Horizon aluminium boats

[JohnG]

Hi, I went to the boat show last weekend with the intention of buying a Bluefin or Quintrex but instead ended up looking at the Horizon 5.4m bowrider. I thought the Horizon looked pretty good and was a very competitive package. I have looked for reviews etc on the Horizon bowriders but can't find any. In fact I can't even locate any second hand Horizon boats outside of small tinnies!! Can anyone provide any feedback on an Horizon boat if you have one or if you know anyone who has one.
I do a bit of fishing in the bay, social skiniing and the accasional trip outside. Do you reckon the Horizon 5.4 seabreeze would be ok for this? Looking at a 115 Yamaha outboard and the usual extras...........The boat brand new with some extras comes in below what most other brands sell for after 3 years use....so I'm not sure if there are big compomises in the quality. I went all over the boat and apart form the swivel seats I thought the rest was pretty well constructed. I plan to upgrade the seats. I will also have a test in one but it looks big, beamy and I can't see why it won't ride ok.

Any feedback would be greatly appreciated as I'm pretty confused at the moment.

[datamile]

I've just been to Brissy show, and thought just the same, and I still can't find any info.

Anyone got an info on Horizon etc ? Want a 4.70-5.40 ali bow rider ( wife and kids choice), and they appear much cheaper than the others.

[Tailortaker]

I looked at that boat last year, I saw it this year again and it's the same boat. They are a good boat at budget price. The package is a very good deal. Did you line up a test run ?
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[datamile]

Not yet. Got a bag of leaflets to read.

Horizon say 28,590 for 540 bowrider with yamaha 115 2 st, and the usual bimini , basic sounder etc. Looks 5K under everyone else, so either they are a bargain or floored.

Website says 2mm sides, but leaflet says 3mm. Guess I'll sort a test at some point, and I'll need to compare to blue fin, quintrex, ally craft.

[Timmy94]

My brothers got a horizon 3.9 tinnie. Tuff as nails and great value for money. I do know their is quite a wait for build time up to 8 weeks i think.

[slacky]

HI! I had a 4.2m horizon and it was the worst tinnie I have ever owned.

It was very unstable at anchore due to the very shallow v hull.Also when I would open up the throttel the boat would start to nose dive as if the keel was bowed and this was with the motor on full tilt.MY advice is look at something else.

GOOG LUCK slacky

[Dan5]

I ordered a horizon early this year and waited 8 week's for it to turn up and it never did they didn't even bother telling the dealer it wouldn't be on time and told me to wait an extra 7 week's so i cancelled my order and bought a bluefin and i'm glad i did.Dan............

[sharkymark2]

I looked at one at the last boat show and was fairly excited by the cost and design. I arranged a test drive after much persuasion to the salesman. He didn't want to do it. I replied back that I wasn't going to spend 14000 without a test drive. In the boat was great but found the 40 Yamaha was a bit underpowered compared to my other boat and there was a fair bit of hull slap and it was also wet. Was very disappointed on that boat. I don't know what the one you are looking at is like but a test motor is a definite. If its not a good sea boat why buy it.

[vector]

HI! I had a 4.2m horizon and it was the worst tinnie I have ever owned.

It was very unstable at anchore due to the very shallow v hull.Also when I would open up the throttel the boat would start to nose dive as if the keel was bowed and this was with the motor on full tilt.MY advice is look at something else.

GOOG LUCK slacky

mate ive had EXACTLEY the same prob what year was the boat? i contacted horizon and got it fixed at my expense, it must have been a manafactures fault the guy said they never seen one with any probs, sounds like BS now i also thought the boat wasnt put together very well (not as solid as it shoulda been) also Horizon are pretty crap to deal with i drove the boat up one day after booking it in to be fixed that day it took about 2months i think

i would never buy another horizon boat, however i am pretty happy with the way my boat is now.

[datamile]

Hmm, it looks like a no then.. looking at blue fin as the next choice. Any comment on blue fin ? The boats looked very similar, and the horizon guy said that bluefin is ex-horizon people.

[ILikeBlu]

M8 I was in the same position as you over a month ago. I looked at just about every Ali bowrider there was around the place but a lot were way above my budget .
I looked at the Horizons(and I think they were Stessco before) on the Goldie and I was thinking of buying one of the one's you are looking at, but build time put me off. The Formosa 5.2 looked good as well but again 12 week wait.
So after a few more trips around Brissy looking at boats I came across the Bluefin 5.25 with a Merc 90hp 2stroke and there was one in the yard ready to go so I bought it. I have been out on the water every chance I can get and am glad I ended up going with the bluefin, they have nice high sides and can handle a bit of slop from what I have put her through.
I went out wide of Caloundra 28nm with a mate it was great, and I was pretty impressed with the finish as well and plus the missus loves it. Looking forward to a bit of skiing and tubing and snorkeling in summer also:).

I got mine from George at Mr T Tinnies at Capalaba for 27k even, without the bimini. Hope this helps a bit, if you have anymore questions bout them ask away I will try and answer as best I can .

Cheers

[bluefin59]

Himate i also have a fin mine is a 4.5 predator with a 602stroke mariner i,v now done 400hrs in 3yrs mostly in the bay and me and the wife love it good strong well priced boat the best i'v had in this size boat ,i'v had various tinnys over the years and i would be hard pressed to sell it i bought mine from theo at MrTs as well i waited 8 weeks . there are better around they tell me but they are a bit more expensive i personally think the difference is marginal the extra you may save can go on a quality electronics package or a bowmount ... If you have plenty of time to wait and plenty of money i would mabe look at fisher ,tabs or any one of the many others out there but i see the bluefin as good value for money I.M.H.O .......matt Also how many manufacturers will paint it any colour at no extra cost talk to Theo :tekst-toppie: :tekst-toppie: :tekst-toppie: