newbie sportfisherman yacht question(west coast vs east coast)

[dawgmode]

Ive been doing some research on a few sportfisherman yacths and i was wondering what the differences between a sportfisherman set of for "west coast" use verses one for the "east coast"??? Is the bow railing setup one of them?

[PtJudeRI]

It seems to me, from what I have seen on TV, and in articles, that the difference in "yachts" is the size and the speed. These boats are more long range fishers, and less convertibles. I have seen the size from 50-75' and the speed from 10-18 kts. If you had to categorize them, I would call them yachtfishers, and not sportfisherman.

[dawgmode]

correct me if im wrong but isnt a convertible a open helm setup vs it being enclosed?

[liz]

You are right on the bowrail. The West Coast type come furthur back toward the cockpit. There are other differences in hull design as well but I think they get more similar as newer models are made.

[Swami]

When it comes to fishing boats, there are definitely two styles that correspond to the two basic styles of fishing. On the east coast it's all about day trips and mostly trolling dead bait, so the boats tend to be more conventional-looking, faster, and with average fuel capacity. Since it's rare for these boats to anchor or for anyone to go forward of the cockpit other than to tie up at the dock, the "look" is to eliminate bow pulpits and bowrails for a sleeker line.

On the west coast, the crews will pull a spread of lures but they spend all day up high scanning for marlin on the surface with gyro-stabilized binoculars--when they see a fish, a crewman goes up to the bow and pitches a live bait to the marlin. These boats are also set up for long-range trips (think SoCal to Cabo, Mag Bay, East Cape, etc.) so they tend to be much slower but with a ton of fuel capacity, not to mention huge livewells. They usually have wraparound bow rails and forward livewells to facilitate a crewmember going forward to pitch to a fish, and since there are few marinas along the way, these boats usually have more in the way of amenities for the crew, who may be aboard for a couple weeks at a time.

I grew up marlin fishing on the East Coast but I've done plenty of the West Coast stuff too--as they say in Cali, it's, like, a totally different world maaan.

[sr31aj]

Originally Posted by dawgmode

correct me if im wrong but isnt a convertible a open helm setup vs it being enclosed?

Not really - not the same as convertible cars. Convertible boat refers to its intended use as a cross between a cruiser and fisherman - the ability to "convert" from one use to another. When you see a flybridge sportfishing boat without room for a fighting chair, odds are it was orginally designed as a convertible. Can't think of current designs to use as example, but the classic mid 30' 1970s Egg Harbors were convertibles, even though many of them saw serious sportfishing use. Compare a 33' Egg to a 31' Bertram (same 1970s era) and you should get the idea. The Bertram has much more cockpit space, the Egg has much more cabin space while still providing reasonable "fishability"

[dawgmode]

Originally Posted by sr31aj

Not really - not the same as convertible cars. Convertible boat refers to its intended use as a cross between a cruiser and fisherman - the ability to "convert" from one use to another. When you see a flybridge sportfishing boat without room for a fighting chair, odds are it was orginally designed as a convertible. Can't think of current designs to use as example, but the classic mid 30' 1970s Egg Harbors were convertibles, even though many of them saw serious sportfishing use. Compare a 33' Egg to a 31' Bertram (same 1970s era) and you should get the idea. The Bertram has much more cockpit space, the Egg has much more cabin space while still providing reasonable "fishability"

Thanks for clearing that up for me