I have had many boats and looked at plenty of Champions and have done my homework on them and from 1998 to 2003 most of the people I have talked with have told me that the transoms are weak and crack and most of them need replaceing.Almost bought one till I had it checked out.Transome coming apart a 2001.Are we buying the name just to say (Man I own a Champion)?Could not give me one. I say time has changed and get a composit or Aluminum and forget a boat with wood.Champion a dieing breed maybe at one time it was the bomb,but time has changed.Just saying!!!
22' from Bow to Motor and 8' beam. Plenty stable and dry ride for bay fishing. I love it and recom
My Boston Whalers had wood, but there was a piece of mind that they were built right. My Key West had no wood and still piece of mind that there would be no rot in the transom. My boat that I hope is my last: Sportsmans Fabrication 'Aluminum' with floatation.
My dad had a 1998 18' Champion bass boat that the hull cracked under the top cap just from hitting a wave the wrong way. Champion refused to make it right and claimed he hit something. This was right before the company went bankrupt. So if I had to guess this was about that same few years. Eventually the insurance had to pay for it. I would definitly get rid of it and NEVER consider Champion again!!!!
Yes Ranger has all the Champion Bay boat molds. They make the Champion bass boat under the Stratos label now. The 220 Bay Champ is being produced as the new Ranger Bahia 22. It seems the transom issue was a problem on the 21'. I just saw one at the fiberglass shop last week. On that model the inner liner was not a true topcap as you can see in the picture of this post. The liner just butted up to the hull at the transom. They put a piece of stainless or aluminum trim on the transom as a cap. It was a piss poor seal.
I cannot tell for sure from the little picture but I don't see any woven roving or directional cloth like biaxial. From the pic it looks like mat (weak) or it could have been sprayed with a chop gun(technique used in mass production which is weaker than using hand-laid directional fiber cloth). I would have been curious to see it in person to see how it was built because there are alot of transoms out there with wood in much worse shape that have not given out in a spectacular fashion like that.
There have been a few reports of composites rotting and failing as well as wooden cores. The best solution is to make sure all through-hulls and anything going through the transom gets sealed well. Some even recommend over-drilling holes a bigger size, filling with thickened epoxy, and then re-drilling to the required size so that you know the core is sealed.
Anyway... terribly sorry about your loss. I know that has got to bite. Hope you can get back on the water soon!
I seen pictures of a 300 Mercury breaking off the transom and jumping into the boat while running , it chopped the guy to death , the pictures where pretty raw , the entire cockpit and center console of the boat was chew up from the prop and blood was everywhere , take it your pretty lucky to be able to tell about it
I have owned a 1998 21' Bay Champ since 2000. These problems with the transoms and many others, started during the beginning of the first bankruptcy of Champion boats, starting in 1999 through 2000. The quality control went to zero. Many transoms on these boats produced during this time had issues. Another problem that I just found out is that in 2005- 2006??? there was a class action law suit that was against Champion and their trailer manufacture . This suit was generated from owners with hull damage caused by pressure points from the trailer causing cracked gel coat. I just spent $2500 on hull repair due to this. I would love a reply if anyone knows of info pertaining to this case. I cannot find any info on this on the internet. This suit and mismanagement caused Champion (Genmar) to go out of business again. They are a great riding and fishing boat.
It was my understanding that the lawsuit pertaining to the trailer defect was related to the larger bass boat models. I did not hear of problems on the Bay boatsrnI have a 2003 24 BayrnThere is no wood in my transom and I wouldnt trade it for any other bay boat. Smooth dry ride and it has been in some heavy stuff a couple of times
As much as this hurts to report, I have a 2006 24' Bay Champ that I just got back from the Ranger Factory for warranty repair. Yap, the Transom. I would advise all Champion owners to take a look at there Engine when crossing choppie waters. If it looks like your Engines moving, It probably is.
Ouch...What year boat is it.