Kevlacat 5.2 vs Bar Crusher 560/620/640 for offshore fishing.

[fly_1]

Agreed. Yes trolling into chop is a pain in the backside, ( and it spills the drinks), but if you just angle off alittle, its no dramas. As far as the dirty water goes, thats just rubbish. Any mono with 2 engines will put out just as much wash, and after all, as we havent got the big loud diesel drum that vibrates through the water like the big boats have, i actually want a bit of wash, as my boat is actually the best teaser I have!!!! Throw in a few daisy chains or witchdoctor type teasers to catch and reflect the light around, and you have a great fish raising machine.
Having the engines in the corners makes moving the boat around very easy, and although I have been close a few times, I have never lost a fish due to the motors getting in the rode. If you have a decent driver on the wheel, and a crew who knows whats going on, you should be able to use them to your advantage.
Trent

[Smithy]

Trent's brother's boat, Tanjian a 5.2KC is actually the leading boat in the SCGFC this year. 2nd placed boat is a 5m South African imported thing with twin Suzuki 4 bangers and then in third place is a 40' White Cap with twin 500 Cummins'. Pretty good effort by the trailerboat guys as the game boat has fished as many if not more days with a full crew every time. For many years Fred Temminck's own personal 7.2m KC used to win the champion boat of the SCGFC and champion boat of Australia with his anglers winning the Sir Garrick Agnew Trophy for most billfish tagged by an Australian Angler in a fishing year. If it wasn't him, it was Damon Olsen's 7.2KC.

[Mac1952]

No matter what anyone says: Give me a Cat any day for stability, ride and SAFETY!!

[business class]

No matter what anyone says: Give me a Cat any day for stability, ride and SAFETY!!

What a big comment that is!

see the only bad thing with cats are the owners , because you guys are so one eyed its not funny . if you are not an expert in driving cats and are only new to it, it is so easy for them to roll over in the smallest of swell, (now don't say thats safe) and don't say no they wont either because you know they can and will! (hense all the cat roll overs ) because untill you learn how to drive them properly they can be a pig.

some of you guys are as bad as E-tec owners (sorry but its true) if its not one or the other there no good.
Well you tell me what boat there is apart from a cat that needs so much trim with everything you do, even turning for crying out loud, and also you need at least 3 to 6 months of driving lessons, maybe more before you know your own boat . now how good is that .

Now to be honest i don't hate cats at all, as much as it looks like i do, i don't. I am aware they are a great ride and a great boat don't get me wrong, but only ONCE YOU KNOW HOW TO DRIVE THEM, there not the only decent boat out there either and most cat owners need to see this. Eg. for the comment i quote# give me a cat any day for bla bla bla#, please explain what can the cat do that other multi hulls can't, except roll . I own a Hydrofield tri hull and its an awesome ride, stability is second to none and a very safe boat to be in, but in saying that you won't see me beating my chest to say there the best boat bar none. Is there a reason for this as i am confused.


Cheers
Matty

[Noelm]

can you show me a mono that does not benefit from trim tabs???? no cat ever needed them, because you can use the trim properly, and no, you don't need to be an offshore racer to get benefits from a cat, you can just sit back and cruise if you like, no worries, not too sure I fully agree with what you are saying about "all the cat rollovers" can you supply me with some cold hard evidence of this "feature" and the next mono to flip/roll/swamp will not be the last either! now lets get things straight here, I have owned Monos and Cats for more years than most on here, and I still do own a Cat and a Mono (two actually) and I know which one I would prefer to keep if I was only alowed one Boat!!!

