Formosa boat question

[Chris@RedlandBay]

I am looking at setting up a centre console rig around the 16-17' mark for moreton bay and the odd outside trip through the seaway or mooloolabah. i am quite keen on the Formosa 520 centre consol with say a 90 etec pushing it along. it seems a good baseline fishos rig, thicker than normal hull and very beamy.

i am keen to hear from Formosa owners to give me some feedback if you can, on:

> ride in moderate chop - say 15-20 knots;

> stability at anchor and drift

> fishability.

It will be mainly a fisho rig with the odd family trip to moreton.

thanks,
Chris.

[Tangles]

Dont own one but spent 4 days on Black Rats 5.2 CC Formosa with a 90 merc 2 stroke up at Agnes 1770 M&G, mainly offshore stuff with 4-5 blokes on board. Great rig and handled a wide range of conditions well

[Mindi]

Speak to Ronnie (member) from Caboolture who took delivery of a 520 runabout with a 90 Suzuki before Xmas. See posting "New Boat" by "Mrs Ronnie H" in November.

[LINZ_74]

Hi Chris, i actually have the 550 c/c with a 115 e-tec and find it to be a great rig, i don't think it would be too much different from the 520. Everything you wanted to know about stability and fishability the boat is outstanding as far as handling chop 15 to 20 knots that is getting up to it's limit especially in some bigger swell. IMO up to 20 knots it isn't very comfortable to be out boating in most boats but with the Formosa you will still get home safe in that kind of chop.

Hope this helps.
Lindsay

[levinge]

Chris I have a 5.95m Formosa Centre Cab and I can tell you the following

Ride - Great ride very stable rig. Bangs like a plate but you'll never get rid of that, but the bang is not as bad as other, quite reasonable.

Stability - great, hve had 3 big blokes leaning over one side and the boat did not move much at all. At anchor very good. At drift is excellent.

Safety - tested my in everything from 5-10kts right up to a bad day when it got out to 25kts on the water with 2.5m swell, slowed us down a little but very stable, very safe and both myself and my deckie got home dry, we were able to maintain a steady 14kts all the way home.

Fishability - both the Centre Console and the Centre Cab are purpose built for "all round fishing" easy to manoeuvre onto a spot and they sit well in the water.

Have you considered the Centre Cab - a few dollars more but you get an area to stow gear out of the weather and a little more protection from the elements.

Let me know if you want anymore info

[alphas]

Hi chris,welcome mate...good to see you listened to my advice about joining up!!
Hope you enjoy the clapton book on your next flight;D

[lethal098]

contact Tuna boy he has a 550cc with a 115 suzuki and raves about it.

[scrubba01]

A mate has the same set up as you are looking at he might even sell it to you if you are interested as he mostly comes out with us. Good base model boat for doing the things you mentioned ride is ok for a boat of this size. Good safe boat but I would like to see a self draining deck if it was me. The only real down side is they are a wet boat like most CC's. He has a 90 Yammy and it does the job fine.

[Chris@RedlandBay]

thanks Mindi, i'll look that up.

[levinge]

Yep agree scrubba01, but thats why I fitted a big bilge pump and float switch on mine, takes care of business for me..

[Chris@RedlandBay]

Hi Chris, i actually have the 550 c/c with a 115 e-tec and find it to be a great rig, i don't think it would be too much different from the 520. Everything you wanted to know about stability and fishability the boat is outstanding as far as handling chop 15 to 20 knots that is getting up to it's limit especially in some bigger swell. IMO up to 20 knots it isn't very comfortable to be out boating in most boats but with the Formosa you will still get home safe in that kind of chop.

Hope this helps.
Lindsay
yeah, i'd love the centre cab Linz_24. but extra length and hp pushing my budget a bit - might be worth a crack though, no harm in checking.

[Chris@RedlandBay]

sorry, getting my posts scrambled... i'll get the hang of this eventually...

[reddybayfisher]

Dont own one but spent 4 days on Black Rats 5.2 CC Formosa with a 90 merc 2 stroke up at Agnes 1770 M&G, mainly offshore stuff with 4-5 blokes on board. Great rig and handled a wide range of conditions well

I bourght Black Rats boat from him a few months ago.....if you want you can come around and have a look since I'm in Redland Bay as well.....PM if your keen.....

I love my Formosa for all the reasons others have said....it's a good size for one person to launch & retreive......with that feeling of being reasonable safe if the wind picks up.....

[ad heeney]

hi chris i have a formosa 550 c/c with a 115 etec , first trip out to hatchies was good untill we got to kianga channel just off comboyuro point on morton is, the swell was starting to get a bit big ,some of witch was in the 2/3 m mark but we kept going at around 15/17 knots the formosa handled it beautifuly took a while to get to hatchies, but for the exspeareance it was great i just wanted to see how the formosa would handle and she went great,for my first ever trip out side it was running down the leg stuff, but now i know what the formosa can handle on the way home we got to scarbro in just under hour and half sitting on the backs of the swell grate stuff take it from me chris she a gooden, hoping to get out soon on a mush better day the trip wont be so long, chris i dont think you can go wrong getting hold of a formosa grate boat what ever one you get. regards rob

[Chris@RedlandBay]

I bourght Black Rats boat from him a few months ago.....if you want you can come around and have a look since I'm in Redland Bay as well.....PM if your keen.....

