The Boating Forum - 21' Cape Horn

I have looked at the 21 foot cape horns and noticed that the hull design changed somewhere around 2001. I am looking on feedback regarding ride (wet or dry) between the two hull designs and deadrise info. Also, an overall opinions of the boat would be helpful.

Old hull = wet ride, new hull = dry ride. The boat is a tank.

My brother owns a 21 cape horn. He has a 225 merc for power and it is not enough!! He trailered it through a weigh station and was totally sunk at the weight receipt. That is one heavy gas eating rig. The Merc finally layed down on him and the Cape Horn is now a yard ornament.
Dropkick

The boat is definatly a tank, and with the new hull the ride is decent, but as far as fit and finish it gets D. There are lots of much nicer CC's out there, i personally like the SeaVee's and the Grady's.

Good Luck,
Gavin

When did SeaVee start making a 21?

stretch, they dont. But theres a good reason for that.

Gavin

The 21 is a great little hull and like any deep vee, it will use a big motor and burn gas. A poster has a 300 on his Contender 21, so I do not what is so shocking about a 225 on a CH21.

And I would like to hear some specific examples of what was wrong with the fit and finish as the lifting console seat is the only piece of fiberglass that moves and has to mate to another piece on the boat.

My 19 uses a 150, goes over 40 loaded down with 21 degrees of dearise and gets about 3 mpg from a cheap old carburated merc.

fishkiller2000 - 8/14/2006 5:05 AM

The boat is definatly a tank, and with the new hull the ride is decent, but as far as fit and finish it gets D. There are lots of much nicer CC's out there, i personally like the SeaVee's and the Grady's.

Good Luck,
Gavin

Is"fit and finish" the quality of workmanship or do you mean that it is a no frill boat? Most posters here say the quality of the CH is fine. I like a no frill easy to maintain boat like the CH or Parker.

I know that some would say that this boat is not as finished as contenders, whalers, etc. but seems like the craftsmanship & quality is excellent. I haven't seen a SeaVee priced anywhere near the CH and it seems like you get a sound boat for the money. Grady's are popular but I still like the foam core construction. The 21 is only 2800lbs and would seem like a 225 would push it just fine.

A friend of mine had a 2004 21 that I spent time on. The boat road exceptional for a 21 foot boat, he had a DI 250 evinrude and it
would run 49 WOT 19 pitch tempest prop. The boat is easy to clean and maintain. He took the boat 60 plus miles offshore regularly.
Also got 2.5 mpg. the 21 with the 225 merc must not of been propped right.

I beleive 2000 is the 1st year of the new hull design. You will know if it is a newer one if it has the low bow rails. This older ones had higher bow rails.

I've ridden the 21 (rented 1 for a week). I liked it a lot. Very solid, easy to clean, huge fish box and bait well. Great for fishing. I'm considering buying one.

my 21 is a 99' and still very dry, but then again I am not a huge foul weather fisherman. 99' 225 opti runs 34-35 wot with full hardtop, tuna tower with controls, 4 anglers, 16 sticks, and 128 gallons of fuel. very solid boat. would like to repower this next year.... thoughts/feedback on engine make and HP for this set up are welcomed..

edgarmckee - 8/15/2006 9:32 AM

my 21 is a 99' and still very dry, but then again I am not a huge foul weather fisherman. 99' 225 opti runs 34-35 wot with full hardtop, tuna tower with controls, 4 anglers, 16 sticks, and 128 gallons of fuel. very solid boat. would like to repower this next year.... thoughts/feedback on engine make and HP for this set up are welcomed..

Will it support a 250 suzuki 4s?

It is rated up to 300HP, so should handle the Zuke 4 stroke.

Seems like you are pleased with the boat. Do you know the dry weight of the hull and deadrise?

