Scout is an innovative fishing boat company that persevered to become a major boat manufacturer. Tough and fuel-efficient, Scout fishing boats feature high quality workmanship combined with woodless fiberglass construction.
First Scouts were small 14' boats built by Steve Potts, founder, president and CEO of Scout Boats, Inc., in the late 60's for The Outboard Shop, settled in Charleston, South Carolina. They were hand built of fiberglass and the only wood was used in the transom. Their toughness and durability brought them a local reputation. It was in 1988 when Scout Brand started business in the same town with the construction of the redesigned Scout 14' and 15'. Soon later came out the Scout 17', successfully presented in the 1990 Atlanta, GA dealer show. Over the years, it has earned a reputation for innovation, design and quality. In 2012, three Scout fishing boats dealers ranked in Boating Industry Magazine's Top 20 Dealers list, two more listed in the Top 100.
The Abaco Series included most of the largest models (the 350 Abaco, the 262 Abaco, the 245 Abaco and the 225 Abaco).
The Dorado fishing boat family includes the 245 Dorado, the 225 Dorado, the 210 Dorado, the 187 Dorado and the 177 Dorado.
The Sportfish/XSF fleet will soon get bigger with the Scout 410 XSF Luxury Sportfisher, the new flagship model. The actual 15 boats models of this fleet are ranged from 15 to 34 Feet.
The Bay Boats family includes some of the smallest Scout Boats (the 251 XS, the 221Windyah bay, the 201 Bay Scout, the 191 Bay Scout and the 177 Winyah).
The Scout design team has a solid knowledge base and is constantly developing innovative construction methods. Scout boats have had composite stringers and transoms, avoiding any wood in boat construction. Another unique innovation is the Air-Assist hull, feature designed to combat the problem of static stability, common on small boats. With additional longitudinal buoyancy, this hull increases static floatation and decreases time to plane and also vastly improves overall handling characteristics. An important advantage of this design is increased fuel economy. From the same line of thinking of providing fuel efficiency, it comes out of the NuV3 hull design, a convex design that is comprised of variable degree angles in the hull, offering the softest, driest ride in its class without sacrificing performance.
As many of those who search boats, Scout manufacturer worries about safety and durability. One of its first major innovations was the reverse-shoebox hull/deck design, which made the hull safer and increased its overall strength at the same time. The "Scout Strata-Mount" is an advanced engine mounting system on large models which allows the stresses of the engines to be spread out over the hull, increasing strength, durability and performance. In order to do so, the two main longitudinal grid stringers pass through the transom and are integrated into the engine mount.