Up for auction is a 2003 Stingray 185 LX. This is an 18' open bow boat with only 67 hours. The boat is powered by a carbureted 3.0L Mercruiser (GM) 135 h.p. 4 cylinder gas sippin engine. But don't worry it still has plenty of get up and go. The outdrive is an Alpha 1 with a 23 pitch prop and a stingray hydrofoil. The hydrofoil claims to increase top speed and improve handling in addition to assisting the boat with getting out of the hole and on plane. This boat also has Stingray's "Z" designed hull which they claim will improve the boats performance. I will say that this boat jumps right out of the hole and plains pretty quick. It also has great handling at top speeds. But I don't think the hydrofoil improves the top speed.... but who knows it may. My top speed in this boat was 47 mph (according to the speedo in the boat) on the local river with myself, my wife, and 3 kids on board. I would imagine with 1 or 2 adults with a light load and smooth water this boat would go past 50 mph. This boat gets great fuel mileage and has a 21 gallon gas tank. The boat has great all around performance in fact I would put it up against any boat with a 4.3L. I have friends with a similar boat that has a 4.3L and they can't get out of the hole as fast as I can, nor can they pull away from me in this boat. Most of the time I get on plane so quick that they cannot pass me because I can get a good lead on them. We have decided to sell the boat because we just cannot find the time to take it out (explains only 67 hours). Now lets list the features/options for the boat. I will start at the back and work my way to the front. The rear has a small swim deck with a ladder attached and a hook to pull a skier or a tuber. It pulls a tuber with no problems, don't know about a skier because we never tried it (we don't ski) but I imagine it would do just fine. It also features a remote mounted switch (see the black square on the left rear) for raising and lowering the outdrive. This is very nice if you forget to raise the lower unit after loading. It prevents you from having to crawl up in the boat to raise/lower the outdrive. Next is the sundeck that is mainly used for laying out in the sun. The sundeck is the large padded surface above the engine compartment. The engine compartment is quite large with loads of storage room. The engine compartment has a bilge pump and an exhaust fan to help relieve fuel vapors. The engine compartment also stores the bimini top for the boat and the windshield extension. The windshield extension zips to the bimini top and snaps to the top of the windshield to help close in the bimini top. This is great when driving in the rain. Moving forward is the main cockpit area. This has a 3 person rear bench, and 2 adjustable captains chairs. There is also an area along the side of the cockpit for storage, storage under the bench seat, a glove compartment, and a ski storage area. The boat also features a tilt steering column and power steering. The console has a full set of gauges including a trim gauge and a depth gauge. The trim on this boat works by tilting the lower unit up and down with an electric switch incorporated in the throttle control. Another feature is that the boat has the ability to use a lanyard for safety, but is not necessary. The console also has switches that control lighting in the cockpit and the navigation lights, switch to control the bilge pump, exhaust fan switch, and a horn. The other side of the cockpit has the glove box and below that is the Kenwood AM/FM/CD player with detachable face. The boat also has 4 speakers. The boat has a walk through windshield that takes you up to the bow. The bow has seating for 2. Under the right bow seat is more storage. Under the left bow seat is a built in cooler. The boat seats 7 people total, with 6 cup holders....guess the manufacture was figuring on the designated driver. The boat also has a cockpit cover and a bow cover....they are starting to show age. I will include 6 life vests, bumpers, rope, river anchor, paddle, whistle, flares, and a fire extinguisher. The boat does have some scratches on the side from it getting waked against a dock. It was in a no wake zone but some idiot game buzzin along anyway. The carpet does show usage but still very good. Even though the boat only has 67 hours its still 7 years old. The trailer is a Johnson Eagle. It has diamond plate accents, aluminum wheels, good tires, and a matching spare. The trailer also has disc surge brakes and a 5 wire flat connector. If you have a 7 pin round RV plug they make adaptors from the 7 round to the 5 flat. The trailer takes a 2" ball and has bearing buddies. There is a hand crank winch on the trailer. It works very good. I always load the boat on the trailer with the winch. I never "power load" the boat. As you can see in the pictures the trailer has rust on it. I complained and complained to the manufacture about that but it never got me anywhere. All I can say is that I will never buy another eagle trailer. Even thought the rust looks crappy I can say that it never really got worse. I think they had issues with the paint process. Yes I know that the pics are from last year. But the boat never seen water after these pics and only ran long enough to be winterized. Then it was put in the garage for winter and has been sitting there since.