Snapper, I have owned a 200o 21 for 2.5 years now. I love it. I fish the Gulf of Mexico 15-60 miles reguraly. The boat is very, very dry and rock solid. I have a 250 efi merc which runs 48 wot and cruises at 32 34 at about 2 mpg. I have personally put 200 hours on the rig, an not even a hint of a rattle. It rides much bigger than a 21 ft boat, but in spaced out seas you will fall b/t waves, but hey it is only 21 ft. No matter what you may here, the 21 is a very dry and solid boat. As far as fit and finish, thats just more stuff to break and keep up with in my opinion. I have come in in 5=6 ft seas, true 5-6 ft. seas and never once felt endangered in any way. I can truly say the cape horn is the most solid boat I have ever been in. Good luck and if you decide on the capehorn I hope you enjoy it as much as i do mine.

Every few months someone asks a similar question. I cut and pasted (with slight edits) this from a prior post. Pm me with any specifics.

Ok here goes... Like I said before I have a lot of time behind the wheel of a 21 cape horn. I'm not sure how many hours but my GPS has a trip odometer on it and I had to reset it last year when it got to 10,000 miles. I only take my GPS when I am going fishing so my trips to the local hotspots by water and my skiing and fun trips aren't included in that. I know the boat pretty well.

My boat is a 1997, the "old style" and is considered "wet". Running head into or right with the sea. I don't take too much spray. Running side the sea isn't too bad either. If I quarter into anything bigger then 2 foot I take some spray. By some I mean a lot... The way the bow is shaped it throws water up and away from the boat when you hit a wave. The problem is if the wind is coming across you that water will get thrown right back at you.

I have a shower curtain on mine. It helps a lot. I had it custom made in town and it was expensive ($425) but it was worth it. I had the fabric shop sew a U shaped zipper into the plastic so that I could open it up and let some air through. The U shaped section was a waste of money, I think I have opened twice in the whole time I had it and the seam is right in my sight line. Everyone I talk to say, the new style (after summer of 99) is way drier. Don't get me wrong, I don't take spray crossing boat wakes, but if the marine radio says seas are 2-4 foot or 10-15knts I will take some spray.

That is pretty much the only negative to the boat. My boat doesn't porpoise at all. I very rarely use the tabs to do anything but correct the ride angle of the boat when I have too many people on one side.

About the build. The boat itself is darn near indestructible. The only way to hurt the boat is to hit something besides water. See my signature line? I've heard many people say, "All boats get stress cracks." Not a Cape Horn. I have never seen one on a Cape. The boat is truly totally unsinkable. You can leave the plug out and go fishing all day if you want too. I've knocked a pump off one of my thru hull fittings before and fished all day in a freaking small craft advisory.

Fit and finish. I don't know what Cape Horn uses for the gelcoat on the inside of the boat, but I like it. It cleans up well and is tough as heck. I drop lead weights all the time and they don’t hurt it. I've even dropped my 10lb downrigger ball. No damage. The deck lids are ok, not great but ok. They are plenty strong enough but you will break the hinge/latch at some point. I broke the hinges on all three of my decklids over a 5 year span. I contacted the factory about replacement and they hooked me up with some of the new style of deck lids. That was a year ago and I haven't had any problems since.

Here are my performance numbers. 1997 225 Yamaha Saltwater Series II (EFI)

WOT lite 44mph 5400rpm
WOT loaded 41mph 5200rpm
Cruise 33mph 4200rpm
Fast cruise 35mph 4500rpm
aprox fuel burn at cruise 2.0 mpg

17-pitch Yamaha stainless prop

The 225 does fine on the boat. I can plane out with 8 people and full fuel and ice with no problem. In fact I have had 9 people on the boat and got a skier up no problem. I usualy fish with 3-4 on the boat and I have no complaints with performance. It pops up on plane and doesn't porpoise.

The boat is fantastic for fishing. The fish box is huge (300qt). It holds ice ok, not as well as a cooler but it does hold ice. The thing is you need to start with a lot ice in there if you expect it to hold. On a serious fishing trip I dump an entire 150 qt cooler of ice into the fishbox and bring another 150qt with food, drinks, and more ice. I've had some pretty big fish in mine. The only thing that you might have trouble cramming in there would be a large tuna.

