i trialed a 18ft koolyn a few years ago that was reasonably old adn found it to be a bit rough and slapping in only mild chop .. it was a bit excessive when compaired to other plate ally boats i had tried .. i bought a 18ft westerberg instead and now have a 24ft westerberg ..

i think the things to check are the hull thickness i get the feeling the westy was heavier so that may of helped it run smother in the chop ..

what size and price are you chasing ? 

Spent a month fishing out of a 21 footed with a 140 Evinrude on the back about 15 years back and vowed from then that if I ever bought a boat it wouldn't be a Koolyn craft, since then I've had about 6=7 boats and each one was a better boat. 

I won't go in to details because it would take too long to put all the faults down.

nice riding boat goes like the clappers 200hp on back unfortunatly it seems every individual plate boat of the same size and brand can ride differently i would ask for a sea trail i personally think westerberg build the best riding boats in ali but mates koolyn is close second

My old man had an 18ft Koolyn Craft, which he replaced with a 20ft Reefa (Koolyn Craft changed name to Reefa after partners went seperate ways). They are a very well built boat for fishing, however the ride quality is not the same as a Westie. They generally used 4mm plate all over.

As each boat was generally made to customer demands they do vary quite a bit- I would take it for a test ride if possible. If you wants a strong boat with plenty of fishing room they are hard to go past- however personal comfort is not their strong point.

Also make sure of the age- If you are buying an actual Koolyn Craft, I predict the hull would be older than 15-17 years.

I was told by a friend of a friend that they are unstable when motoring at speeds, "to the point where the boat felt like it was gonna roll, if you moved about too much, disturbing the balance of the boat"

is there any truth to that? 

Im taking a 19ft'er out for a sea trial next week some time so hopefully we get a chance to test things out

I have had a few alli boats and found that two same brand boats can handle differently due to , driving style of skipper , speed and the big one is loading and trim, the other thing to keep in mind is that if the boat was built 17 years ago it was built to their technology of that period and design , over the years many alli boats have changed dramatically  IMO.  good luck

Get a glass boat!

There are a few on there. 1 in particular is a Haines V19 that might be worth a squizz. Dont let me tell you what to do though!! I was only suggesting

mate try the search function near the top of the page was the same sort of question asked about koolyn craft a little while ago u might find some more info

good luck

ps was not about koolyn craft but boats that left a bad impression

Mate i have found them very stable when travelling, if you go to a 16 footer maybe but the larger versions are very stable(probably why the ride is rough). In a 20 footer you can fish 4 blokes out 1 side and it doesn't lurch too much

Well took the boat (19ft 130hp) out for a sea trial yesterday arvo in the howling southerly.

I was pretty impressed with the smoothness of the ride when either punching into the sea or following. Didn't get the big slapping thump i've experienced on other bigger ally boats.

The only down side was the amount of roll when weight was unevenly distributed. Two of us can almost roll the boat beyond 45 degrees when hanging off the same side. Not the most comforting feeling....