SKEETER Boats

[Robert B]

Has anyone imported a boat from the US before? Those skeeter boats just look awesome. Have a look at the link for the 2004 ST15 model. Anyone know whats involved, any pitfalls to look out for?

http://www.capitaldistrictmarina.com/In%20stock/2004_skeeter_st_15.htm

Cheers,
Rob

[DAGGA]

(drooling) that is some sweat ass boat!:cool:

[Duncs]

Thats a great looking boat. It looks very similar to the X-16 bass boat which I was lucky enough to have ride in recently. It travels like a low flying fighter plane but is beautifully stable at rest. Heaps of storage and the depth sounders at both ends of the boat are a sweet touch. Have a look at www.conceptmarine.com.au (http://www.conceptmarine.com.au)
I don't know how it would stack up pricewise against importing from the US though.

Cheers

Duncan

[Jocool]

Hey guys...

These boats are beautiful to look at and are a great concept for what they were designed to do. These were designed for a lot of lake and still water fishing I think. Correct me if I'm wrong!

Could you imagine one of those boats trying to deal with the chop on Sydney Harbour with that low freeboard? :D

I think rather than importing something like that it would be more worthwhile to have something made her in OZ which would be more suited to our conditions, and to our fishing styles!

But like you said...SWEET lookin boats!:cool:

[Tony]

Low gunnel what chop :D

[tim shannon]

i dont think ill EVER get paid enough to afford them.... but (sorry, dont know how to insert links) check these SWEEEEEET units too.... do a search for: Ranger boats, champion boats, nitro boats, triton boats, stratos, pro-craft, performance bass boats, and gambler bass boats.....

not sure which i found the sexiest... either ranger or gambler.... bugger it!! they're all FAR sexier than anything ive seen here....

Do a search on breammaster for "ranger boats" there is a thread somewhere on these units... apparently rather expensive, for me anyway... can still dream though....

If anyone could let me know how to add links?? bit of a techno-phobe im afraid....

tim

[tim shannon]

Oh,
and as tonys pic above shows, these boats are designed to tournament fish at VERY high speeds on american lakes... some of their lakes are as big as sydney harbour and get some pretty savage chop... make our lakes look like puddles...

tim

[DAGGA]

Tim about your Question when you go to reply and you write your message look under the box you write in and theres some boxes with ticks in them beside the words options ok.
Under that is the Attach one and simply click on browse and look for the picture you want to show and go to ok but it has to be withing a sertain size and under a sertain file size.
I read your post again a realised you wrote links not pictures lol
Just copy and paste the address of the site like this http://breammaster.com/ and it should work.;)
Hope this helps and ill leave how to attach the photos as well just incase your not sure

[Robert B]

Well I rang customs today and was told Duty comes to 5% and then %10 GST ontop of that for imported boats. With our dollar so high some of these boats look like bargains. As soon as my house is finished and as long as the dollar is in our favour i think its going to be very hard to resist one of the cheaper versions like the ST-15. :)

Saw this a while ago, a simmonds bayboat cat...and thought at the time it would likely make a hell of a bream platform.

80 mph with the new 300 HP 4 stroke on the back - I guess if you were really flush with cash you could get one with twins!:D

Their photo gallery is HERE
http://www.simmonscustomboats.com/Gallery.htm

Photo below.

As an interesting aside - i heard on the grapevine that locasl Naval Architect Phill Curran has a new 17 ft radical hull just hot outta the shop due for some testing in a week or two's time - which i'm hoping to score a ride on...

It'll only be a tiller steer with 60 Yam 4 stroke - coz Phils pretty conservative with power, BUT thats not to say it wouldn't say take a larger OB.....I haven't seen the lines etc yet - but if I get a chance for a photo - I'll try my best to get one to post up.

In discussions with Phil during the development of this new model - he' been looking for something that will run shallow for flats fishing but be capable of travelling inshore and fishing for bream etc.

Will be interesting to see what he's come up with...who knows - time will tell I guess.