I didn't realize how efficient the cape used its cockpit space until I fished off some other similar sized boats. I love how you can actually fish off the back of the boat and easily get around the motor when fishing. Really a great fishing platform for a 21 footer.

I don't think the old style has a 40 gallon live well though. Maybe, but it sure doesn't look like 40 to me. I sealed my livewell shut with 5200 and cut a hole in the top and installed a lid similar to the ones they use on the battery doors. Much better than having to open the whole lid.

Cobia tower isn't my thing on a center console so I can't say much there.

Any more questions just ask

Cape Horns are true no fuss fishing boats. Kind of like a chevy work truck, open the doors and hose it out.

There tops in my book for a deep vee work horse.

I have a Cape Horn 24, never been happier !!!!!!!!!!!!

I have a 96 21' with a 200 that I got as insurance write off after Katrina. Couldn't pass up the deal. I've been running it for about two years now. The 200 gets the job done but it really needs the 225 or 250 to perform well. The boat is as tough as they come and I love the no liner design and low maintenance inner finish. The wet ride is however a real issue and I've had a few trips out 30 or so miles where my crew was miserable from getting wet over and over as we moved around. If the wind is blowing much your eventually going to need to go somewhere besides up or down wind and your gonna get some spray.
I'm going to either get good curtians or switch to something else soon. If I were buying again i'd get the newer hull and at least the 225, preferably a 250.

I have a 2007, 24 cape horn and all I can say is I wished I'd bought one years ago. Its the best boat I've owned which includes my sea crafts (all 3 of them) and my contender which I thought at the time was the best boat going for its size.
Paraman

The 24 is a classic.

My 19 is wet. Well made and roomy, but wet.

The Cape Horn 24 was totally redesigned in early 2006 with many improvements over the
"old" one.

I fished a 1994 21' Cape for 4 years and put 400 + hours on it, fishing up to 75 miles south of Dauphin Island.

The older design is very very wet compared to most center consoles, and I would not consider one without curtains. I had a single 200 carb and it drank fuel, I do not remember the performance numbers, but we had budgeted 1.1 miles to gallon loaded. The 120 gallon tank is needed and we would carry another 40 for overnight trips to the rigs, which was probably a deminishing return.

The hull is extremely well built. I have a picture out of the Mobile Paper of the boat on it's side in the middle of Bienville Blvd after Hurricane Ivan, and other than a few scratches, it was fine. The only issue I had was the factory t-top was mounted to the console and the console started to crack at the base of the legs. Cape Horn fixed this at the factory and the problem was solved. The boat lacks dry storage and the inside of my console stayed wet on rough days, as the rain poured in from the rod holders. The fish box is huge, but it does not hold ice very well at all.

My boat did not have trim tabs, and I highly recommend them. The person I sold the boat to added them and it greatly improved the ride.

Lastly, should a bilge or bait pump go out, you need to be a contortionist to reach in the bilge access to work on them.

Would I buy another? Well I have been looking for a 14' Cape, but they are hard to come by.

Paraman, I would love to see some pics of your 24.

do a search in the photo section there is a post with a few pics
http://www.thehulltruth.com/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=111640&posts=10#M1118866
paraman

paraman - 11/16/2006 9:16 PM

do a search in the photo section there is a post with a few pics
http://www.thehulltruth.com/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=111640&posts=10#M1118866
paraman

Sweet :thumbsup: Have you broken her in yet. I'm going to try and stop by the factory next week.

I put only about 60 hours on my boat this season because I got the boat late in the summer. I have been fishing other boats with friends for ASA turny's, offshore etc.. I'm looking forward to next season and doing a few FLW Striper Turny's with my boat. If anyone needs any more info on the 24 feel free to ask.
Paraman

Paraman, do you have any performance numbers with the single 250??


thanks for your help!!!! :grin:

This is with the Mirage plus prop 15P
5000 rpm 32 mph
top end 6000 rpm 40 mph
trimmed 3 clicks up with 3/4 fuel and 2 people.
I do not have numbers of gallons per mile yet but I can say the boat seems to be pretty fuel efficient. I'll do that this coming season.
Paraman