your opinion on this boat please

[matchangler]

i think i have seen a boat that i can use as a all rounder it is sold by saltwater marine and its a 5.0 profish with a centre or side consul,75 merc on the back 4mm bottom 3 mm sides ,it has a walk through transom door, with a angled dive ladder,(for my diving purposes) fully welded self draining floor (which will come in handy when im out in the swell pulling my craypots) it has a raised platform to the front, 5 seat spigots, a massive kill tank that can easily be seperated into a live well,heaps of deck space, i think i,ve found my perfect boat all i have to find now is 26,800 to buy it, wat do u reckon guys

a link to a web photo of this "pro fish" boat match angler?
Wouldn't mind a look!

Cheers!

[matchangler]

sorry guys i forgot the link

www.trailcraft.com.au

[madsurfe]

checkout http://www.polycraft.com.au/ they do a style of runabout that just may well suit your needs. The mix and match options are almost endless, side or centre consoles, livewells, under floor fuel tank. You name it and it's available even colour choice. Evan set out a post on the poly equivalent of the Hornet last week. Almost certain you can save a few dollars and we have a dealer in WA - Access Boating, page 13 of the current Fishing Western Australia mag has an ad for Access with a pic of the 4.25 Venturer & 4.55m Quickcraft

[matchangler]

yeh thanks for that i was chattin to rhyss the tackle and chandlery manager the week end ,u still haven,t told me wat u think of the profish though

[matchangler]

thanks for that rhyss, i mentioned our little trip in the bream tavern earlier,it seems it fished crap everywhere, how mutch is a 4.5 ouickcraft with all the fruit

[Bear]

Tim,
I agree with Rhyss, they are exy, but they are also one of the best finished boats I have seen bar none.

The only concern I have about the 5m for Breamin is that the front curves up which could make fishing for bream a little bit of a pain.

I would have a look at the 4.5 Profish and have the rails removed.

JMO.

[madsurfe]

Hi Tim

like Rhyss said exy!! the polycraft save a lot of $ you'll sort it out

[Bear]

Depends on what you want to do.

I know the sort of fishing Tim is into, and the plate hull on the Profish is ideal.

There aren't too many boats that have the setup the Trailcraft do.

It all depends on what you want out of the craft you buy.

[matchangler]

thanks alot guys for all your input,if i was after a boat for just breamin i would not be lookin at this , i am being a bit greedy and trying to find a boat that does all 3 things,breamin,diving,and craypots ,i hear wat your sayin bear about the curve but at 5 in the morning in a 3 m swell with a 20 knot wind when i have to go out 3 miles i really apriciate the biggest boat i can get , its a job to find a boat that does all 3 without one of my sports losin out the 4,5 comes with a 40 merc on fo 21400,and the 5.0 comes with a 60 merc as you say bear nice finish,excuse my ignorance rhyss wats a freeboard (i thought it was when i had rellies over from pommyland)

It's a fine looking boat for what use you describe Tim although I agree that it sounds a little dear for it's 5 meters length...@ $1500 a foot.

At a rough guess, I'd say you could build something around 5 meters from plate yourself for probably 800 - 900 a foot.

Like all things - it depends how fancy you wan't to go, but the savings would buy a lot of goodies and fishing gear, diving gear, fuel etc etc.

Course some people don't have the time to build their own, but winters usually a good time for a boat project!

Cheers!

[PANDA]

G'day,
I have got a 4.5 Profish and as Bear mentioned the finish is first class. A thing to consider when you are looking at the size is the 4.5 is actually (when you include the transom) a near as dam 5m hull(4.96). The guys at Saltwater are not too bad to deal with and you can have custom mods as they are directly conected to the factory. I chose this over a Topender and you do get considerable more boat for buck. I was also taken through the factory at Henderson at saw first hand the build quaulity. Most impressive set up. I am in China at the moment but would be more than happy to take you for a run in about four weeks when I get home.
cheers
Panda

[Bream Master]

I was looking at the trailcraft 4.5 & 5m myself. As previously stated the finish is first class and you will look a long time to find a better quality boat.

Althought the price tag is high, remember the trailcraft will be worth more down the track to sell. I would look at it like this:

25000 - 15000 in five years for the trailcraft equals 2000 per year
20000 - 8000 in five years for a lower quality boat equals 2400 per year.

look at it terms of the resale and you'll find some interesting figures. This is one of the reasons the quintrex boats sell so well. They may not be the absolute top boat in Australia, but the name gets a good resale value down the track due to the marketing etc.