Thing is - groups of breamers could weld up there own....to get a new model hull at minimal cost and then fit it out as they wish.

Myself, I can't see the point importing a boat from the USA - even tho our $ is gaining in strength...the costs are still too high to justify it I think - when you realise you can have designed and built - anything you want right here...and probably cheaper, so wheres the need to import?

Pick the design features you like - get it designed by a professional and supplied plasma cat - weld it, paint it fancy and whack 300 ponies on the back, and you would likely end up with something better built than your USA import UNLESS your talking $US100K+ Kevlar, specialist flats boats of the Hewes ilk.

Thats how I see it - likely you could build 3 rocket sleds for what it would cost to import just one US boat.

Lastly - outboard costs.

Boaters are currently being rippped off huge time by dealers supplying US outboards (Mercs/Mariners). The US dollar has dropped 52% against the Aussie pacific peso in the last 2 years.
Anyone seen the price of US manufactured outboards correspondingly halve????????????????????????????

Guess what - your local dealers keeping the price up and pocketting the change - he's not passing on to you - the savings!

Merc (Brunswick Corp) in the USA have just filed Anti Dumping laws breach claims against the Japanese OB motor manufacturers with their federal govt due to the fact that the $US has dropped so much against the yen - and yet Japanese OB manufacturers have maintained their pruces ~ equal with Brunswick at home in the USA.

http://www.boating-industry.com/output.cfm?id=766495

This can ONLY mean that the Japs are DUMPING product in the US at break even or a loss to maintain market share.

The thing is - for us downunder...the Yen and our $ havent changed much at all against each other - while the $US greenback has crashed against our currency.

So as a result - you the consumer have a right to expect with such a strong dollar that US product should have come down 52% in the last 2 years. It hasn't, and someone here is pocketing all that....

Just remember that when your shopping for your new Merc OB!!!!

The REAL cost to the seller is now probably about HALF what your paying!

The Japs on the other hand are DUMPING product here too - how does one know that?

Well in the last few weeks Bro In Law Flash bought a new 60 HP Brunswich Black anchor at full retail...and a week ago - Naval Architect P Curran likewise bought a new 60 HP 4 stroke Yam for this new hull of his...

Curran bought the Yam because the price was WAAAY cheaper than the Merc.

Due to currency exchange rates details above - the US product SHOULD be waaay cheaper than it is meaning Merc dealers are gouging their customers and Yam dealers are selling dumped subsidised product to undercut Merc in a market where the Yen hasn't changed against the Aussie $.

This knowledge might help you get a better deal on that new OB maybe! ;)

Sometimes you wonder just what a new outboard really SHOULD cost!

Cheers!

don't forget GST is calculated on 10% of all costs - including freight and import duty, insurance etc


My rough calculations are that you woudl need to allow up to $20,000 for this one.

Looks good. Though I see these boats with much much larger engines.

Gary

[Robert B]

Yer Gary that sounds about right, I worked out $18513.61 on the 2004 model with shipping plus a couple of hundred for paperwork and dock storage would bring it to $20,000. Hmmm from what ive seen on this site a tricked out hornet or stessle would have you out of pocket around $15000, for a 5k more I would rather have that luvley red thang :) Trouty that Simmonds boat looks the part as well. Our boat designers need to get creative, all ive seen so far are dinghy’s with carpeted plywood chucked in as an afterthought. The closest Oz bream and let’s hope Bass boat I’ve seen was in a fishing newspaper I picked up at breammaster, it was an edge tracker from memory. That looked sweet. I’ve got a while yet to research it as the slab has just gone down and it will be a while for the bricks. Hahhaahah Just the other day I mentioned to my better half that this was going to be a cheap hobby :)

Cheers

[bigred]

Man, they are some sweeeeet looking boats!

For some reason I dont think that they would be very stable out on Port Phillip or Westernport Bay over here in Melbourne.

Jeez they look red hot though. Just imagine going fishing and fanging it around at 80mph! Thats just awesome.

Its a niche market that is not being capitalised on here in Oz.

