In reply to your request for information, I can offer these observations:
The CHALLENGER 25 boats were built-to-order commercial grade hulls using the 25-foot hull molds but with heavier lay-up. The CHALLENGER 25 series generally had a pilot-house type cabin and a closed foredeck. The hull could have a notched transom or a Whaler Drive. The typical customer would be a government, military, or commercial user. A c.2001 boat may have lived a hard 20-year service life.
The value of any 20-year-old Boston Whaler boat is principally determined by its present condition, how much care and maintenance it has received, and what sort of operation it was used in. For example, a well-funded local sheriff might have had a CHALLENGER 25 in service on a large inland lake in the northern states, where the boat was only in a pristine freshwater lake for perhaps six-months per year, and it spent most of its underway time idling around the shoreline "showing the flag" in calm water. Or some military unit might have run a CHALLENGER 25 in tropical seawater ten-hours per day for 20-years including shallow water operation with some groundings, with a crew of new operators coming every six months.
To understand the effort that could be required to return a government surplus boat to recreational or even moderate commercial use, read:
Cetacea Page 35
March 3, 2001
Whaler CPD 22-RAIDER
A Gulf War Warrior Comes Home to Servehttps://continuouswave.com/whaler/cetacea/cetaceaPage35.htmlPropulsion of a 25 CHALLENGER will require twin engines of at least 200-HP or more. Modern outboard engines in the 200 to 250-HP class cost about $25,000 each, and any re-power would require extensive rigging. Figure about another $5,000 to $10,000 for twin engine rigging, new steering, new controls, new instrumentation, propellers, spares, and so on.
My view of why we are often seeing heavier twin-engine boats for sale at modest prices: it will cost a fortune to re-power them. Also, operating larger, heavier twin-engine boats on plane will consume significant amounts of fuel, and the fuel economy is likely to be about 1-MPG at planing speeds. With highway gas prices drastically higher in the last year, I expect marina fuel-dock gasoline to reach $5-per-gallons
or more in the Summer of 2022. The operating cost for twin engine 250-HP boats will be at least $5-per-mile. For a 50-mile jaunt, spend $250 on gasoline. This kind of boat operation is not going to be cheap.
One saving grace of the classic 25-foot hull is the narrow beam; only 8-feet. This means it is easily trailered on the highway without special permitting. However, with the heavier hull lay-up and twin engines, the trailer will need to be a tandem-axle trailer, have full brakes, and a capacity of at least 7,000-lbs. To tow it will require a 3/4-Ton truck.