Whittley Marine Bowrider Boats

Whittley Marine has been building boats in Australia since 1953, and like almost every long-lived boat builder the story starts small: a workshop, a handful of tradespeople, and local customers who wanted something better than what they could buy. The founding generation built to order, learned from every boat that came back for repair, and turned those lessons into a production range once demand outgrew the shed. As volumes grew, hand-built one-offs gave way to tooled production, and the company moved from making boats to engineering them: hull moulds or jigs, repeatable laminate or welding schedules, dealer support and a proper spare parts chain.

The move into bowriders was a natural one. Families wanted seating forward of the windscreen rather than a closed foredeck, and the bowrider layout delivered more usable space per foot than anything else on the market. Whittley Marine adapted its existing hulls to the open-bow format, then began designing specifically for it — walk-through screens, convertible cushions, under-seat lockers and transom lounges — and bowriders have been a core part of the range ever since.

Running both fibreglass and aluminium production lines is unusual and it is a genuine advantage for buyers. The same design team can offer a smooth-riding moulded hull to owners who want refinement, and a welded alloy hull to owners who launch off beaches and fish rough ground. Buyers get to choose the material to suit the water they use rather than the material the factory happens to be tooled for.

Whittley has been building boats in Melbourne since 1953 and is one of the few Australian brands producing both fibreglass and aluminium family boats. The CR and SL ranges include proper bowriders and the clever Sea Legend and Cruzer models that blur the line between bowrider, cuddy cabin and weekender. What Whittley does better than almost anyone is packaging: the boats are designed around Australian family boating, so there is shade, there is dry storage for a weekend's gear, there are proper handrails and there is usually a portable toilet locker and a small galley option even in trailerable sizes. Hulls are moderate deep-V designs tuned for bay and coastal use, comfortable in chop and stable at rest for swimming and fishing. Fit-out quality is high with tidy joinery and durable upholstery, and the boats are sold as complete packages with trailer and electronics. Whittley's long history means strong local parts support and dependable resale across Australia.

Ask anyone at a boat ramp to name a Whittley Marine and you will hear CR 2000, SL 22, Sea Legend 700. These are the boats that built the brand's reputation, and each one is documented on its own page on this site with specifications, layout notes, engine options and a real-world price guide.

The Whittley Marine CR 2000 is the model most buyers start with, and it sets the template for the rest of the range: open bow seating, a walk-through windscreen, a helm and companion seat amidships and a convertible transom lounge. Moving up the range adds beam and freeboard rather than just length, and beam is what you actually feel — a wider boat carries more people comfortably, stays flatter at rest and gives deeper lockers under the seats. Series naming follows length, so the numbers in the model name are the quickest guide to which boat suits your ramp, garage and tow vehicle.

Whittley Marine is particularly recognised for CR 2000, SL 22, Sea Legend 700 — and the full list of every model, series and range we have documented from this builder appears further down this page.

Whittley Marine sells mainly into Australia and New Zealand, where boating means beach launching, estuary and offshore fishing, ski runs on inland rivers, and long tows behind a family four-wheel drive. That market shapes the boats: high sides, self-draining decks, rugged fittings and trailers designed for salt water and steep ramps. Dealer coverage across the eastern states, South Australia and Western Australia is strong, and resale within Australia is consistently good because the brand is a known quantity at every ramp.

Being a Australia builder matters more than it sounds. Boats are designed around the water their designers use, so the Whittley Marine range reflects Australia conditions in freeboard, deadrise, cockpit drainage and seating priorities. If you boat somewhere similar, the boat will feel like it was designed for you — because it was.

Australia's longest-running family boat builder, with genuinely versatile bowriders. Longevity is its own achievement in this industry: boat building is brutally cyclical, and a company trading since 1953 has survived multiple recessions, fuel shocks, ownership changes and complete generational shifts in what buyers want from a family boat. That kind of continuity is why parts, dealer knowledge and used-boat values all stay healthy for this brand.

The Whittley CR 2000 and SL 22 are the models most often cross-shopped against imported American bowriders in Australia.

The brand is known in the trade for CR 2000 and SL 22, and among owners for something less measurable: boats that get used every weekend instead of sitting on the driveway. That is the highest compliment a family bowrider can be paid.

Day to day, a Whittley Marine bowrider is judged on the small things. How quickly can two people get it off the trailer and back on again? Where do the wet towels, the ski rope and the cooler live? Is there shade at midday, and somewhere dry for phones and keys? Alloy decks hose out in seconds and dry fast, which matters when the boat goes back on the trailer wet. These boats are set up so a single adult can launch, retrieve and pack up without help, which in practice is the difference between a boat that gets used most weekends and one that stays in the driveway.

Running costs are modest for the class. Modern four-stroke outboards are frugal, quiet and simple to service, and a day of cruising with a couple of ski sets rarely troubles the fuel budget. Insurance, storage and trailer registration are the same as any comparable trailer boat, and because Whittley Marine is a recognised name, both insurers and finance companies value the boats without argument.

Premium pricing shows up in the details rather than the brochure: thicker upholstery, better drainage, quieter hull structure, smarter hardware placement and helm ergonomics that still make sense after eight hours aboard. Buyers pay more up front and recover a good share of it at resale, because these are the boats owners upgrade to rather than away from.

Whatever you buy, inspect it the same way. Check the transom for flex with the drive or outboard lifted, tap the floor and stringers for softness, look hard at the bilge for staining and weeping, run the engine to temperature and confirm steering and trim work through their full travel. Upholstery seams and covers are the first things to fail on a boat stored outside, and they are also the most expensive cosmetic items to put right. On fibreglass, look for gelcoat crazing around fittings and stress lines radiating from the transom or trailer supports.

Finally, buy the layout rather than the badge. Sit in the bow, sit at the helm, sit on the transom lounge and imagine a full day aboard with your own family. Whittley Marine builds premium fibreglass & aluminium bowriders with stern drive and outboard power, and if that combination matches the water you use and the way you use it, this is a brand that will serve you for years and sell on well when you are ready for the next one.