2014 Starcraft 1918 Limited

Boat Reviews

Boat Review by: Richard Crowder

Starcraft Marine of New Paris, Indiana began in 1903 by producing galvanized steel rowboats and has evolved into probably one of the most diversified pleasure boat manufacturers today. For 2014 Starcraft offers almost a hundred models of fishing, pontoon, bay, utility, and Jon boats plus deckboats, crossover models, and runabouts, some outboard powered, some sterndrive powered, and quite unique in the industry, some made of fibreglass while the majority of aluminum.

The 1918 Limited I/O subject of this review, at nineteen feet, nine inches length overall on an eight foot, two inch beam, is the smallest I/O (inboard-outboard or sterndrive) model of seven fibreglass boats in Starcraft’s Runabout series from seventeen to twenty-three feet. The largest of these is available as both a bowrider and a cuddy cabin while all others are bowriders, the smallest of which are outboard powered.

To these seven Runabout models of family fibreglass boats, Starcraft adds seventeen models of fibreglass Deckboats (including a Crossover series) for 2014 sized from nineteen to twenty-five feet in both outboard and sterndrive configurations. The 1918 Limited rides on Starcraft’s modified-V, 14-degree deadrise hull with reverse chines, integrated stringer system encapsulated in fibreglass, fibreglass inner liner, and Blister-Guard outer barrier coat to prevent gel coat blistering. A limited lifetime warranty on the hull and structure plus a six-year warranty on all components, carpet, upholstery, and electronics including all parts and labour is included.

You may see this model also referred to as the 1918 RE Limited, referring to its standard Rear-Entry (RE) floorplan which features starboard side easy walk-thru access from the large fibreglass integrated and extended swim platform with recessed telescoping and folding stainless steel boarding ladder through to the cockpit. This handy feature facilitates much greater enjoyment of watersports activities and saves much wear and tear of the transom sunpad lounge. An in-floor storage compartment is located within this walk-thru companionway and a transom ski tow eye is standard.

The seating within the cockpit of the 1918 Limited is nicely protected from weather and spray by the safety glass within the side wings of the curved walk-thru windshield which extend the full length of the seating area within the cockpit. This seating, featuring 35-ounce vinyl upholstery with self-draining foam construction, consists of a transom bench seat plus helm and passenger bucket seats with slider and flip-up forward bolster on the driver’s bucket. An in-floor locker between these two bucket seats is ideal for storage of all your watertoy accessories like waterskis and a wakeboard.

The U-shaped surrounding bow seating includes padded backrests all around plus padded backrests on the forward faces of the driver’s and passenger’s consoles to allow forward-facing, stretched out lounging in the bow. Storage is provided beneath the seating and low profile stainless steel grabrails along both sides of the bow section provide a level of security and safety for bow-riding passengers.

The custom molded silver metallic dash of the 1918 Limited is very functional and ergonomic with two large central multi-function gauges beneath a contoured dash top with eyebrow to help prevent glare on the instruments. These two large gauges feature a tachometer and a speedometer as the main gauges and are flanked by two smaller gauges. The smaller gauges include temperature, fuel, volts, and trim.

An in-dash digital depth sounder and hour meter are both optionally available. An AM/FM stereo with auxiliary MP3 port is standard equipment and can be optionally upgraded to a JBL unit to which satellite stereo and a stern-mounted remote touch pad may be added. An auxiliary power point is supplied on the dash. Tilt steering is also optionally available.

The maximum horsepower rating for the 1918 Limited I/O is 220. A recent Mercury Marine Performance Test powered by a MerCruiser 4.3L MPI ETC V-6 producing this maximum rating of 220 horsepower produced a very quick top speed of 49 mph at 4660 RPM. Optimum cruising speed was determined to be about 30.5 mph at 3000 RPM while consuming 6.5 (US) gallons per hour or 4.7 miles per (US) gallon. Acceleration from zero to thirty miles per hour took 8.5 seconds.

Additional notable factory optional equipment available to personalize your 1918 Limited includes underwater lighting, snap-in cockpit carpeting, a wakeboard tower plus lots of canvas options from simply a bimini to full enclosure plus covers. An All Star option package includes sport graphics, pull-up cleats, tilt steering plus LED cupholder and speaker lighting. The standard white hull colour can be upgraded to black, blue, champagne, yellow, or red.

2014 Starcraft 1918 Limited Photo Gallery

• Boat Reviews
• Starcraft Boats For Sale