I'm curious if anybody has bought one of the $3995 willie specials and what they are like? I see that Koffler has the same kind of deal going right now. How do the 2 boats compare?

I bought a 98 willie using that package and I have no complaints. Steve their rep. was helpful, courteous and patient-important issues with me.

It is a well built boat and quite solid. handles tight white water (olympic penninsula)well.

As extra options I ordered a fishbox, gunnel guards and coat-it on the bottom. A word of caution on the bottom coating-do it yourself.
They charged 150.00 for bottom coating and what I got was damn thin. I had to put 2 more coats on to get it to an acceptable thickness for real protection.

Other than that glitch, I do reccomend them. They are very proffessional with a quality boat.
Good luck.

I own a 17'X60" Fish-Rite that I love... so I can't help you. I have seen a few more Wild Hairs down here in the last few years, and they look good. I have never rowed one, but from what I hear, Bob loves his. I would like to know how they compare in price? I know it all depend on the options? But what options to they offer that are unique to Wild Hair?

I went to a 60" bottom a couple years ago (from a 54") and really like the stability. I don't fish any white water,infact we dodn't even have water on the south coast of Oregon. I have a 5 year old son who is my #1 fishing partner, and I like the extra room and stability it gives me with him in the boat. I am 6'6" and weigh 275 pounds, I like how this 60"er sits in the water and I feel it is easier to row than the old 54"er. (My 60" has the split front bench and I like that it also have the side anchor system and I love that).

I am looking to replacemy oars and think I am going with the Sawyer HyBrid Composite's with 30" ash blades.

I picked up the $3995 package on the 99 Willie 16 ft wide bottom guide model. I'm still getting used to it after rowing an Alumiweld for the last 10 years. I'm not convinced that the sharper upsweep of the bottom for and aft on these boats compared to a traditional Mckenzie design really makes a better handling boat yet. It does make it more difficult to stand in the front end of the boat because of the steeper incline. Another draw back is that with the bow sticking up in the air like a sail, its really had an effect on my truck gas milage when towing it. Another thing to consider is the $3995 package comes with the standard 0.1 inch bottom. Despite the use of the "aircraft grade" aluminum, I've found the bottom still dents easier than the 0.125 bottom that's standard on Alumiwelds. So if you float alot in low water or on more challenging streams you might consider upgrading to a thicker bottom. I would also avoid paying the $150 for the microthin applied bottom coating. Not only was the Coat-it applied very thin, the bottom was not prepped properly either. Large areas of the coating peeled off just from contacting with the trailer rollers. All in all though - its a pretty easy rowing boat -as long as you don't overload it.