Building a Sailfish S8 - Radar advice needed

[vinvaite]

I recently ordered a new Sailfish S8 Alloy Cat. To say i am stoked would be an understatement. It will be quite customised and tailored for Game and Kingy Fishing. Having said that i am relatively inexperienced and have only owned (half) a boat for about a year now. However in that time we've done about 500hrs; we've got into downrigging for kings off Sydney and JB with moderate success. Lately we have tried YFT fishing and have bagged a few 40~70kg fish off Sydney and JB, suffice to say we are seriously hooked..

My question relates to RADAR options. The new boat will cost the best part of $160k and i do not want to compromise potential results for the sake of a few grand considering the entire expense. Now i have discovered (albeit via limited experience) that finding bird action almost always correlates with extra hookups for obvious reasons. Research online suggests that detecting bird action via radar is going to be impacted by conditions (very hit and miss). But let's assume for a moment we have relativeily calm/flat conditions for the sake of the argument. Granted this may only be 10~20% of the time (if that).

What radar setup would you go with if you wanted to detect bird action beyond eyesight in such conditions considering the boat? Keep in mind the circumstances; a 7m~8m Alloy Cat, height of the radar (probably about 3m to 3.5m off water level)

Whadayareckon?

Interested in thoughts of those with experience using modern radar options, within the context of the above requirements. Another aspect is we sometimes leave port in the black of night, if radar can give me confidence about what's in front out of sight, that would help too. ie. it's not just about finding birds, so i will probably get some system regardless.

I've read a few articles online about USA guys using radar effectively to target tuna, so i was surprised when a few people have told me outright they think it's a waste of money. Obviously i do not want to waste money, but if such a tool can make even 1 in 10 days a success when they would otherwise not be then to my mind it's potentially worth it.

Thanks guys.

[Nicko_Cairns]

I don't have any experience with Radar but there' s a few good posts on this site about it so I recommend having a search and read. When I get a bigger offshore boat I'll be going something like the small Garmin radar but mainly for avoiding other boats at night, especially spot-stealers that sneak in with their lights off.

[vinvaite]

Thanks for that, yes had a good read, some great info. If anyone has experience with respect to the newer radar options specifically in relation to detecting working birds, i would love to hear about that too, cheers

[ScottB]

I have heard a lot of good things about the broadband (Simrad) radar and it's ability to pick up small objects, but I'm not sure specifically about it's ability to pick up birds.

One thing that I can tell you for sure is that for the more traditional digital radars from the likes of Raymarine etc, you won't get away with a dome. To get the kind of definition that you need, it will have to be an open array, and a powerful one. Then there is this issue that on rougher days, with all of the movement associated with a small boat, you will get a lot of sea clutter which will be very difficult to distinguish from something like working birds. You will also need height to get the distance you want, but this will also make the movement/sea clutter worse, a vicious cycle!

I have a dome on my boat, and use it for navigation purposes (Good for dodging the rain squalls as well!) and it is great for these purposes but it will never pick out a bird... From the navigational aspect I would highly recommend it. We were leaving port in the dark early one morning with a boat in front of us, they turned around so they were heading back at me, then turned off their nav lights (pitch black!!) it was nice to be able to glance down and see where they were. But keep in mind that it won't pick up objects like buoys in the water etc.

Regards

Scott

[rexaway123]

Back in black u should maybe have good point of view here?

[Back In Black]

Not sure if I should get involved.

Every time I do I seem to get bitten.

Tony

[vinvaite]

Tony perhaps just PM me if you have some advice. Totally understand if you would rather not.

[Back In Black]

Just taking the piss. I'm always ready for a scrap!!

I've got a Garmin of some sort?? Don't have a clue what to do with it, never really played with it that much, but it looks smoking hot on top of my boat!!

Tony

[vinvaite]

We ended up going with a complete Simrad setup with latest broadband radar. Some pics of the Sailfish progress attached...

[Back In Black]

We ended up going with a complete Simrad setup with latest broadband radar. Some pics of the Sailfish progress attached...

Very shiny!!

Tony

[Gon Fishun]

We ended up going with a complete Simrad setup with latest broadband radar. Some pics of the Sailfish progress attached...

WOW, a gangway to the helipad.



just envious.

[Spaniard_King]

Whats goin on the back of it??

[Knotpretty]

Don't forget to put the bungs in. KP

[vinvaite]

Whats goin on the back of it??

Cats look a little odd without motors fitted up

[rat_catcher]

We ended up going with a complete Simrad setup with latest broadband radar.

I presume you chose the 4G radar. Excellent choice for the close-in navigation purposes, but won't do much in the longer ranges and for birds. What displays did you get? NSE, NSS, NSO? My old man has the NSE12 on his boat and on my next boat I am seriously considering all Simrad gear too, but haven't ruled out Furuno. For birds you need one of the big open array Furuno radars.