Asking Classic owners if they like their boats is a bit like asking if I think my kids are cute, but here’s my take. For starters, I love mine. My 2022 Classic is my first bass boat. I’m 42, been boating a long time – mostly ski boats and a Crestliner for a while. I’m going to break this down into a couple key topics, in no particular order.
Driving – I had a pretty big driving learning curve, still learning as I get more seat time, but I’ll take for granted you know how to drive a bass boat. I didn’t. One note about speed on mine – chine walk above 64MPH. I need more seat time and I think I’m getting better, but I’m still getting into walk above 64. I have a manual jack plate so I don’t know how jacking the motor could affect it, but perhaps my motor is a little too far down. I’d like to try a thread up on the plate to see, but for now 64 has been fast enough.
Fishability – I fish with my 13 year old son. I’m 6’1”, he’s a decent sized kid, I feel like we have plenty of room. I really like how the storage is laid out. I use the center box for gear, life jackets, stool, etc. rods are in the big locker on the port side, tackle in the two forward starboard boxes. Mine came with a Helix 10 at the helm, and a Helix 7 at the bow, I personally added a Helix 10 at the bow with Mega Live. When you add electronics to a Classic, keep in mind you have to start from scratch, as the Vision line is rigged pretty bare bones from the factory. I pulled dedicated marine 10ga for all the bow stuff, added a bus to the back compartment, it turned out fine, just needed to plan and a little tight on the wire pulls being a smaller boat.
Ride – Boat is a dry ride, and about as smooth on rough water as my 23’ wake boat. Maybe that’s an exaggeration, but coming from an 18’ Crestliner, there is no comparison. Boat rides great.
Trailer Lights – here’s my big complaint. There is an exposed tail light connection somewhere on my trailer. If I launch with the headlights of the truck on, I’m going to melt wire and blow fuses. It’s happened twice, and it’s a pain. As I sit, I need to go hunt a short and fix it – again. They didn’t use heat shrinkable butt connections on mine, and I think that’s what’s causing the short. I’m pretty sure they’ll warranty it – dealer will re-wire the trailer – I just haven’t done that yet.
Hope that helps, glad to discuss it further if you have more questions.
Good luck!
There’s also this. Short 20’ 2 car garage, not oversized in any way. About as small a 2 car garage as you’ll find. Getting it in there was important to me. Not unique to a classic necessarily, but something I was looking for.
