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Today was going to be a fishing day, but the weather was not in my favor. I got to play with the electronics a bit more. I also got to work the boat out in some sloppy water. The wind is blowing 20kts according to the current bouy data and the opposing current in the Cape Cod Canal is running just under 4kts. The resulting slop was ugly as you can see from the short videos. I hope the pictures do it justice. The boat was dry but the ride was understandalbly bumpy BTW the speed of the boat in the videos was 25mph.
I heard a rumor you were out today and I was thinking man is he a diehard. Good thing you came in, winds are up near 35mph now.
That's about how my boat handled on Sunday out on the east side in the NE headwind. How much fuel are you carrying? I found with the full 180 gallons I had a much tougher time keeping the bow down into the wind.
The pictures don't really do it justice. I couldn't take any heading stills heading into the waves. The chop was around 4' and VERY tight. They were too big to leap from top to top and too tight to run up and down them. You just kind of launched off one and drove right into the face of the next one. I had about 80 gallons of fuel on board. I was running right around 25 mph, 3/4 down on the tabs and 3/4 down on the engine trim. It was about the best I could get. The other day when I said it was wet, we were running into the same typ of situation but it was a quartering wind & sea, the boat would throw the water up and out and the wind would send it right back in on us. Today was easier. The boat parted the head seas as well as I would expect a 24'er to. The following seas were a breeze. A little less tab and engine trim and the boat ran as fast as I wanted it too. Very little bow steer in the following sea which was nice.
It was a bit hard on the back until I found where the boat wanted to run in this slop. Once I got the bow down into it, the ride smoothed out from a pounding to a smooth up and down ride. I'll keep playing in this stuff until I get it right. With the old boat I knew right were it wanted to be under all conditions. This ones like a new girl. It takes some time and practice to make them purr
Scott, I went out to the Ledge, but other than the Canal Patrols 41'er I was the only fool out there, and even he was bouncing a bit.
well atleast someone is getting out around here... thanks for the vids, im all primed for the new season now. Big stripers, alligator blues and tunas... here i come.
Heh!, the canal patrol was probably wondering if they were about to have some business in these seas!
I had a friend that wanted to get out this morning. At 6am it was barely blowing but by 10am it was all over. I'm hoping though Terry...it looks like we might squeak out a few days here for the rest of the breakin....
I'm going to run out east along the shoreline the next few days that way I shouldn't get knocked around too bad on the SW. I may even stop in BH to pick up a few schoolies.... let me know if you want to take a ride or vice versa...
You guys are really getting me excited! I'll be at Monument beach Saturday morning running through my decarb procedurs and replacing my plugs. Its all I have left to do. If the boat slips are ready, She'll stay wet the rest of the season. Bring on the Mack's, I'm ready to start filling my bait freezers!
If it was a cat 25 mph would have been WOT! I ran a World cat before getting the HS. The dealer said it would run in the 40's with twin 140 Zuks. The only way that rig will ever see 40 is behind a tow vehicle. I looked hard at cats, not for me thanks.
My WCC 330 TE with twin 250s will run 40+ in 3.5-5'..you can ask TYC or Tarpon 007...they've both seen it. The smaller WCCs were often sold with low power...put a pair of 200s or 225s on a 266 or 270 and it will do over 40 in 3-4'.
Funny thing...most cat guys are former mono guys, but not too many mono guys are former cat guys unless they were moving up to very big boats that don't have any equivalents in the cat market. Must be something to it.
BTW, I've done a lot of boating in Buzards Bay...great fishing, but the currents there are very strong and it does mix it up pretty well. Spent many a day in that same slop. Used to run out of Pocasset/Cataumet on a 35' sloop and also fish off a buddies Shamrock 28 out of Kingman Marine.
A buddy of mine just bought a 33 WC and it is a nice boat. But it's also a 33' boat thats 10.5' wide. It's suposed to eat up 3-5's. I ran a 23 WC at the RI show and it was a slug. Max power was twin 150's so twin 140's is not far from max power. The boat was lucky to see upper 30's with no gear, and 4 guys on board. I was told the 27TE was a 50mph boat by the dealer. They offered me the boat w/ twin 225 Honda's and a spot on their pro team for a huge discount (around 79K) There were just to many issues I had with the boat.
It's too big to trailer (super high too).
The trailer needs allot of water to launch.
Fishing room was in short supply for a 27' boat. The 23' we ran had less interior room than most 20'ers
Lastly they don't hold their value. I looked on Boattrader and several other sites. The dealer was asking in the low 100's for the 27TE at the show. A year or two old boat was selling for half that. Even with the deep discount I'd be taking a big hit. By comparison, a 2 y.o. 2390 Vector is selling around 45-49K. I paid just a couple grand over that. I can run this boat for two years and not be upside down.
Don't get me wrong, I was seriously looking at the 27TE. It's a well made boat and they take the water well. But it seemed to be big on the outside and small on the inside, IMHO.
My buddy swears by his cat and will never go back to a mono hull. To each his own.
FWIW look at this video of the 33TE, there is no one on that boat drinking coffee without a lid on the cup
Can't speak to the 23 as I've never ridden on one, but the 270TE I drove had a WOT of just under 55 with 225s. I've trailered my 330 from Naples to Valdosta and from Valdosta to Panama City with no problems. It's 13'2" to the top of the rigger based...my old Wellcraft was 5" shorter. COntrary to what you might have heard, it requires very little water to launch...the draft of the boat is 18" with the motors up for the 33 and 16" for the 27. I trailer store mine and launch it every weekend, by myself. Not sure about the value, but I ddin't buy mine to sell it. FWIW, my last boat fetched 50% of the "list" price when I sold it as a 2.5 year old boat. Also, don;t confuse asking price with selling price...I saw a lot of my last model boat "selling" for 30-40K more than I sold mine for, and most of them are still listed for sale. Finally , on the video, there's been an extensive thread on it. The owner, charter captain Jim Barlett says it's 4-6 and he's doing 30 MPH. You're right that no one is sipping coffee, but also no one is having their kidneys rearranged. In all honesty, I've yet to be on a similarly sized mono that rode as smooth as my cat in big stuff. Cats are not for everyone, but they do have many benefits in terms of ride and stability.
As I sit and literally wait for my boat to come in, I viewed your videos with great interest and anticipation. Keep them coming. Never will understand apples and oranges comparisions. 33ft vs.24ft. I hope the rough water ride would be better. Sounds like you did your homework, met your needs and are happy with your decision.
I was not comparing my boat to his...as you state, there is no comparison. I merely pointed out what mine will do. I also mentioned what a 266/270 will do as it is closer in size. Either will outhandle any similarly sized mono I've ever been on (and that's quite a few) in heavy seas. But as I said, it all depends on what you want from a boat...cats don't meet everyones need. BTW, I would not have even posted had Wiley not made the jab at cats (envy?) and Riptide replied about cost, trailerability, etc of cats. Just trying to counter some misconceptions.
Harry,
No worries. Just protecting the Vector turf. Never had the opprotunity to get on WCC but did check out both TwinVee and Glacier Bay as they have local dealers. TV fit and finish was not what I was looking for and the Glacier Bay had a smooth ride but not satisfied w/price versus construction aspects.
Agree on Twin Vee...very cheap looking, though they are supposedly very rugged. GB (and WCC) is actually comparable to Grady White/Boston Whaler in terms of build quality...high end production boat.
Video of the new Vector in some slop! 
BTW the speed of the boat in the videos was 25mph.
photob
ucket.com 
