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Our legendary 23 foot model was introduced by Willard Albury in 1997. Hundreds and hundreds have been built, both in Abaco and Florida. Southern Boating Magazine named her one of the Top 10 Center Consoles of all time. As time went on, our clients requested more features and options, so the 23 gained a little weight. You know how it goes, a few pounds here, and a few there. It started with an aluminum fuel tank vs. fiberglass, then a beautiful glossy inner liner and anchor locker, instead of the rolled gelcoat workboat finish. Then came the demand for forward seating, a fish box, live wells, and a hard top, trolling motors, Power Poles, upper stations...you get the picture. Still a great ride, and well balanced, she carries her weight beautifully.
A few years ago, we introduced a "combination interior" in Florida, with dual rear live wells and forward seating. It became the most popular Florida built interior. We set about taking a few pounds out of this heaviest 23 version by substituting 1708 Biaxial glass wherever we used Woven Rove, because Rove sucks up a lot more resin. That got us thinking...
In 2020 we tasked Adam Lichterman to set up a dedicated composite's facility to resin infuse parts. Our former production manager, who now builds the SeaVee 27 Bay, was gracious enough to train Adam how to infuse (Adam was already an expert Albury Brothers boat builder). The infusion process uses vacuum to pull resin through the fiberglass, instead of applying resin by hand. Less resin is used, therefore less weight. Adam started off infusing hard tops, because reducing weight aloft lowers the center of gravity and makes a more stable boat. Then, over the course of 2021 and into 2022, he worked his way down to consoles, then decks, then liners. Finally, Adam and his hand-picked crew infused a hull Spring of 2022, and combined it with the other resin infused parts. Would it ride the same? Would it spider crack...or worse? We launched her in June 2022 and immediately ran her to Man O' War. All the Principals agreed, she rides the same. It should have come as no surprise, we just got her back to her original 23 design weight. She feels a little faster, a little nimbler, a little drier, than her hand laid sistership having the same options. Jaime Albury gave his blessing to build these Limited Edition 23's on the spot. Since then, there has been no cracking or gelcoat crazing after 5 months and many hard hours at sea, all over the Atlantic and Bahama Bank (recent pictures of our first Limited Edition 23 are below)
Now nearing the end of 2022, we have built a handful...all with great success and quality. Two are available for purchase now. We will only build only 10 Limited Edition 23's per year going forward. We continue to hand lay most 23's, and will do so into the future (except all 23 and 27 hard tops are now infused).
For anyone who would like a Limited Edition 23, the upcharge is waived until Christmas, making it now available at an introductory price savings of $8789.
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