin and the later Tri-Fly did not have this same sloping bow.

[aaronbocknek]

i would like to share some insight on this. my parents purchased a 1972 F-36 and had it until this past march. when the sea raider tri cabin came out, the hull was fiberglass, but the superstructure, decks and everything else was wood, except for the cabin top. in 1972, trojan made the switch to a fiberglass deck and superstructure system (constructed upside down and then winched over to the hull, turned over and dropped into the hull itself. we actually went up to the niagra on the lake factory to watch our tri being built.... they were lowering the superstructure/deck/interior bulkhead assembly while we were there. the hull had been popped out of the mold the week before. anyway, while the f-36 until 1977 was mostly fiberglass, the aft cockpit bulkheads were marine plywood over faced with formica, the back deck was ply under teak---both needed to be rebuilt about 5 years ago from dry rot. after the 1978 model year, trojan abandoned the cockpit format and went to a ''flush deck tri cabin'' design, relocating the engines to under the salon in favor of a straight drive system as opposed to having them under the aft bunks with V-drives. the original sea raider 36 was nortorious for dry rot problems where the wooden superstructure and deck met. hence the switch to all fiberglass. it was also less labor intensive to construct. ours was a special order with teak toe rails, teak command bridge flooring over fiberglass and a hand made swim platform. i can still remember watching the old guy at the factory HAND MAKE the swim platform after steaming the teak planks to bend them into shape. i LOVED that boat and believe me, she was the light of our lives.... .i just wish dad had passed it to me, but, i am now the proud owner of a ''new'' 1976 f-32 sedan cruiser. hope this helps. feel free to email me directly if you have any questions. this is one model i know a lot about. my email is tovyah@aol.com
regards.
aaron in middle river

[jimbo36]

Sounds like the 71 Sea Raider you are considering has had the decks fiberglassed. Most have. right from the 25' and up. Aaron is "bang on" with his comment about the hull to deck joint problems. Does the seller have a recent survey showing the condition of this and other possible major issues? Frankly, the choice between buying a Sea Raider over an F series, in my opinion, is a no brainer. Not to say there are not deck problems with F series as well. However, they are much less difficult to repair. Why do you think Sea Raiders are usually dirt cheap? (Hope I han't offended anyone) Jimbo.