How does a 150-year-old iconic company stay relevant in 2025? By listening to its loyal clients and delivering the same style and quality that created the legacy.

2025 Chris-Craft Sportster 25

Above: A 2025 Chris-Craft Sportster 25. Photo via Chris-Craft and Viage Group in Sarasota, FL.


Brief Background & Company History


Chris-Craft has been a leader in the boating business since Christopher Columbus Smith and his brother launched their wooden boats in 1881 and became Chris-Craft in 1924, when its customers were renowned industrialists like Henry Ford and William Randolph Hearst. That caliber of clientele also helped launch the sport of powerboat racing, but Chris-Craft led the entire industry by starting assembly line production in the Algonac, MI factory, using largely Ford, Chrysler and Hercules engines. While its 22’ Cadet opened pleasure boating to the middle class, the Great Depression thwarted business and during WWII, the company produced small military patrol boats.

After the war, Chris-Craft regained its stature as America’s pleasure boat brand and again catered to celebrities and movie stars.

In 1955, Chris-Craft began building fiberglass boats and the company came under various ownership groups over the decades, building a variety of stellar boats and moving to Sarasota, Florida in 1988. In 2001, Chris-Craft was purchased by an investment firm and launched the brand into a new century. Now, under the ownership of the Winnebago Industries, Chris-Craft benefits from the synergies of a major recreational vehicle manufacturer but has the freedom to be true to its brand and customers. The Chris-Craft new Sportster model is a testament to its expanded brand identity.

What’s New? Wake Surfing! A Classic Brand Meets The Demand


With wake surfing as this decade’s hottest new sport, overtaking waterskiing and wake boarding as the most accessible and fun watersport, Chris-Craft found its customers looking for a classy wake surf boat. These customers were not ready to give up their beloved Chris-Craft cruisers but they wanted to offer their kids and grandkids the fun they craved so they could enjoy interactive family and friends time on the water. Chris-Craft engineers and designers went to the drawing board and created a new genre of Chris-Craft, the Sportster. Offered as a 25 or 28 footer the boats look every bit a Chris-Craft, but pack in a special feature—the ability to wake surf.

Keeping It A Chris-Craft


While most wake boats are not known for great handling and can prove unwieldy when carrying a lot of ballast, Chris-Craft devised a way to maintain good handling by shifting the center of gravity and controlling the amount, intake and dispersion of water, thus creating a classic Chris-Craft that can also surf. This boat is seen as “purposeful innovation” to maintain the Chris-Craft loyal following and integrity, while catering to the “next generation” of adventure seekers and water sports enthusiasts.

“There was not a square inch in that boat that was not thought about,” says Ron Berman, VP of Engineering at Chris-Craft. “Design takes longer here than any place else I have ever worked. We take the time to listen to our customers and we are just as brand-passionate as our designers. Our vision was set at the beginning and we are true to what the brand is and about the Sportster raising eyebrows. But it’s in our blood that we are not afraid to test things,” he adds.

Cockpit Layout


About the 25’ SportsterThe 8’6” beam feels roomy because of the layout of the Sportster--even in the 25’ version, while the 28’ model does give more length and seating options. The front helm and passenger bolsters are deep and upholstered with automotive flair. The bow seating offers forward lounging or seating with a table option and that same table can be stored behind the portside bow seat or moved to the aft deck where the table and seats convert into a full sun lounge behind an aft-facing jump seat, all allowing passengers to comfortably watch surfers show their agility jumping and riding the waves.

Power & Performance


The Volvo Penta 350 HP Forward Drive with counter rotating Duoprop system provides a powerful blast of 50-52 mph top speeds and an upgrade 400 HP can add even more boost. The propeller system is moved forward for safety and a quieter ride, thanks to the Volvo Penta Silent Shift feature and propellers that pull the boat, rather than push it. This creates the smooth ride and impressive wave that mark this surf boat.

Volvo athlete Parker Payne demonstrated and raved about the performance saying, “The Sportster gets you out of the water quickly and creates a great wake!” With the tow rope attached to the power folding top, riders can choose either side of the boat to surf and because Chris-Craft redesigned the back of the boat, consistent with its tumble-home look, water stays out of the cockpit while coming off plane so the boat provides a suitable ride for the athlete while providing a comfortable ride for the rest of the family. That was the purpose--not to replace the existing wake surf boats but to provide trending sports benefits to the Chris-Craft quality ride.

We witnessed that superior ride as we went out to watch Payne show us his skills with nine people onboard, loaded with fuel and the trim tabs set for surf. We all enjoyed a dream ride with no drag and great lift as the boat cut through the water. We sat wrapped in soft, custom upholstery while Payne cut wave after wave, Chris-Craft hydrodynamics handling the rest.

Ballast System


The ballast of the Sportster is also designed differently than traditional wake surf boats as it has two side tanks and one additional center bladder. While filling the ballast tanks provides the displacement necessary to produce the wave, the three tanks facilitate emptying, making it a quicker process and not adversely affecting the comfortable ride that Chris-Craft owners expect.

Build Quality & Materials


The materials in the Sportster reflect the attention to detail, starting with the Sea Sole deck material, developed by Teakdecking Systems. After creating fine real teak decks for megayachts, as well as for Chris-Craft boats for decades, Teakdecking Systems worked to come up with a synthetic decking that would provide the real look of teak while offering the softness of the PVC style decks common on sport boats. Sea Sole was the product that was introduced on the Sportster, to provide an easy to install, maintain and repair product to suit Chris Craft’s high-end look. While real teak is an upgrade and Ecoteak, another synthetic teak, is standard on the non-surf version, the standard Sea Sole on the surf Sportster adds a literal Chris-Craft touch.

Other Key Features


The Seasole swim platform extends the water access of its aft boarding area with a descending swim step--or seat--that lowers passengers gently into or out of the water. As an added safety mechanism, the boat will not start when the swim platform is down.

Chris-Craft also looked at the structure of its T-top and windshield to ensure sleek, rugged safety. The curved windshield is wrapped in a bonded powder-coated aluminum frame that appears to be one piece and is the ideal height for excellent visibility, while still providing wind protection. The electric top is masterfully designed to recess for transport and storage without sacrificing its durability in rough water and waves or it ability to carry boards on detachable racks.

Custom tooled wooden grab handles with stainless trim add a classy touch as does the custom cast leather steering wheel with a center spinner to keep the Chris-Craft logo, right side up. And the Chris-Craft logo is also etched into the custom speaker grill covers that the company created with JL Audio to provide a yacht-like finish and a year-long exclusive for the design use.

The dash has dual Volvo Penta screens, a teak pod for the wheel and controls with the throttle ergonomically and easily accessible to starboard at elbow height.

Take Aways


The exterior of the Sportster reflects the painstaking lamination and gelcoat application, down to the boot stripe and varnishing that adds the special shine to each Chris-Craft. There is nothing not to like--the Sportster in either the 25 or 28-foot model and even its 35’ luxury GT bowrider version--adds the dimension of water sports enjoyment to the Chris-Craft loyalist who wants it all.