I love my Formosa for all the reasons others have said....it's a good size for one person to launch & retreive......with that feeling of being reasonable safe if the wind picks up.....
i have to head out of town for a few weeks with work but if OK with you i'd love to come have a look at the rig - early mid Feb if OK with you? i like the idea of a one-person rig, i expect most of the time i'll be heading out on my own.

thanks, Chris

[Chris@RedlandBay]

hi chris i have a formosa 550 c/c with a 115 etec , first trip out to hatchies was good untill we got to kianga channel just off comboyuro point on morton is, the swell was starting to get a bit big ,some of witch was in the 2/3 m mark but we kept going at around 15/17 knots the formosa handled it beautifuly took a while to get to hatchies, but for the exspeareance it was great i just wanted to see how the formosa would handle and she went great,for my first ever trip out side it was running down the leg stuff, but now i know what the formosa can handle on the way home we got to scarbro in just under hour and half sitting on the backs of the swell grate stuff take it from me chris she a gooden, hoping to get out soon on a mush better day the trip wont be so long, chris i dont think you can go wrong getting hold of a formosa grate boat what ever one you get. regards rob
thanks Rob, sounds great. i dont plan in heading out on crap days but it's nice to know you can rely on your rig to get back if it blows up. BTW, how's the 115 etec matched to the 550 - should have heaps of grunt i expect?
Chris

[levinge]

Chris your better off going a little bigger than the 90, once you load up and get the family onboard, the 115hp in any brand will do the job with some hp to spare.

Never uder power a boat by going to the minimum hp recommended by the manufacturer, alot of the guys will agree with this!!

[Black_Rat]

I bourght Black Rats boat from him a few months ago.....if you want you can come around and have a look since I'm in Redland Bay as well.....PM if your keen.....

I love my Formosa for all the reasons others have said....it's a good size for one person to launch & retreive......with that feeling of being reasonable safe if the wind picks up.....

She is a good rig :cry:

She never let me down in the time I owned her ! Off 1770 - 30klms out fishing for Coral Trout and Red Emporer or off Cape Moreton 10klms out catching Pearlies in 100m of water :)

Easy to handle by one for a run around the Pin.

Damo.

[Tangles]

Damo,

you need a mug of joy,... and yes a top rig,

[Black_Rat]

I bourght Black Rats boat from him a few months ago.....if you want you can come around and have a look since I'm in Redland Bay as well.....PM if your keen.....

I love my Formosa for all the reasons others have said....it's a good size for one person to launch & retreive......with that feeling of being reasonable safe if the wind picks up.....


Damo,

you need a mug of joy,... and yes a top rig,

Yes ! and they are good memories !

[reddybayfisher]

i have to head out of town for a few weeks with work but if OK with you i'd love to come have a look at the rig - early mid Feb if OK with you? i like the idea of a one-person rig, i expect most of the time i'll be heading out on my own.

thanks, Chris

No worries - PM when you want to have a look.....

[ad heeney]

thanks Rob, sounds great. i dont plan in heading out on crap days but it's nice to know you can rely on your rig to get back if it blows up. BTW, how's the 115 etec matched to the 550 - should have heaps of grunt i expect?
Chris
chris yeh heaps of grunt mate more than enough,90 hp alright but like to have bit more grunt gets you out of trubble, your up and gone in know time at all, get just on 2km to the ltr not bad she a beautiful ride at 20 /25 knots , oil is good not useing to much , took the formosa for a run down the brissie we traveled 130km round trip we used about a inch of oil out off the oil contaner not bad, the speed was good but i dont realy dont hit the high note just 20 /30 knots range, but had the formosa at 38/40 range for 5mim. she a gooden. rob

[Mrs Ronnie H]

Hi Chris
As mindi said we just took delivery of our new Formosa. I can't say enough about these boats. From start to finish we were very pleased with it-- from the custom paint to the installation of all our electronics.
Duncan from Formosa is the man to speak to and Keiran and the team at Coastal Power Boats offer exceptional service and nothing was too much trouble-- right down to customising our rego numbers.

The boat handles like a dream and the motor, being the new 2009 K9 Suzuki 90 is more than enough to push the boat along. i haven't worked on economy as yet but believe it will be surprising compared to other models and motors.

The boat and motor seem a good match, and although we have not had the motor at full rev's-- only around 4300 we still have plenty in reserve.

You say you will be going out on your own most of the time; well i can handle our boat quite comfortably on my own and i am knee high to a grasshopper and weigh only 50 kgs so you will have no trouble.

Although we have a runabout my brother purchased the 550 centre console a few months previous to us. After my first trip in his boat and seeing the way it handled and performed I had no doubts on which boat I was going to have.

If you would like a look or a chat if you are in the area please send me pm and we can arrange something.

Ronnie