Boat Review: 21' & 23' Super Vee Pro

Alumaweld Boats of Eagle Point, Oregon has a long and proud tradition among N.W. guides. Founded in 1971, the first boats to roll off the assembly line were drift boats, in fact, the very first aluminum drift boats built.

The rigors of day-after-day whitewater and fishing trips on Oregon's storied Rogue River proved to much for wood boats, and inspired the development of more durable materials and designs. From those beginnings sprang a company completely committed to serving the needs of the region's anglers.

Today's designs reflect that commitment. Durable, detailed, high performance fishing machines, Alumaweld started by building boats for the serious angler and full-time fishing professional and still builds to that standard 31 years later.

The Super Vee Pro stands as the quintessential professional-grade fishing boat in the West. This boat, more than any other Alumaweld builds, has become the most asked-for fishing platform among top N.W. fishing guides…and for good reason, they are purposeful boats that function beautifully for their intended use.

What makes the Super Vee Pro so good?

First and foremost, this "family" of boats was innovated by full-time professional guides and has continued to evolve in response to the precise needs of a variety of professional applications throughout the West.

Alumaweld's developed excellent listening skills that you'll see evidenced in every square inch of this boat, starting with the unique 10° whitewater bottom.

Western anglers fish a wide range of waters that, for many, may necessitate running in ankle-deep water one day, bays the next and big open water fisheries a few days later. Particularly for the pro's, their boats have to be versatile. The Super Vee Pro's 10° bottom vee is well-adapted to the West's diverse fisheries and can capably run across shallow riffles while still delivering a pleasant ride in big water chop.

Alumaweld's long been known for it's construction, having made significant investment in proper engineering of all its designs. The Super Vee Pro is certainly no exception. The bottom of the Super Vee Pro starts as a single piece of premium hardened aluminum. Alumaweld learned long ago that multiple piece bottoms are trouble. Welding two or more pieces of aluminum together results in small deviations at the foundation of the boat from which greater deviations occur throughout production.

At Alumaweld it's good in…good out. That's what engineering brings to each Alumaweld that's built. In a word, consistency.

To produce boats that are consistently excellent demands that the foundation is as close to perfect as possible. This is where investment in sophisticated engineering pays off. Alumaweld, some time ago, innovated the box girder stringer system that provides exceptional bottom strength while maintaining the integrity of the design through a near flawless running surface that enables each Super Vee Pro to achieve its full performance potential.

These box girders run the length of the boat and are welded continuously to the bottom, transom and to a forward transverse brace referred to as "frame four". This system results in an incredibly stout, yet true, bottom that runs shallow yet capably navigates big water environments like the Columbia River.

There's volumes of thought that have gone into each and every Super Vee Pro. Not only from owners but in the initial design where Alumaweld worked diligently on the engineering, ergonomics and overall layout of the boat.

Engineering speaks to features like: walk through space; the design of the gunwale and tackle trays so you have a secure place to net and fight fish; the flare of the sidewall so you maintain interior space while achieving optimum freeboard characteristics; and construction initiatives that make every Super Vee Pro the very strongest and best running in its class.

Ergonomics relates to the feel of the boat. You'll see this in the height of the seat box, upholstery design, visibility over the bow, transom height for optimum comfort when running the boat with a tiller or running your trolling motor, interior freeboard and proper placement of rear and forward storage compartments, tackle tray height, and several other features. Part of a boat functioning properly is how good it feels…that's where ergonomics comes in and Alumaweld's gone to great lengths to assure the comfort of its passengers.

The beauty of purchasing an Alumaweld Super Vee Pro is the ease at which it can be modified. An extensive options list allows the owner to "tailor" the boat to their specific use and application. For instance, the Pro Guide Fishing Package features a number of important features like a transom work/storage station with a wash basin, several storage doors and areas built into the transom, side storage compartments for fish finders and radios and a washdown pump assembly. To describe it doesn't do justice to the utility and look of this detailed and useful option.

Other options (just a few of the many) include items like a unique removable fish cleaning station that is installed through the gunwale; livewell system;interior lights; other seating configurations; and several other Alumaweld "value packages", that make finishing the boat to your precise requirements easy.

