VSea v Vixen

[hellboy]

I'm finally in a position to buy myself a shiny new boat. I've had my heart set on a Vsea - had one many years ago and love them.
I've just seen the Vixen, and it is a great looking boat, tho that is pretty much a given for all the seafarer boats. So now i'm torn between the 2.
Has anybody out there got one, been in one or even heard anything about them. For me, the only issue is the weight difference - about 200kg heavier than the Vsea.
My main use will be for fishing (offshore), with the occasional bit of skiing. I'll be fitting a suzuki df90 on whichever one i get, thats why i'm wondering if the vixen will perform ok trying to drag up skiers with the heavier hull.
Any sort of advice will be appreciated. Thanks.

One more question - is it worth getting hydraulic steering, or am i wasting my precious $$$.

[Dantren]

Can't comment on your hull choice, but my DF90 had hydraulic steering & it is well worth the $$$.

[ozscott]

Hydraulic steering - interesting question. The modern teleflex no feed back steering with the dog clutch helm is a sweet piece of kit with very little turns lock to lock (which as I am driving my boat on the trailer these days I love - the lack of turns that is). There is no doubt though that manual steering is not as forgiving of sitting for long periods v hydrol.

I am told that the new Cruisecrafts and all coming fitted with Teleflex no feed back manual steering now...

If you go hydraulic dont go half hydra and half cable or the cheaper arms, but the full bull horn jobbie room permitting - I would rather the mechanical than anything less than the bullhorns with the same turns lock to lock. I suppose the extra turns of the hydraulic would be easy to do with a finger spinning the wheel over while the other hand is on the throttle. One thing for sure the no feed back mechanical is good cause it holds itself in the position it is left in (like hydraulic) and it does not kick back from the motor to the helm (ie same as hydra) and it goes heavier when the motor is poorly trimmed which is a nice way of knowing what the best trim is even without getting to the point of cavitation say and backing of a pinch.

Cheers

[Hell Boy]

Hey hellboy, What with using the same username as me :P

Hydralic steering will make your boat much more enjoyable than the normal cable steering. don't worry about the extra cost as it'll cost you more to change over in 6 months.

Don't know anything about those boats but take your time and sometimes you have to spend just a little more to get what you really want:)

The Original Hell Boy 8-)

[hellboy]

thx for the replies. u've convinced me about the hydraulic steering.
doesn't look there are a lot of vixen owners out there. to be honest, id never heard of the 5.25m till recently.

i'll try to be deferential to the original Hell Boy. any Hell Boy with capital letters is to be feared, even if he is a youngster!