pros and con on a commander cat 5995

[backlash74]

has any one have good or bad reports on the 5995 commander cats will four strokes work on them or will it be only two stroke if any owners what motors they run

[Chimo]

BL74

Sharkcat One has one of these. Must be time for him to do an update!

Cheers
Chimo

[sharkcat one]

hey backlash,

I have a commander cat 5990, with twin 90 opti max's.
I chose these engines because I did a bit of research into weight , fuel usage, price of servicing , price of engines, etc. compared them all . The guys at commander cats said if i wanted to spend the extra money on 4 strokes that the suzuki's were excelent. Was told from a number of outboard dealers that if I wanted similer performance from 4 strokes that I should go up one size in a 4 stroke. eg.- 90 opti's or e-tec's -- to-- 115 four strokes .

Commander Cats are not tied into selling their boats with any brand , so this was a definate plus, as i could choose the brand that i was comfortable with.

Commander cats said that they have put honda 4 strokes, suzuki 4 strokes, opti's, e-tec's, yamaha 4 strokes and mercury 4 strokes on their boats , its up to the buyer.

the main reasons i chose the opti's is weight and price , they weigh 30kg each less than the nearest 4 stroke, 60kg total. The price defference was big $ 3,000 each less for the opti's , saving of $6,000, this is enough to pay my fuel bill for the next 4 years.

If you still wanted 4 strokes the guys said the boat preforms excelent with them .

the boat itself is great , easy to fish from , preforms excelent in the rough , still cannot find any faults with the boat.

would deffinately recomend the boat to others.

hope this helps
cheers

[Maccas]

Hey Sharkcat One,

What other cats have you owned and how does the Commander Cat compare with them? How did you decide on the Commander Cat?

Cheers,

Maccas

[sharkcat one]

Hey Maccas,
I have owned a 18 ft shark cat and a 24 ft shark cat for many years , sold the 24 to buy the commander, I wanted something easier to tow arround and something a bit newer. I have friends who have a kevlar cat 6m and I find that the 6m lenght is a good all round size, for towing and fuel useage and to handle the weather 50 miles off shore.

The reasons that i chose the commander over the others is for one ,- They don't sell their boats through a dealer so I'm talking to the person who is building the boat not a third person . I like the look and style of the boat and how the boat was finished. Two days after we went for a test drive he rang me up and said that we are going fishing , they paid for everything and we went out to the 36 and 50 fathoms , he wanted to show me how the boat handled fully loaded with fuel and gear and to see what it was like to fish from . No other company did anything close to this to get my business.

I went for a test drive on a kevlar cat 6m through a dealer ( not telling who ) I asked if I could have a drive and the answer was no , they didn't have ins. for that, so that closed the deal on the kevlar cat, If I'm going to spend that kind of money I want to drive the thing first. Also noticed that the fuel gauge was near empty , so I don't think that was a good test run.
I found the kevlar cat good but the commander had more gadgets for no extra cost .
Had a look at a noosa cat but it reminded me too much of my old shark cats , wanted something newer.

I liked how I could choose what brand of engine I wanted , and wasn't pushed into something that they wanted to me to have.
Looking at my boat and my mates kevlar cat side by side the finish on the commander is alot better than the kevlar cat.
The price was another factor the commander was arround $15,000 cheaper than the kevlar cat .
On the commander you have a full width of the boat swim platform , everybody else just had a small platform between the engines.
In the commander you have lockers down the length of the inside of the cockpit walls so that everything is packed out of sight, everybody else just has an open shelf.
there is more small things that I liked over the others as well.


To other people reading this I am not putting kevlar cats down , I'am just saying why i chose commander over kevlar cats .

cheers.

[boatboy50]

SC1,

What KC were you comparing it to? The 2100 or 2400?

