Fairway 36 - can they gamefish?

[trueblue]

has anyone ever chased a billfish with the single engined and keeled Fairway 36 (with 330 cummins and both stern and bow thrusters, and additional cockpit remote controls)

can they be manouvred backwards in a sufficient manner to use them for gamefishing or not?

beautiful boat for going forwards in an extremely economical manner, but can they go backwards with adequate directional control for gamefishing?

All boats are of course a juggling act with pros and cons, but would a Fairway 36 be completely stupid to try and catch billfish with as 30% of its intended use?

[siegfried]

IT would be a good boat mate , wont back down like a 35 bertram but you should chase fish with the pointy end anyway, thats how relatively small(sub 180 kg) blues seem to keep spooling fullas on 37 -they chase em backwards from the word go

[Tickleish]

My Dads got one - good boats.

Never chased bills out of it but have done many trips for Manly to the whitsundays in it it and fished the whole way. Very economical, 16 Tonne of boat cruises at 16knots for about 17Litres an hour. Thats with 315 HP Yanmar.

[trueblue]

if you try and go backwards will they go the direction you try and point them?

How restricted is the visibility from the flybridge controls with the long overhang flybridge?

anything negative about them?

do you have to use the thrusters much?

[Tickleish]

if you try and go backwards will they go the direction you try and point them?

How restricted is the visibility from the flybridge controls with the long overhang flybridge?

anything negative about them?

do you have to use the thrusters much?


When we go backwards it pulling out of the berth not trying to run down a fish, but yes behaves well forward and reverse.

The dingy rack is is aft of the flybridge so if the ducks up there visabilty to the transom door is nil. If you purchase a new one wally will make it how you like( shorter flybridge).

I don't use the thrusters theirs no need really - if blowing 30knots and your docking somewhere new its nice to have them up your sleve though.

a bit rolly at rest is probably its biggest downfall.

[trueblue]

are they more rolly than a deep v boat like a bertie or carribean? - thought they were the worst for being rolly.

or is it about the same. weirdish looking backside on the Fairway when looking at the flatish bottom at the back

what are they like in a following sea? reviews say they can be a little wonkey going down sea, but not dangerous?

[Tickleish]

Yeah prob no more rolly than a Bertie, as far as following sea's go we've come across wide Bay in 4M+ swell and hit 28knots surfing down the faces and didn't feel un safe.

[trueblue]

ever tried full revs in reverse?

[GBC]

I think chasing bills down will stretch the original design brief a bit - LOT.
Single screws need revs to answer the helm which will wear you down. I wouldn't let it stop me using it for billfishing, but I'd buy it knowing that backing down is never going to be one of it's strong suits compared with purpose built vessels.
Who knows, maybe you could set the rudder amidships and set the revs then steer on the thrusters like dynamic positioning?

[trueblue]

yeah, agreed - certainly not what they were initially designed for and why there are nearly none of them with outriggers fitted...

question is, could they do the job acceptably, or would you forever be pissed off and wishing that you had waited to afford a twin engined 32 to 35 gamefishing oriented boat that would cost a lot more to purchase, and cost 3 times as much to put diesel in?

it would be a very long wait for the latter.

just looking outside the box to see if there are viable alternatives that give a good family cruiser, acceptable gamefishing options, and low enough running costs that it could be used regularly (every week or second week at a minimum)

[no chicken tonight]

All single screw shaft driven vessels will respond poorly to helm when going astern. Bow thrusters are not designed, and will burn out quickly if used for anything more than very short bursts when docking.
A good skipper in good sea condions will handle the vessel well enough for most fish, but expect to get spooled every now and then.

[Smithy]

Or thinking outside the box even further how about some of the sailing cat type things with either outboards or inboards? Scimitars, Bavarias etc. at the top of the tree are going to be out of the question price wise but the ones from Hervey Bay or maybe some of the smaller Voyagers etc. plus all the custom builders might slot in there somewhere.

Matt Fraser fished on one recently in the Offshore Reports section. Try and find it in there. There were a lot of links.

[Blackened]

G'day

I was also going to suggest something along the lines of a scimitar/voyager too....

Dave

[trueblue]

I've been advised by Wal at Fairway that the big overhang flybridge deck extension comes off, which would give back the flybridge cockpit visibility which had been one major concern.

thanks Dave and Smithy for the other outside the box thoughts - I reckon it is critical to examine all potential options rather than to jump to a first conclusion.

maybe you end up in the same place as your thoughts / conclusions, but after giving it all a good look outside the box, at least you can sleep well knowing you gave it total consideration and found the best option based on all available alternatives

[Noelm]

I guess as long as there is somewhere to stand and hold a rod, any boat can be used for gamefishing, as far as roaring all over the ocean backwards, with clouds of diesel smoke and a mountain of water coming over the transom, it might look spectactular, but is hardly the be all to end all in catching gamefish! a decent boat with the fish off to one side going frontwards will be equally as good, but not as cool!