In short what used to be custom work has evolved to standard production items…the benefit to the customer is reduced price. Any time a builder has to initiate a custom item it will surely escalate the price well beyond a standard "production" item.

To the uninformed or uninitiated these boats could be called, "overbuilt". With several feet of weld in just a single foot of gunwale it's easy to see why these boats might be considered overbuilt. But they're not…

First, Alumaweld's Super Vee Pro carries a limited lifetime warranty. With this kind of assurance they better be built sturdy. Second, the Super Vee Pro was intended as the office of guides who fish 200 to 300 days a year. Their desire is to fish 200 to 300 days trouble-free a year. Building to a trouble-free standard requires every element to be built super strong. Last, these are boats that may be in ankle deep water one day, bucking whitewater the next, and challenging open water wind-chop the third day. Alumaweld's Super Vee Pro has to be built tough to stand up to these kinds of demands.

There's some notable differences between the 21' and 23' Super Vee Pro models. Certainly, size. Add 2' to the length of a boat and you'll see an enormous difference in interior space, add 10" to the width (the 23' model has an 82" wide bottom) and the differences are even more compelling.

The shear-line between the two models is different as well. The 21' model has a subtle upsweep to the bow while the 23' model has a level shear-line that makes visibility over the bow much easier in this longer version. The level shear-line also gives the boat a sportier look.

Both models, even with the reduced shear-line in the twenty-three footer, shed water beautifully making the ride dry and comfortable. Alumaweld's done a fabulous job of addressing these details so that the owner's boating experience is optimized wherever possible.

To dry the ride of their boat up Alumaweld adopted an age-old construction characteristic from the fiberglass builders. With a chine that runs lower to the bow than most welded aluminum builders who pull their chine to the tip of the bow, Alumaweld boats effectively knock annoying spray and splash down and away from the boat. A subtle but important difference.

Alumaweld, picky about the details, also invested in engineered turning and lifting strakes. These are carefully designed wedges of aluminum that are welded to the bottom and enables the boat to lift properly and achieve optimum performance. These engineered strakes also enable the boat to plane more quickly, carve through turns more predictably, and track properly for trolling, backtrolling, free-drifting (a favorite fishing technique) or while at anchor. These bottom strakes also provide protection and strength to and already bullet-proof bottom.

You'll see dozens of other fine details throughout the boat. The seat boxes for instance, feature lips on all four sides of the box rather than three, two or one lip. Four lips bent into the top of the box assures the water-tightness of the box. They've also painted the boxes inside and out. Bare aluminum can stain items that might be jarred around during the day and make contact with the inside of the box, painting it eliminates this worry. Alumaweld seat boxes are fitted with stainless steel hinges for maximum durability, and stainless steel strain relief cables keep the hinges from springing by allowing the lid to only open to a little more than 90°. And that's just the seat box!

The same is true of the seats, the deck lids and lid bracing, flooring material, paint and finish items, components, wiring, fuel systems … everything … every last detail has been addressed and considered in the design and production of these awesome boats.

Though outboard jets have been around for probably close to 50 years now, there's been some revolutionary changes and improvements to them over the last decade especially. For boats like the 21' and 23' Alumaweld Super Vee Pro the most significant development has been the innovation of the new Power Jet by Specialty Manufacturing.The Power Jet has a larger intake, that when matched to the appropriate 4 blade stainless steel impeller improves the acceleration, power and even top-end speed of these typically inefficient drive systems.

In side-by-side testing with the older S-200 outboard jet and the new Power Jet the Power Jet added 4 mph top end speed (right at 40 mph), considerably better acceleration, and reduced minimum planing speed by 500 rpms. In a word this new jet adds, power.

In terms of handling you'll notice a difference between the 21' and 23' Super Vee Pro models. The 21' is a sports car while the 23' is a luxury sedan. The additional 2' of length and 10" of width don't hamper the maneuverability of the 23', for it's size it's surprisingly nimble. It is 23' feet however, and by virtue of its size it wouldn't be accurate or fair to say that it handles identically to the 21' model.

Both boats jump onto plane, run away from the competition, and fish like a dream. It's no wonder then why so many guides have gotten aboard Alumaweld's 21' and 23' Super Vee Pro's --- they achieve the goal with style and grace.