I bought this boat today for $500, and other than the chipped spot on the front, its in great condition. No rotting wood under the fiberglass or anything as far as I can find. Just need to get it in water to make sure there are no leaks.

But I'm curious if anyone may know who the manufacturer of this boat is? Its 14', fiberglass. Thats the extent of the information I have. I want to see if I can find out the max power rating of it when I go to buy a motor for it.

it was registered at some point so the make and model should be on your bill of sale or on the title

I will give you 600 for it, that is a nice find!  Post pics when you get it rigged up. 

The hull looks like a 13 foot Boston Whaler, or a knockoff of the Whaler.

Wow it does have a pretty similar hull.

Check the transom area carefully, both outside and up under.  There should be a serial number or model number on there unless somebody removed it. 

If it's a Whaler, the number will be impressed into the stern at the top, not sure if it is port or starboard side.

It might have been covered in the modifications.

If you notice, the "steering station" is located in the same place and fundamentally the same construction.  Same with the foredeck.

If it is a Whaler, it will loosen your teeth going into a chop, but will withstand a lot of weather, and is a good, stable casting/fishing platform.

It does appear to be a Whaler now that I'm able to do a little looking around. Something like mid 70's. Heavily modified it seems.

I'm having a hard time finding anything about a 14' model though, they all seem to be 13' or 16'.

I'll be checking for numbers tomorrow but I doubt I will be able to find anything. Doing a leak check as well. I'm mostly curious as to what how much horsepower it can handle. Transom is solid as can be, but I have no real idea as to what kind of forces are included with boat motors. I'm a 4 wheeled land lubber kind of guy thats into fishing, never had the chance to own my own watercraft until now.

If anyone can find more information on this boat so I can start looking for a motor, please let me know!

To my knowlege, Whaler did not produce a 14 foot model.  They made a 13.  But, there is nothing to stop someone from calling it a 14, especially if they extended the foredeck a few inches.

Here's an interesting read about the 15 foot model, with specs and some references to the 13 footer.

I know the 13 can handle up to 40 hp.  It will be plenty fast, probably mid 30s, possibly pushing 40 mph trimmed to the max.

http://continuouswave.com/whaler/reference/15/

Here ya go.  I found the specs and history of the 13 from the same site.

http://continuouswave.com/whaler/reference/13/

Going down the list of the variety of models they made for the 13 footer, there are some with fiberglass consoles.

It's possible that model you have was built to be sold to flat fishermen who prowl the shallow waters for bonefish, and other species.

If that upper segment of the hull was made as a one off piece, the guy or gal, did a heck of a fabrication job.

To my knowlege, Whaler did not produce a 14 foot model. They made a 13. But, there is nothing to stop someone from calling it a 14, especially if they extended the foredeck a few inches.

Here's an interesting read about the 15 foot model, with specs and some references to the 13 footer.

I know the 13 can handle up to 40 hp. It will be plenty fast, probably mid 30s, possibly pushing 40 mph trimmed to the max.

http://continuouswave.com/whaler/reference/15/

Here ya go. I found the specs and history of the 13 from the same site.

http://continuouswave.com/whaler/reference/13/

Thanks a lot for the info!

I measured it and it is 14'1.5". Makes me wonder about the transom being a "custom" item, and if it can handle what the originals could.

I'll probably do some prodding, check things out and do some bracing to make sure everything is in good shape before I think about putting a motor on it.

Going down the list of the variety of models they made for the 13 footer, there are some with fiberglass consoles.

It's possible that model you have was built to be sold to flat fishermen who prowl the shallow waters for bonefish, and other species.

If that upper segment of the hull was made as a one off piece, the guy or gal, did a heck of a fabrication job.

Thats what I was thinking as well. Whoever did any of the work on this boat was very good with fiberglass, and they took their time. It looks like it could have came from a factory, no edges or anything.

Way back when, there were several companies who "copied" the Boston Whaler design.  Several lawsuits were filed by BW claiming copyright or whatever infringement.

It is hands down, the most popular fiberglass boat ever sold.  So, it's not surprising that some would try to cash in on the demand by producing clones.

If memory serves, the transom was not flat on the 13 footer.  It had a slight outward bow.  It was flat only in the area where the motor was mounted.

The other thing about that Whaler is that it was an extremely rigid boat.  The foam core is responsible for that.

The fiberglass composite of the hull is actually quite thin, to keep the weight down.  It didn't take much for a piece of concrete or stone to grind through the composite to the foam.

Speaking with someone who had years of boat work at a local yard which sold them, he said they were difficult to repair because it was little more than a "skin" over the foam.

To repair a small puncture necessitated a much larger layer of glass around the damage.  This allowed them to get an adequate bond to the sound glass around the damaged area, then, they could sand it smooth to make a fair line along the hull.

Like they use the long sanding boards in body shops to eliminate irregularities, and produce a smooth result.

I don't know about that helm, but the rest of this boat looks very much like a Carolina Skiff.  They come in 14 feet too.

I don't know about that helm, but the rest of this boat looks very much like a Carolina Skiff. They come in 14 feet too.

That's a possibility. Unless I'm mistaken, the Carolina Skiff is a knockoff of the Whaler. I also seem to recall that BW did authorize some companies to copy their design, though not to make the molds from their product.

That was over 30 years ago, so the recollection is a bit hazy.

http://www.gregterzian.com/2009/10/carolina-skiff-jv13-a-better-boat-than-the-j-series/

Has the general shape of a Carolina skiff. I have a Carolina Skiff J16 and I can tell from the layout and decks unless they are custom that this boat is not a Carolina Skiff. The decks on a Carolina skiff are significantly different than the one on your boat. Also all of their Skiffs are white, so unless it was painted it isn't a skiff.

Its definitely been painted, as I can see white in some area's where the paint flaked off.

Most everything on the inside of the boat seems to be a custom job. Its very well done, but I can still see where it was all glassed in and such.