If only I had the money to take the initiative.

That post on the cost of the outboards is so true also. Borderline profiteering from the retailers. They would be licking their lips every time the financial slot comes on the news as the dollar goes higher and higher. Have been eying off outboards for the past three months or so, and the pricing has most definately not shifted.

[Brett W]

Hmmm - What rule of thumb did u use for shipping. More to the point does any1 know the approx shipping costs for an O'Board from the US.

[Geoff R]

Wild i gotta get rid of my sub

hmmmmmmm.
now those ST15's certainly would look nice with my arse sitting in its chair...IMHO!:D


Dave

[Robert B]

Brett pick any of the shipping company’s based in Fremantle and get them to give you a quote, Most of them have relationships with overseas shipping company’s. You could also use a broker which will organize the lot if you don’t want to do the paperwork. I went through this all last year importing home theater gear, it’s a lot of hassle but the savings were worth it.

Cheers

[Bear]

Have you had any feedback on what the boat and trailer licensing issues would be like?

Not having come from a local dealer, I'm curious to see what the authorities have to say on the hull b4 it gets here.

[Robert B]

Ahh no I haven’t bear, will check it out tomorrow, but I hammered customs about importing boats and the lady I spoke to didn’t mention any dramas about licensing and it almost seemed fairly common practice. I would imagine that there trailers and boats aren’t so out of this world design wise that the licensing guys would have any issues with them.

Rob,

I checked out the Concept x-16 just out of interest, I had seen it at 3 comps here in the east with the company owner Mike Connelly fishing from it. Fastest by far.

I have to say it looks very low on the water but Mike uses it chasing snapper on the bay with winds up to 15 knots.


What surprised me was the price $11,500 incl carpet bilge pumps and live well.

The Skeeter for import had only a 50hp but I believe you need a 90 at least for both these hot boats.

Looks like the x 16 is a good deal - without the hassle of importing, registration and warrantee issues.

worth a look if you are after that kind of thing

Gary
see http://www.conceptmarine.com.au
or Mike Connolly
mike@conceptmarine.com.au
Mobile: 0414 556 105

[tim shannon]

not sure if this make any difference, but.... a friend of mine works in a sunglass shop and i asked her why their prices of US gear hadnt dropped in relation to the rise of the AUS$, she said it would but all of their current stock was bought prior to the rise of the dollar... if they then lower the retail price just to reflect the change their profit margin decreases significantly... prices will fall when they have made a saving on the initial purchase themselves.....

dont know squat 'bout money(except how to spend it) but thought maybe this could be one of the reasons the cost of OB's hasnt dropped like you would think... Maybe if the $difference was a bit more stable?? as a retailer id be a bit pissed to have to drop my retail prices to reflect increasing value of the AUS$ when its gear id purchased 6mths ago at the old value (app50-60c)....

like i said... dont know squat though....

tim

[Bear]

Rob,
I've done a bit of digging for you and it seems all you have to do is get a HIN number. The best way to do this would be to see the guys at Freedom, in Freo so should make it easier, and get them to help you and then pay the fees at DPI in Essex st.

The cost is around $131.60 to register. The liability is on yourself as to the suitability\safety of the vessel :confused:

The trailer has to be licensed separately.

[Robert B]

Same result here bear, Yup I think I’m definitely going to bring in a Skeeter minus electric and outboard. I just like the look of them to much. I only hope the $ keeps on going up till im ready :)

Just one note of caution,

I did a LOt of looking at US boats with the idea of importing one for saltwater charter work a year or so back.

The thing is they work in feet & inches - & we are metric.

Most boats ave somewhere around 1/3 length in beam.

When I got to the min 7.5 meter vessel required for 2C survey to use in charter work - the beam on US boats was 8 ft 6 inches.

Our MAX permissable towing width on the road is 2.5 meters - which is 8 ft 4 inches.

All the inports were too wide to get licensed to tow on the road here without overwidth permits required to be purchased individually for each and every trip to the boat ramp and again to come home from the ramp.

