Originally Posted by
winston
J_MAN, I bought a new Stessl Seahawk 5.6 half cabin with 140 Suzuki and Dunbier trailer in December 2010.The 5.6 is a big boat and represents great value Unfortunately, due to illness I sold it in 2013. When I sold the package I had ironed out the issues with the combo, most of which had been caused (in my view) by dealer incompetence, stupidity and just plain ignorance.. When I ordered the boat, the dealer assured me that it would be set up correctly but this was not the case. I drove it home (350 km) and went to push it into the shed, as I moved the boat, the jockey wheel disintegrated. My mate and I tried to lift the draw bar but couldn't as there was so much weight. This was rectified by moving the axle forward 45 cm. Prior to this it was bloody dangerous! The motor which was supposedly set up correctly was improved by raising it one hole and changing from a 21" propeller to a stainless 19" one. The boat itself was great BUT it did have a few issues. The live bait tank/cutting board was supported by only two vertical struts both of which cracked, this happened without it ever being filled. This was fixed by a local aluminium welded who had far more idea of how to support it than the Stessl designers. Almost every single location where stainless screws had been used e.g. cabin hatch was showing signs of dissimilar metal corrosion. A little effort at the factory could have prevented this. As I have noted above, I thought that the boat was great. The one thing that did improve it dramatically was the fitment of QL trim tabs. The boat is big and with the canopy it would lean into the wind. One touch on the tabs and it would straighten beautifully. It was a great boat but the set up by the dealer was in my opinion piss poor and negligent, they may have improved by now. Cheers Winston.