Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SUNDAY, March 20, 1994                   TAG: 9403220057
SECTION: BOAT SHOW                    PAGE: BS-14   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: By BILL COCHRAN OUTDOOR EDITOR
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

DECK BOATS GETTING CLOSE TO `PERFECT'

But getting close to that assignment is the deck boat, which is the metamorphosis of the slower, less lavish pontoon boat that has been popular in this region for a couple of decades.

Deck boats are one of the hottest tickets in the boating business, a fact often overlooked in the explosion of interest in jet boats and personal watercraft. For some dealers who will be in the boat show, deck boats have reached the "best seller status."

That is the case for Bay Roc Marina and Yacht Club, on Smith Mountain Lake.

"That is my best seller, Bay Roc owner George Welch said of the 26-foot Bayliner Rendezvous. "It outsells the 20-foot runabout for me. I truly believe there isn't a better-riding, better-performing, better-priced boat on the market in that length."

New to the Advantage Marine line in Roanoke is the Chaparral deck boat, something dealer Mike Fielder is touting with excitement.

"Each year more and more people are coming in wanting basically a three-in-one boat: Something they can pleasure ride on, something big enough for a couple of families to ride on, something they can drop a fishing line off of," said Fielder. "This gives you every thing. It has tons of room, like a pontoon, but more speed than a pontoon."

And good looks, too, he said.

"A woman walks up to this boat and sees it as being pretty," said Fielder. That isn't a comment you will hear very often around a pontoon boat.

Webster Marine Center has earned the reputation of being a major pontoon boat dealership; yet, deck boats now outsell pontoons at the Smith Mountain Lake establishment. The Godfrey Hurricane line of deck boats is going so well that Webster is having to break the news to buyers that there is a 10-week back order period.

"That is hard on us, but it is good that interest in the boat has picked up so much that the factory can't keep up with the demand," said Pete Jordan, Webster sales manager.

While interest in deck boats is booming, the concept has been around for a long while, said Ed Graves, whose Valley Marine Center in Roanoke began selling them in the mid-'70s. The original idea remains, which is to combine the roomy interior of a pontoon boat with the looks, feel and speed of a runabout.

Most deck boats are fiberglass jobs, but aluminum models, which offer better fuel economy and lower initial cost, also are available.

Valley Marine will have aluminum Lowe deck boats in its boat show display. The Lowe Silhouette can be equipped with a bow fishing deck complete with electric motor and swivel seats.

Some deck boat models will run better than 40 mph, and they will tow a skier.

"You can ski off the back of them, they come with a fishing package and there's still plenty of room for entertaining," said Jordan. "That makes mom happy, it makes dad happy and it makes all the kids happy."