Crestliner 2100 Raptor Review

The largest model in Crestliner’s high-end Raptor series, the 2100 is a serious fishing boat that’s made for heavy duty tournament competition.

Riding on a welded aluminum hull with a 17 degree deadrise, the Raptor offers a happy compromise between an ability to sneak into the shallows, yet still be able to slice through big waves on open waters. It’s long, wide footprint not only affords an impressive level of stability and rough water comfort, it also provides a ton of space for tournament anglers and all their gear.

Up to 17 rods stow in the Raptor’s centerline rod lockers, with still others fitting into a second locker in the port gunnel.

This is most obvious when you step onto the enormous elevated front casting deck. With more than enough space for three to fish in comfort, the front deck conceals a huge amount of storage space beneath its surface, including a large in-floor rod locker with room for 17 rods. The rod locker is completely lit, and has a lid that’s supported by twin gas rams, making it a cinch to stow or retrieve any rod in there at any time of day or night. Of course, it can be locked when you’re away from the boat.

The enormous front casting deck offers plenty of space for fishing, with ample storage space below.

The front deck also conceals huge storage lockers, which are more than big enough to handle even bulky gear. Indeed, the design of the front deck is just right. Apart from being big and spacious, it’s also just the right height – elevated to the point you can easily see structure and cover to cast to, yet low enough it’s still easy to reach over the side and grab a hooked fish without reaching. Standard cargo netting along each side of the bow keeps smaller items close by, yet safely stowed. A convenient live well, and a separate bait well up on the bow pad, are nice touches.

The pullout measuring stick lets you instantly determine if a catch is within legal size limits.

As you step from the front deck into the main cockpit, a neatly concealed compartment in the deck face accommodates 10 Plano 3600-style tackle trays, while an adjacent removable 36-inch measuring stick lets you ensure your catch is of legal size – in both inches and centimeters.

In the main cockpit there’s a second rod locker in the portside gunnel. A neat aluminum extrusion that surrounds the entire inner cockpit accommodates Crestliner’s Sure Mount accessory system, allowing you to place rod holders, downriggers or other accessories just about anywhere.

The helm console is designed to accept large multi-function displays.

The helm console is designed to accommodate large multi-functional displays to the right-hand side, with primary instruments – speedometer, tach, trim and fuel – set in classic black-on-white analog gauges with chrome accent bezels. There’s a useful cuddy bin to store small personal devices like cell phones, and an adjacent 12-volt outlet to keep them fully charged. Rocker switches for accessory functions like the live wells, lights and bilge pump are backlit for easy identification around the clock, while just above the floor a convenient storage drawer securely stows wallets, car keys and other valuables.

A handy storage drawer at the base of each console protects valuables.

The passenger console has a surprisingly large, locking glove box, a 12 volt outlet for charging your passenger’s electronics, and a similar little cuddy cove and storage drawer. With the helm console, it supports a large, swept-back walk-through windshield that does a fine job of protecting from the morning mist while staying low enough to not hinder casting.

With a surprisingly large glove box, storage drawer and charger for cell phones, the passenger console in the Raptor is downright luxurious.

The Raptor typically comes with a hard-wearing vinyl floor that’s easy to clean at the end of a long day. Snap-in carpeting is available as an option, and that’s a worthwhile upgrade. Being removable, it provides the sure grip and barefoot comfort of carpet, in an easy to clean, and easy to dry package. A dedicated storage space for a 30 quart removable cooler along the starboard side of the cockpit just before the rear deck is a nice touch.

The 2100 Raptor features a massive rear casting deck. Available rear bench seats fold down when not in use.

The aft casting deck in our review boat included Crestliner’s available rear bench seat, which folds down when not in use to extend the deck area. Beneath it’s wide surface, a 17 gallon insulated, aerated live well with timer and removable bait bucket keeps the tournament catch cool and happy. Crestliner has chosen to minimize the size of the splash well in the Raptor series, allowing for more deck surface. This is a sensible idea, as it greatly reduces the chances of an accidental slip leading to an unscheduled swim. But just in case that happens anyway, there’s a four-step retractable ladder mounted on the transom.

Crestliner’s 2100 Raptor is rated to accept outboard of up to 350 horsepower. With a 350 Verado, this is an honest 60 mph boat , and a good driver can likely coax a few more clicks out of it on a perfect day. Drop back to a far more sane 30 mph and around 4,000 rpm, and the big Verado will deliver surprising fuel economy of 2.9 mpg.

The entire inner cockpit is ringed by an extrusion for Crestliner’s Sure Mount system, allowing rod holders, downriggers and other accessories to be positioned anywhere.

If you’re a serious angler, this will all be music to your ears. Crestliner has earned a strong reputation over the years for building great fishing boats, and the 2100 Raptor nicely upholds this legacy.

Crestliner 2100 Raptor

Length: 20’ 11”

Beam: 102”

Transom height: 25”

Dry weight: 2,170 lbs.

Passenger capacity: 7

Fuel capacity: 56 gal.

Max Power: 350 hp

Info: crestliner.com