KenCraft 21 Review and the Story of KenCraft Boats

KenCraft boats and a family shop in Wilson, North Carolina

KenCraft boats come from Wilson, in eastern North Carolina, where the company has built fiberglass boats for roughly half a century. Its current owners say production in Wilson dates to 1975 and that the business has always been independent and family owned, now run hands-on by the Brunson family. A 2012 version of the company website said KenCraft began with a commercial boat and stressed that it was not owned by a corporation or investment group, with many employees who had been there for decades.

Over the years the brand built several lines: Bayrider skiffs, Sea King and later Challenger center consoles and bay boats, and the KenCraft-branded offshore models. More recently the company consolidated under the Bay Rider name. Boating's 2026 test of the Bay Rider 269 Bay describes Bay Rider as formerly KenCraft Boats with a 50-year history, and the old kencraftboats.com address now points to bayriderboats.com. Anyone searching for KenCraft boats for sale will therefore find both names on the same hulls.

Which boat is the KenCraft 21?

Listings for a Kencraft 21 can mean several boats, because the company has built 21-foot center consoles under different names. The model this page covers is the KenCraft 21, also marketed as the Outer Banks Edition, which the builder updated with a new step-down console for 2021. Bay Rider sells the same-size boat today as the 21 Offshore, with identical published length, beam, weight, fuel and horsepower figures.

Older boats often listed as Kencraft 21s include the Sea King 210 CC, a 20-foot 6-inch console on a 99-inch beam with 85 gallons of fuel, a 200 hp maximum and an 18-degree transom, sold in the late 2000s, and the Challenger series center consoles of the 2010s. They share the brand's priorities but not the current hull's dimensions, so check the hull identification and spec plate before comparing prices.

• KenCraft 21 / Outer Banks Edition: 20 ft 9 in, 8 ft 4 in beam, 2,675 lb, 80 gal, 200 hp max
• Bay Rider 21 Offshore: same published dimensions, from $74,321 with a Yamaha F150
• Sea King 210 CC (late 2000s): 20 ft 6 in, 99 in beam, 2,200 lb, 85 gal, 200 hp max

Hull shape and the Carolina flare

The 21 uses a sharp 58-degree entry that transitions to 20 degrees of deadrise at the transom, a relatively serious deep-V for a 21-footer. Bay Rider lists a 16-inch draft. KenCraft has long promoted its traditional Carolina bow flare and high freeboard amidships and aft for family safety, and those features help keep spray off the crew in the short, steep chop of the sounds and inlets around the Outer Banks.

At 2,675 pounds without an engine, the 21 is light enough to tow behind a half-ton pickup and launch at a busy ramp without drama, yet heavy enough to settle into a sea rather than skip. Neither KenCraft nor Bay Rider has published an independent instrumented test of this model that we could find, so treat any speed figures you see in listings as owner claims.

A layout that fishes and seats seven

KenCraft built the 21 to do both jobs. The 2021 boat came with a large casting platform, a 5-foot, 315-quart fully foamed in-floor fish box, twin 70-quart fish box coolers under the forward seats that drain overboard, a 15-gallon live well under the front seat, six flush-mounted stainless rod holders, recessed horizontal rod storage and stainless pull-up cleats. An optional 45-gallon livewell leaning post adds serious bait capacity.

For family use, the forward seating has removable backrests and gas-assisted lids, there are rear jump seats with backrests, and Bay Rider rates the current boat for seven people with backrests. The step-down console has a side access door to a storage compartment, and a swim platform with grab rail and folding ladder sits aft.

Popular options include a fiberglass hardtop with LED spreader lights, Bennett trim tabs, a 6-inch Atlas jack plate, raw-water washdown, Garmin electronics and Wet Sounds or Fusion audio. Hunters can order the Duck Rider package with an olive drab hull and tan interior.

How the Wilson factory builds them

KenCraft and Bay Rider boats are wood-free, with hand-laid fiberglass, closed-cell foam flotation for safety and sound deadening, and pressure-tested, epoxy-coated aluminum fuel tanks. Aluminum work is welded in-house, each boat goes through a 212-point inspection, and a 10-year transferable warranty applies. The 53,000-square-foot plant sits on 5 acres.

Boating's editor, after touring the factory for the Bay Rider 269 test, praised details that apply across the line: knee braces tying stringers to a 4-inch-thick transom, a hull-to-deck joint bonded with methacrylate adhesive, schedule 80 plumbing and hatch openings with deep gutters. The company also builds boats for law enforcement agencies, which says something about durability.

The 2021 KenCraft 21 also listed bronze through-hulls with shut-off valves, 316 stainless hardware and a Yamaha rigging tube to the motor as standard, the kind of specification many budget builders skip.

Prices, old and new

KenCraft advertised the 21 from $46,344 in 2021, before freight, prep, trailer and taxes. Bay Rider's internet price for the 21 Offshore is now $74,321 with a Yamaha F150, so a typically rigged new boat with a hardtop and electronics lands somewhere around $74,000 to $95,000 at the dealer.

Used prices depend on which 21-foot KenCraft you are looking at. Our estimate is about $14,000 to $34,000 for Sea King and Challenger era boats with older power, and roughly $42,000 to $65,000 for 2021 to 2023 step-down console boats with low-hour Yamahas. Running costs are modest: around $3,000 to $7,000 a year for insurance, single-engine service and trailer storage, plus fuel.