Likely in the smaller bass style boats this might not be a problem - because at 16 ft they may have a 6 or even 7 ft beam - but it's not likely they would be wider than 8 ft 4 inches....but once I got to looking at 25 fters they all seemed to pretty much be 8 ft 6 inch beam - that two darn inches too bloody wide.

You'd need to check into such things just to be sure.

Cheers!

[Wacko]

I'm fairly sure the X16 is around $30,000 ready to fish, not $11,000.




Wacko.

[Bear]

I think we're looking at hull prices here mate. Usually come complete with trailer and all plumbed gear. Still have to get electric and donk though.

[Robert B]

Now thats something I wasnt told during any of the phone conversations I have had this week, That could have been a costly mistake. Anyway here are the specs in metric for the ST-15. I think it should be fine


Specifications
Length on Trailer 6096mm
Width on Trailer 2235mm
Length Overall 4750mm
Beam 1981mm
Transom Height 609mm
Height Overall 1168mm
Interior Depth 609mm
Draft 304mm
Dry Weight 467kg
Max H.P. 70 h.p.


Capacities
Max Weight Capacity 422kg
Max Persons Capacity 3/177kg
Fuel Capacity 76L

Cheers,
Rob

Wacko

The price of $11,500 I said was hull with bilge pumps and carpet and live well.

Motor price is - well endless

Gary

As far as importing is concerned I would be more inlcined to import a motor - as long as I ws assured a world warrantee. Thats where the big $ savings can probably be made

In any case - you can probably get 2 or maybe 3 boats in a container. So if you are importing sheeters get 2 or 3 guys together, makes all the hassle worthwhile. And savings in several areas.

Trailers take up too much air space to be worth imporrting. Get photos and the US design replicated here.

- just some thoughts. Anyone with ACTUAL experience agree or not?

Gary

[Robert B]

I was a bit worried about how low it would sit in the water but from these pics it looks ok.

[Robert B]

.

[madaff]

Just for your info.

Just ordered tonight after finalizing costs.

18'2" Hull and custom built alloy trailer @ $12230.00 includes 5% Aust Customs duty. There is no tax on US export.

Shipping ex US door to door delivery @ $4175 includes GST and all quarantine cost etc.

Final cost in AUS dollars is $16405.00

Puchasing the boat this way as it suits me. Please don't ask what the brand is yet as I have other plans.

[Robert B]

So there you say that there is no tax just duty on any imported boat from the US?? Man this just gets better.

Cant wait :)



Oh to early for me had a coffee and realised what you were saying, How much is the tax thy put on boats?


Rob,

No there is still tax on it.
There is no Export duty required by the US. There is however the import duty tax required by the Aust govt.


Dave

[Tony]

Originally posted by madaff
Just for your info.

Just ordered tonight after finalizing costs.

18'2" Hull and custom built alloy trailer @ $12230.00 includes 5% Aust Customs duty. There is no tax on US export.

Shipping ex US door to door delivery @ $4175 includes GST and all quarantine cost etc.

Final cost in AUS dollars is $16405.00

Puchasing the boat this way as it suits me. Please don't what the brand is as yet as I have other plans.

Looks like a good copy of a Hew's flats boat.

On Foxtel early saturday morning they have a boat like that zooming around.

[madaff]

Tony but the Hewes is about $8000 US more, there must be some massive difference between boats. The dedicated fly boats like the Hewes Bonefisher, The Fly version of the one I am buying and others generally coast a little more. The Bay boat I ordered is more user friendly, it would suit Bream fishing, Light inshore work and on a good flat day half an hour out to the FADS to dong a few Dolphin fish on fly.(wish). Whats the worst that can happen spend a night at Rotto because the wind beat us;) wouldn't mind that either:D .
I can tow it to Shark Bay and launch at the rangers house and hit Dirk Hartog in 5 minutes. With 150tlr fuel tank should give 130plus mile range. I think they work on 1 ltr per nautical mile:confused:

Can't bloody wait, it's killing me just hope the builder doesn't have a change of mind