The registry
Wellcraft Registry: Models, Builds & Photos
Wellcraft Marine was founded in 1955 in Sarasota, Florida, and grew into one of the highest volume fiberglass boat builders in the United States through the 1970s and 1980s. The company built everything from small center console fishing boats to offshore cruisers, but it is best remembered for the Scarab performance line, and for the Scarab 38 KV that Sonny Crockett drove on Miami Vice from 1985 on. Irwin Jacobs bought the company in 1984 and folded it into what became Genmar Holdings, Wellcraft survived Genmar's 2009 bankruptcy, and it has been part of Groupe Beneteau since 2014, so the brand is still in production today.
Pick your model
From Sarasota Startup to Volume Builder
Wellcraft started in 1955 in Sarasota, Florida, building small wooden runabouts and skiffs in the 12 to 17 foot range. The company moved to molded fiberglass in the early 1960s and scaled through the 1960s and 1970s into one of the biggest fiberglass builders in the country, turning out runabouts, cuddy cabins, cruisers, and fishing boats from its Florida plants.
The V-20 Steplift is the hull that made the company's name with offshore fishermen. It grew out of the 1969 Triumph Vee, took the Steplift name in 1970, and stayed in production through 1996, badged V-21 Step Lift for the 1993-1996 model years. That is roughly a quarter century on one bottom, tens of thousands of boats, and plenty of them are still fishing.
The Scarab Era
Scarab was Larry Smith's race boat operation. Wellcraft began building and selling pleasure versions of the design under license in 1976, then bought the Scarab trademark outright in 1982 and made the name the public face of the company. Scarab hulls were deep-V offshore designs, usually with twin big block sterndrive power, and the line ran from the mid 20 foot range up past 40 feet.
Miami Vice did the marketing. Crockett ran a Chris-Craft Stinger 390X in the first season, but from season two in 1985 the show switched him into a Scarab 38 KV, and that 38 footer put the name in front of millions of viewers every week. In the late 1990s the line moved to stepped bottoms with the AVS models, short for aft ventilated steps, where the steps angle rearward from the keel to the chines. The 33 Scarab AVS took Powerboat magazine's Offshore Boat of the Year award for 1998. The Excalibur name covered the sport boat side of the house from 1990 to 2004, including the 38 Excalibur built from 1996 to 2002 and the 210 Excalibur Sport of the early 2000s.
Fishing Boats
The Fisherman series is the backbone of Wellcraft's saltwater catalog, and the name is still on new hulls today. These are center console boats built around self-bailing cockpits and outboard power, with in-deck fish boxes standard equipment. The 160 Fisherman covered the small trailerable end of the range across multiple redesigns, and the current lineup runs from the 202 Fisherman up to the 352 Fisherman, so the format has stretched from inshore skiff duty to serious offshore work.
Cruisers and Corporate Fate
Wellcraft built family cruisers alongside the fishing and performance lines, and the Martinique express cruisers, including the 3300 Martinique of 2000-2003, carried that side of the catalog into the 2000s.
Irwin Jacobs bought Wellcraft in 1984, and the brand spent a quarter century inside his Minstar and Genmar operations. When Genmar filed Chapter 11 on June 1, 2009, Wellcraft went on the block, and Platinum Equity closed on the brand in early 2010 along with Four Winns and Glastron, running the group as Rec Boat Holdings out of Cadillac, Michigan. Rec Boat Holdings relaunched Scarab as a jet boat brand in 2013, and Groupe Beneteau bought the whole operation in June 2014. Beneteau kept the Fisherman line going and added Poland-built offshore commuter models like the 355, and when it announced in June 2026 that it would sell Four Winns, Glastron, and Scarab Jet, it kept Wellcraft. Production left Sarasota years ago, but the marque never went defunct.
Asked all the time
Is Wellcraft still in business?
Yes. Wellcraft survived parent company Genmar's 2009 bankruptcy, passed to Platinum Equity's Rec Boat Holdings in early 2010, and has been owned by Groupe Beneteau since 2014. When Beneteau announced in June 2026 that it would sell Four Winns, Glastron, and Scarab Jet, it kept Wellcraft, which currently builds Fisherman center consoles and offshore commuter boats, though production is no longer in Sarasota.
What is the connection between Wellcraft and Scarab?
Scarab started as Larry Smith's race boat brand. Wellcraft built pleasure versions under license from 1976, bought the Scarab trademark in 1982, and built Scarab deep-V offshore boats into the early 2000s, including the 38 KV that Crockett drove on Miami Vice from 1985 and the stepped-bottom AVS models of the late 1990s. Scarab was relaunched as a separate jet boat brand in 2013.
Are parts still available for older Wellcraft boats?
Hull and deck hardware for older Wellcraft boats is mostly generic marine hardware, and the sterndrive and outboard power packages (MerCruiser, Mercury, Yamaha, OMC) are supported through engine manufacturers and salvage. Model-specific items like windshields, rub rails, and molded parts usually come from donor boats or aftermarket fabricators, since Wellcraft's current owner does not stock legacy tooling.
What years was the Wellcraft Fisherman line made?
Wellcraft has used the Fisherman name on its center console fishing boats for decades and still uses it today, so there is no single production window. Specific hulls came and went; the 160 Fisherman covered the small trailerable end of the range across multiple redesigns, and the current lineup runs from the 202 Fisherman to the 352 Fisherman.
Do old Wellcraft hulls hold up?
The solid fiberglass bottoms on 1970s and 1980s Wellcraft boats generally age well, but boats of that era used plywood-cored transoms and stringers, so survey for wet wood before buying. On Scarab and Excalibur models, also budget for the big-block sterndrives, which cost more to keep alive than the hull does.
The wall
The most-documented Wellcraft vehicles in the registry, every photo by the owner.
