- Founded
- 1955
- Headquarters
- —
- Shipyard location
- —
- Official website
- https://www.wellcraft.com/
Brand Overview
Groupe Beneteau's American offshore brand, founded in 1955 — thirteen outboard boats from 6.2 to 11.9 m: the Fisherman centre consoles (202 to 352), the Crossover T-Tops and Speedsters (28, 33, 38) and the 28 and 38 Explorer, built to 'push the limits offshore' at up to 50 knots.
Overview written fromwellcraft.comread 9/19/2026
YachtCodex Analysis
AI-generatedAn independent reading of this builder written by AI. Unlike the specifications and descriptions elsewhere on this page, it is interpretation rather than a sourced fact — treat it as a starting point, not a citation.
What this builder is
Wellcraft calls itself one of the most iconic names in offshore boating: an American brand since 1955 whose 'revolutionary hull designs reshaped recreational boating' and which came to dominate saltwater fishing — the group page describes boats from 20 to 39 feet 'built for purpose', tough offshore explorers with strong-character design. Now part of Groupe Beneteau, the range on the site falls into three families: the Offshore center console Fisherman line — 202, 223, 243, 263, 302 and 352 — rated from 200 to 1,275 hp of outboard power; the Crossover center consoles — the 28 T-Top and Speedster, the new 33 T-Top and Speedster drawn by Navia, and the 38 T-Top — reaching 50 knots; and the Explorer walkarounds, 28 and 38, with a cabin for overnighting. Every specs page prints overall and hull length, beam, air draft, draft with the engine up and down, light displacement, tanks, the total maximum engine power, deadrise and CE persons, while the Fisherman pages list the Mercury and Yamaha outboard options by name. W.I.S.E. technology, a transferable Winning Edge warranty of up to ten years and the Seanapps connected-boat app frame the offer.
Who sails them
Wellcraft owners are saltwater anglers and offshore day boaters — Florida and Mediterranean centre-console buyers who want a hull that runs dry and fast in a chop, twin or triple outboards, a T-top for shade or a Speedster for the beach, and, with the Explorers, a boat they can sleep on for a weekend.
Signature models
The 352 Fisherman, the flagship centre console on triple outboards; the 38 Explorer, the 11.85 m offshore walkaround; and the 28 T-Top, the crossover the press keeps testing.
Strengths
Wellcraft is known for seventy years of offshore hull design, for centre consoles rated to 1,275 hp that top 50 knots, for a coherent three-family range from 20 to 39 feet, for Mercury and Yamaha outboard options, for a transferable ten-year warranty, and for Groupe Beneteau's dealer network and Seanapps connectivity behind an American name.
Considerations
'Max. engine power' on the specs pages is the boat's total outboard rating, so it is quoted as printed; per-engine power is stored only where the page lists the engine options by name (the 243, 263, 302 and 352 Fisherman) — the other models' pages speak of single, twin or triple outboards without naming them. Speeds come from the model pages' text ('reaches up to 39 knots', 'top speed of 50 knots') and are quoted with the sentence. Draft is printed with the engine up and down where the boat is small enough to trim. No cabins or heads are printed as figures beyond the 33s' two berths. The brand's headquarters town is not on the site.
Analysis generated 9/19/2026
Part of
Also in the catalogue
Fleet at a Glance
Calculated from the models in the YachtCodex catalog, not from the builder's claims.
- Models in catalog
- 13
- Length range
- 6.2–11.85 m
- Hull forms
- Motor Monohull 13
- Cabins
- 0–1
Models by this brand
13 models
Fisherman6
Explorer2
History
Wellcraft Marine Corporation was founded in 1955 in Sarasota, Florida, building small wooden runabouts and skiffs of 12 to 17 feet before moving to moulded fibreglass in the early 1960s. In 1970 the naval architect C. Raymond Hunt drew five high-performance Deep-V hulls with Step-Lifts for Wellcraft, the basis of the V-20 Step-Lift Fisherman centre console of 1979; the 248 Sportsman walkaround marked the 25th anniversary in 1980, the Scarab 377 Special Edition of 1983 became an icon of performance boating, and the 26 Scarab Center Console starred on Baywatch through the show's eleven-year run. The Fisherman 2800 Coastal followed in 1994 and the High Performance Boot Camp and Saltwater Fishing School in 2000 and 2001. Platinum Equity acquired Wellcraft in 2010, the 35 Scarab Offshore Tournament launched with over 1,000 horsepower in 2013, and in 2014 Wellcraft joined Groupe Beneteau; the Fisherman Series came in 2017 and, from 2022, the performance cruisers -- the 355 Explorer, the 44 Explorer of 2023, the 38 T-Top of 2024 and the 28 T-Top of 2025.
History written fromwellcraft.com/the-story-of-wellcraft· Key milestones in Wellcraftread 9/22/2026