[finding_time]

Matty

Come on mate, get real! There are plenty of people who drive cats without any experience and how many roll overs are there? Very few is the answer! and if you take Dominators out of the equation there are very very very few! Mate as Noel said all boats need trim to perform well but plenty of cats and mono's are driven without it evey weekend without disaster!

yes cats have lean on turns and if i was a river or esturay fisherman i wouldn't own one , i would be in a plate mono for sure, like wise if i was a dam fisho i would own a Skeeter or similar. But i choose to fish mainly the oceans and want a trailerable boat and there isn't another boat out there that's 5.2m long runs lowish economical HP (120) that has all the features of my cat. These are twin motors with twin fuel and electric systems, self draining , sealed floor in many sections ( 9 in each hull), lock up cabin , well under 2 tonne on the trailer and rides very very well. Can you name a boat of similar size that can match that? Didn't think so!

Of coures boats have good and bad points and one boat cannot have everything and be suitable for every application but some have more benifits than others doing certain tasks! You have to weigh up you requirements and pic the right boat for the right purpose, and everyone requirements WILL be differant!

[business class]

[quote=finding_time;1018951]Matty

Come on mate, get real! There are plenty of people who drive cats without any experience and how many roll overs are there? Very few is the answer! and if you take Dominators out of the equation there are very very very few! Mate as Noel said all boats need trim to perform well but plenty of cats and mono's are driven without it evey weekend without disaster!

yes cats have lean on turns and if i was a river or esturay fisherman i wouldn't own one , i would be in a plate mono for sure, like wise if i was a dam fisho i would own a Skeeter or similar. But i choose to fish mainly the oceans and want a trailerable boat and there isn't another boat out there that's 5.2m long runs lowish economical HP (120) that has all the features of my cat. These are twin motors with twin fuel and electric systems, self draining , sealed floor in many sections ( 9 in each hull), lock up cabin , well under 2 tonne on the trailer and rides very very well. Can you name a boat of similar size that can match that? Didn't think so!


Ok! first off. I was off the whole 5.2 size boat, we have established they are good for there size for a comparason, though the Hydrofield is my answer to match the 5.2 for you.

2nd Yes trim tabs help with mono's in pulling the nose down when she gets ruff but are not a must where trim in cats are. You can't possibly say that you can jump in and drive a cat with out experence and the ride be awesome as when ever someone bags the ride off the cat everyone who owns one is quick to jump out and say its the driver. am i write or wrong?. KC salesman won't even sell you a cat with out showing you how to drive one first. (noelm) and for hard evidence there was a cat roll over off tweed last year in a near perfect day and people from this site witnessed it, how much harder evidence do you need. What my point was, is that i agree they are a good boat, BUT they are not the only boat to have for offshore is what i am saying!

[Dean1]

Hey Matty,

yeah mate you do constantly make remarks about cats 'tipping over'! I know of about 3 or 4 dominators, a few sharkcats when doing things that NO boat should be doing and thats about it?!

Ive never heard of a Kevlacat tipping over?? Im not saying Kevlacats are better than sharkcats I love them both, Id love a 2700 noosacat one day.

And hell I dont think they are that hard to drive like people say, my first cat I owned I was kicking arse in that beast straight up doing things I never would have thought about doing in some of my preowned monos!

I think it just takes a while to get the 'most' out of them and wring every little bit of awsomness of out of them, and im sure us catowners know that feeling when youv got 'the trim right' 'the speed right' and youv got a huge grin on your face like a chesear cat coz your carving up the sea like no tommorow!!

Yeah sure theres been a few times when ive thought 'gee that felt like I was up one one hull for too long and I just washed off my gunnel' but really it takes alot more than what you think to tip one of the biggirls over.

Cats for me all day

[Dean1]

Every mono with an outboard motor trims the motor in or out too get it too perform properly! Right?? Or it would be a dog too!! We just have 2 motors too trim in or out!? Whats the difference? Hell some monos need foils on the legs to perform, im sure cats dont!

Coz we trim our motors too suit seas is not a problem here I dont get why there is talk of it. I have fun trimming in seas too experience different reactions dont all boatowners feel the same?

