Champion Boats !

[Skeeter1987]

When did they switch manufacturing from Arkansas to Tennessee ? Was there any big changes to those boats at that point ? Also , when did they stop using wood in the Transoms ?

I am sure these questions have been answered already in great detail somewhere. However I thought it wouldn’t hurt to ask .

Found a 2003 Champion 193 and I am planning to take a look at the boat in person to possibly make an offer . Anything specific I should be looking for on this particular boat ? Judging by the pictures , it looks to be well taken care of but you never know for sure. If anybody is currently fishing out of one , I’d be happy to hear the pros / cons . Thanks

[Tx Champ]

Irwin Jacobs moved the plant from AR to the Stratos plant in TN after he (Genmar) he made a deal to acquire Champion out of the bankruptcy court. That was in 2002. Any boats in production at the time of the move would have wood transoms. The 193 is a Mountain Home design, so betting it has a wooden transom. It was replaced shortly ofter the move wit the 196 if memory serves me. If the one you are looking at has a wooden transom, give it the tap test with the butt end of a screwdriver. Solid sound, solid transom. They should be resealed every few years beneith the trim cap and bolt holes to keep water from intruding. There are thousands still out there without any issues at all.

[Jig_Man]

By 2003 Kelly Powers was president of Champion. He grew up with the product and produced good boats.

[Tx Champ]

By 2003 Kelly Powers was president of Champion.

I don't recall that ... Don Wood was president of Champion during the Genmar years.

[Lea]

Kelly Power (not Powers) was never president. He did work for Champion, tho. More info available in the sticky post up top of this forum.

All composite Champs began in 2003/2004 time frame, when production began in TN.

[tomloans]

What's odd is that my 2009 206 has Champion on the hull but Stratos labeling and pen marks on wiring and boards inside.

[tomloans]

By the way, no wood doesn't mean no issues. When I purchased this boat in 2017, I thought, great a composite transom! Only to find out that I had a half inch flex in the transom. Incidentally any flex is the beginning of bad news - don't shrug it off or ignore it!

So when I took the end cap off, the glue had broken apart, composite layers had separated. So I took my time and dug out what I could get to inside the transom. there was still good structure to glue back together. Unlike wood. Wood would have been destroyed with the water that had seeped in. Anyways, I cleaned it out, made sure it was absolutely dry, filled the gap with 3m 5200. Then I trimmed the motor down to a piece of wood to put pressure on the transom so that it was not leaning out 1/2" but rather straight and plane. I waited over a week in that position for the 5200 to dry. I then ordered a special piece of aluminum to size that fit just right inside the transom. About 32" long and if I remember correctly .75" thick and about 1.5" wide if I remember right. I had the holes drilled to fit the top two motor mounting bolts. I would have made it wider but Champion had already mounted two fiberglass covered stringers to spread the pressure on the inside surface. To me this is worthless if not bolted through to the outside layer so I have mine in addition to Champions original design.

Also I never fully understood why you would only have a 12" transom support bar like this one...

https://www.amazon.com/Transom-Suppo...8XM3SQB6&psc=1

I suppose it is good for not allowing the bolts to dig into the fiber glass, but mine not only does that but spreads the pressure across most of the transom as well.

It is absolutely solid now for the last 200 hours or so. Zero movement. The cap on top has my original silicon and zero cracks or movement at all.

BY THE WAY AS NOTED ABOVE, THIS REPAIR WILL NOT WORK ON WOOD!

[Lea]

What's odd is that my 2009 206 has Champion on the hull but Stratos labeling and pen marks on wiring and boards inside.

Built in same factory as Stratos with some wiring, etc, interchangeable.