anyone been in or own a American built cat ? few builders, worldcat, glacier bay, tigercat, prowler cat, even kevlacat.
do they go anygood in comparison to our aussie ones ? (sharkies, kevlacat,noosacat)
I think most of them are displacement or semi displacement, have weird layouts and monster fuel tanks, but most importantly very good pricetags.never been in one and am curious.
the kevlacats are built quite poorly I think in comparison to aussie ones.
glacier bay i been in afew, match well with the lifestyle cats... monsters tank is due to the massive payload... personally if u own a 5.6 sharkie, with 2x 115hp, your better off with 2x60hp... some cat has too much power for there own good
An Ausfisher mate has a Tigercat.... reckons it's the ducks nuts.
Maybe he will respond.
LP
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Mate,
I have a Glacier Bay 2270. These are the semi-displacemnt hulls you refer I think. Most other popular US cats are planning hulls I believe (World Cat yes, Prowler I think, but not sure about a few of the others you mention). I have seen a few GB 2270 in walk around configuration lately that appear well priced, if ca=bin is of no interest.
Fuel in the GB is 477 Litres, so not much different to similar sized Noosa or Kevlar. Layout in the GB is not weird, just less utilitarian than the Aussie boats that we are used to (has more compartments, hatches, cabin space, and lots of fit out options as standard. If there is a piece of gear to a do a job, the yanks use it).
My experience so far with not a lot of hours... I would have to agree with Peter Websters in depth review of this hull done about 6 years back.... softer than anything in that size he had been in before, including the same sized Aussie cats from Noosa Cat and Kevlacat. I can send you a copy of his review if you PM me an email address.
In terms of layout, depends on what you plan on doing as to whether you considered it "equal" (as said they are somewhat different) or better or worse than the local cats. The local boats tend to have larger deck space, with "simpler" cabin and fit out set ups. If you wanted to fish and jam on say 5 guys on day trips, the Aus cats would be better, If you want to fish 2-3 with overnighters and more gear, the GB would come into its own I think, more comfort and well organised with storage for most gear.... I know some pro guys in 7m cats, the GB would never suit there requirement, but then 2400KC's don't really either...
Interesting thing, it is not until you get to about a 24ft+ size range that the yanks consider them as larger trailer boats. Thus, nearly all of the stuff that is 3.5t towable here (but still over width) are centre console in the US, as they think of them as run around day boats. The world cats cabin options start at 26ft I think, and about 4t+. If cabin space/weather protection is important to you, you want get into their cats unless your willing to look at a seriously big trailer boat (think F truck towing etc).
The GB2270 is really one of the smallest cuddy cats the Yanks made. Still about 60mm over width, although I found most guys with this hull in Australia were either oblivious to this fact, or in many cases will not run the over width signage. Some guys bought form local dealers who fail to advise they were over width, and have never even been aware of the issue. I have the signage, and can attach all in a matter of minutes, probably less hassle than attaching a light board and cable, which I see plenty of people still doing on larger boats. SO for me, no big deal relative to the value for money aspect of what was achievable vs. the local boats.
The US Kevlacats... A lot of reading on the net, I believe if you got an early Harry Carter built boat (up to about 2001 roughly, bout you should check) it is PROBABLY a good thing, but will probably have crap resale for ever. On the other hand, if you weren't too risk adverse, and didn't expect the world on future resale, these could prove a cheap way into a KC2400 "equivalent". To me, cheap there would need to be sub $50k for a good boat with decent running gear, lowish hours donks, good trailer, etc. and you would have to be confident in what you were looking at not to buy someone else's problems. I have definitely spoken to guys however with these, that claim absolutely no problems, so I am sure they are out there. Then there wee the others that were falling apart....
If you were thinking of importing yourself, that has become a much harder prospect with the dollar now. Around 90c is a good threshold to make it viable. After that, buying local is a better (or equal value) option I think.
A few guys on here could be worth a PM if you wanted more perspective.
Baitable -GB2270
Captain Seaweed, GB2670... big boat, similar in size to the World Cats I refer.
The other US cats I think are less common here, simply because they start getting so large with regards to towing.
There was a World Cat 266 cuddly for sale at Manly a little while back, but it lived at the marina on a ramp trolley, because towing was really not viable with their Landcruiser. However it was a lot of boat for the $$ they were chasing, which would have barely bought you an average 6m 14+ year old Kevla or Noosa at the time.
Send me a PM if you want other info.
Cheers.
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