[Dean1]

[quote=business class;1019012]

Matty

Come on mate, get real! There are plenty of people who drive cats without any experience and how many roll overs are there? Very few is the answer! and if you take Dominators out of the equation there are very very very few! Mate as Noel said all boats need trim to perform well but plenty of cats and mono's are driven without it evey weekend without disaster!

yes cats have lean on turns and if i was a river or esturay fisherman i wouldn't own one , i would be in a plate mono for sure, like wise if i was a dam fisho i would own a Skeeter or similar. But i choose to fish mainly the oceans and want a trailerable boat and there isn't another boat out there that's 5.2m long runs lowish economical HP (120) that has all the features of my cat. These are twin motors with twin fuel and electric systems, self draining , sealed floor in many sections ( 9 in each hull), lock up cabin , well under 2 tonne on the trailer and rides very very well. Can you name a boat of similar size that can match that? Didn't think so!


Ok! first off. I was off the whole 5.2 size boat, we have established they are good for there size for a comparason, though the Hydrofield is my answer to match the 5.2 for you.

2nd Yes trim tabs help with mono's in pulling the nose down when she gets ruff but are not a must where trim in cats are. You can't possibly say that you can jump in and drive a cat with out experence and the ride be awesome as when ever someone bags the ride off the cat everyone who owns one is quick to jump out and say its the driver. am i write or wrong?. KC salesman won't even sell you a cat with out showing you how to drive one first. (noelm) and for hard evidence there was a cat roll over off tweed last year in a near perfect day and people from this site witnessed it, how much harder evidence do you need. What my point was, is that i agree they are a good boat, BUT they are not the only boat to have for offshore is what i am saying!

And Boatboy has already reassured us that a 5.2 KC will do everything better than a 5.2 Hydro will do he's owned both. A 5.2 Hydro hasnt got the safety of twim motors/ fuel systems/ batterys etc does it? And how big is the deck on those hydro's? To much hydro I think

[finding_time]

[quote=business class;1019012
. (noelm) and for hard evidence there was a cat roll over off tweed last year in a near perfect day and people from this site witnessed it, how much harder evidence do you need.![/quote]


Matty

Mate that cat that rolled over on a "calm day" got to close to fido's reef and was hit by a BREAKING SWELL!!! You know and i know that any boat that put itself in that area was stuffed regardless of MONO , CAT , TRI really mate i fail to see how this is relevent to the discussion would you drive your boat in that area when there is a big ground swell?

[Noelm]

OK then, so that's one! hardly "all" I would be thinking, and it seems even that one was dubious.

[fly_1]

Have fished many times out of a 18ft hydrofield. Family had one many years ago.It was/is a good boat, but it to had its down falls(like all boats!!!!) Hydrofields flip over too!! Have seen it happen, and it was driven by a very experienced cat driver ( as well as many other boats), but they too will flip ( as will ANY boat if in the wrong place etc...)
So to keep going on about cats rolling etc, is just rubbish.
By the way, the old hydrofield did have twin motors, 2 tanks, batteries etc, had lots of room, but we went back to cats as they suited our needs better.

[boatboy50]

[quote=Dean1;1019035]

And Boatboy has already reassured us that a 5.2 KC will do everything better than a 5.2 Hydro will do he's owned both. A 5.2 Hydro hasnt got the safety of twim motors/ fuel systems/ batterys etc does it? And how big is the deck on those hydro's? To much hydro I think

Hey Dean,

I saw BC's post early this morning, but left it alone because there's no point in flogging a dead horse. I took it that he was trying to take the piss as we've had this argument before.

The one that rolled at Fidos was a 4.9m Markham Whaler. It was stacked up against breaking water. I'd love to know what 6m mono or Hydrofield would have handled that and stayed sunny side up? Truth be known it may have even rolled a 5.2 KC had it been there. It's common sense that prevailed in that situation.

I have also seen another 4.9 MW flip end over when overtaking a big Riv wash in the Broadwater. They lack flotation in the bows, and can broach badly.

The 7.0 Dominator obviously has a problem, so shouldn't be entered into this argument.

Now what was the initial post about again?

Regards

Darren

[Luke G]

Who cares?