Thoughts ???

Warren.

[jimi]

Hi Warren, if you look at this in purely a financial sense you will always lose with boats.

Consider the NPV of buying at boat at $25,000 and selling it for $15,000 vs selling it for $8000. If you assume inflation at 4%, the NPV of option 1 is -$12,183 (ie. you lose $12,183 in todays dollars) vs -$17,715 (ie. a loss of $17,715 in todays dollars). So by buying a better boat, you will be $5,500 ish better off. The longer you keep it, the less the difference will be.

The point is if you want to make a good investment, buy a house or shares(ok so shares aren't so good right now :D ), not a boat.

Once you have decided on a price range you probably should see which boat(s) most closely meets your needs regardless of brand(even if it is a home built custom job like trouty was talking about) before considering the resale.

I'd probably put resale below factors such as
- fit out quality,
- any price discounts you can get now (dollars saved now are always much better than dollars gained in the future due to the time value of money)
- willingness of dealer/factory to customise the boat to your needs
- stability and handling of hull design
- after sales service quality (a hard one to pick at buying time).

Most of these factors will probably go some way to influencing the resale anyhow.

JMO

Cheers

James.

[dantheman]

Gday we got a 475 quintrex reef hunter caprice with a 60 4 stroke, yammie, but we plan to have a custom 455 hornet wildfish, for summer,
any one can fish offshore but takes skill to lure fish and is more fun ,
better places, better enviroment
this is what we have now,, its great for every thing but , a new hornet is better for me,,

cheers dan

[nifty]

G'day Tim, the Trailcraft range of boats are among the best in AUST. They are renowned for safety. stabillity and strength and the resale value is second only to Quintrex. I went out to Access Boating last week after talking to someone on the phone, unfortunately no one came near me to give me any info, I thought they looked pretty good but I was wondering how a bloke would repair damage to the hull such as was done to Geoff's at Walpole, they are a plasticy thingy, I also wondered how a live well would be fitted to the hull, I didn't have the time to chase up a salesman and I wandered around for about 20 minutes and then got the s===s and left.... Neville

[Bear]

Nifty,
If you're really keen on the Trailcraft, they are also available from Offshore Marine on Gt Eastern Hwy. Not far from your place.

Speak to Geoff and let him know I sent you about a Bream boat.

[matchangler]

thanks for the input boys ,i see wat u mean about the dollars warren,and jimi u totally baffled me with your figures, i wish i could buy a house for 26,000 but i understand your way of thinkin,at the end of the day i suppose you get wat u pay for and it looks a hell of a boat i have just got to try and knock them down on the price

[Bream Master]

Geez Jimmy, I'm an accountant by profession and you even had my brain stetched there...LOL

My point was that a cheap boat isn't always as cheap as it appears. The fitout in the trailcraft side consoles is a perfect balance for someone who wants to do some offshore fishing / family boating and yet still have a competent boat for bream tourneys.

And the reputation will maintain a better resale than some of the no-name brands on offer today.

They haven't invented a boat yet that isn't a hole in the water in which to throw money.:p :p

Warren.

[jimi]

Hi Warren, sorry for all the technical stuff. I've just go into share trading lately and been learning all the maths and stuff that goes along with it.

Others probably wouldn't guess from my last post, but I am a boat owner and have been for a while. I totally agree with you that they are a hole in the water that you throw you wallet, chequebook and credit card into:D. That said, I'd never be boatless again. A boat just gives you too much freedom and boating is always great fun. :D:D

All I was trying to say is that you should probably buy a boat based on how well it suits your needs above all other factors.
Sorry if I confused anyone.

Cheers

James.

[nifty]

Thanks Bear, Pacestick and I are going to Offshore shortly to have a good look at the Trailcraft, I know of their reputation and that is a big plus and you pay for it, while at Access I looked at the Bermuda boat on the floor and was very impressed, bought a heap of brochures home. Still damn hard to beat the Stessel for value and the 4.6 is magic on the water, I love yours and P B's.....

[Bear]

Mate, and this goes for everyone, get the boat that you're most happy with and that is within your budget.

You're the one that's going to have to use it.