Regards

Darren

[Maccas]

Hey Sharkcat One,

Thanks for the reply and PM. It all makes interesting reading especially as I had a look at the the Commander Cat website and decided that they were a bit like my old 500 sportsman sharkcat in that they are about 2.25m wide and looked to be too low at the front with a droopy nose that might take water over the front when going into a decent wave. I had a look at a video and it didn't look like that would happen, it looked pretty impressive. My KC 5.2 has more depth in the bow hence more lift so it doesn't bury the nose like my sharkcat did sometimes. What's the Commandre Cat like in the same situation?

I would expect it to be better as it is a longer boat but the freeboard ( or depth of hull)does look low from the outside but maybe that is just because of the overall look of it.

Cheers,

Maccas

[sharkcat one]

Boatboy,
I was comparing it to the 2100

cheers

Macca,

From what I know and heard the Noosa and kevlar cats are based from the 24 shark cat . If you have a look at a 2400 and a 6.2 kevlar cat at the bow it is the same , It looks like they just cut off 4 feet and reshaped the internals to produce the smaller boat , this is most likely why the topsides and bow on the 6.2m kc are so high , it's an over kill.
Commander cat was designed from ground up by NZ Naval Architects , the bow under the tunnel is shapped defferently from all the other cats, at rest the boat sits lower in the water than the kc ( lower centre of graviety more stable ) when under way the shape of the hulls lifts the bow and boat out of the water and the bow to water height on the commander is about the same as the kc.

As far as dropping the nose it hasn't happened to me yet and I have been out in some really rough weather.

I think that because shark cats have been arround for so long and other boat companies look as all they are doing is improving on the shark cats 1970 design, when something new comes along we all stand their and say that looks different so it can't work. Some people find it hard to break away from old designs and embrace something new. It's good to see someone thinking outside the square.

My friend who owns a kc comes fishing with me in his boat sometimes we swap boats while we are at sea to see the differences , he tells me when it comes time to upgrade his boat he is going to go with the commander as well.

well thats my thoughts anyway
cheers

[Lovey80]

SC1, thanks for all your info on the commander cats. Any chance you could post some photo's of yours fitted out as you have it?

Cheers

Chris

[boatboy50]

SC1,

Sounds like your on the payroll for Commander? If you are now would be a good time to disclose it?

I have nothing against you or Commander, but please post the name of your boat building company you own on the Gold Coast?

I could be wrong but your posts are always leaning and advertising Commanders, more so than an interested owner.

Regards

Darren

[Smithy]

They do take quite a few waves over the bows. Maybe some sort of spray deflector setup just before the windscreen would be a good idea. Jeff was always going to try and buy the bow rails off the Commander Cat guys and then make spray dodgers for them. I've done a few hours in one which at that stage was called an Ambition Cat.

When it comes down to it it has some layout advantages in some ways over the competitors but the big winner is in the cabin if you overnight in them and can put up with the tunnel slap which all cats will have for sleeping in. Its bunks are east/west and would be something like sleeping on a queen size bed at home. A lot better than sleeping up the hulls on a 5.2KC which I have also done.

The big negative is in re-sale. My mates tried to sell theirs for $60K with twin 75 Hondas. It might have even got down to $50K at the time but they couldn't move it. It was for sale on here for ages as well as Boatpoint, Trading Post, etc. The one partner ended up buying the other one out and he still has it and uses it quite a bit. Because it wasn't a name brand, when it came to the crunch, all prospective buyers chickened out.

This is it for those that remember. The silos got lots of comments.

[rat_catcher]

This is it for those that remember.
Is that a younger Smithy holding that Wahoo in the last pic?

[Smithy]

Nope that is Gusey, one of the owners back then with Bassy at the Fraser Comp one year.

[backlash74]

thank for the feed back i went to boyne hook up on weekend got to do a test drive on the commander cat boat on monday morning but it was hard to get true feel for the boat as it was glass conditions scott the builder /owner is a top bloke not a pushy salesman real happy with the finish on everything allround top boat still have concerns about the low nose can anyone help me with my concerns about getting wave over nose when slowly moving around in swell etc

[backlash74]

sharkcat one just need your opinion on the low nose can you help