My New Boat!

[ali]

Hi guy's, after initially looking to buy a 6m yalta craft, I went out and bought a hydrofield tri hull yesterday.It's not the same one I talked about in a post last week, I bought this from aqua who posted me on this service last thursday. It's the later model hull with a 150hp evinrude Intruder on the back. After first seeing it looked like an awsome fishing boat but I felt daunted by its size, but after taking it out for a run on nelson bay I was so impressed with it's performance I bought It. In a strong wind and a nasty chop this thing tore through the water at high speed like it was a calm day, at rest this thing did not tilt an inch with two big guy's leaning over the side nor did rock from side to side in the swells.It's my first tri-hull and I'm totally converted! hoping to take her out off sydney this week, thank's for all the help and advice thru out my search for a boat guy's, here's some pics. p.s. [hi aqua]. regards Stiffrod.

[ali]

another

[ali]

and one more

[ali]

just one more

[Volvo]

;)Pearler of a Rig there mate, hope it brings ya lots of Joy.....And Fish :)..

[ali]

thanks volvo , appreciate it!

[Volvo]

I take it, it is not your first rig??How far out do you plan taking it??
Would be interesting to see how a tri hull like that would perform in our waters??.
I have a Black 130HP Evinrude back o my Rig and have to say ive been overimpressed with this motor from day dot..
Cheers

[Volvo]

:)Mate ive got a 6 meter Aluminium Plate Boat.."Assasin craft"..private buy originally and motor is what came originally with it and like i said, i have been quite impressed to date with the motor and its fuel economy though had i the spare $$ a 140HP maybe Suzi 4 stroke (or therebaouts :) ) would look ideal on the back of it and let me get out a tad further without having to add space to my fuel tank which is what i'm contemplating at present...The fuel tank that is lol...
Cheers

[ali]

Mate it's my second boat, the first was a 5.4m quinne cuddy cab which was not an offshore boat, never took that one out more than a couple of klms and only on good days, I would like to take the hydro out and fish some of the farther reefs off sydney with some more experienced mates of mine.I'm really surprised with the power of the 150 it really flys ,I'm also very pleased with the way this boat handles it's better than any I've ever driven. cheers Stiffrod. ps. by the way volvo what kind of rig have you got?

[megafish71]

Good looking rig Stiffrod, now you have the rig we can all look forward to seeing some fishing reports from you. So what areas and fish are you planning on targetting? Best of luck to you and I'll stop looking for Yalta's for ya.

Cheers Ron

[kevy]

yo stiffrod, often wondered how they performed, they always looked the goods when they 1st come out many years ago. hard to get a new boat on the market without the usual sales crap. fished out of many cats & can't fault there peformance as a more than stable craft. it looks like you've done well, all the best, kevy. :) :)

[zoley]

Congratulations Stiffrod, and welcome to the tri hull world.
You will never look at monos again. Your hull will take you to
anywhere any other sportfishing hull will go. If you were
impressed with it into a chop then wait until you see how
they perform in a following sea, they are awsome.
I bet after a while you will be looking at the 6.6s.

cheers.

[yalla]

whats tthe length of the hydrofoil

[ba229]

G'day stiffrod. I live in newcastle and it looks like time to make a new friend lol

hope the new boat does exactly what it is ment to. ie catch fish

[ali]

thank's for the replies everyone, much appreciated, and yes ron I don't think I'll be needing a yalta anymore, I really like bottom bashing never done any trolling or sport fishing yet, and as for yalla's question the boat is 5.6m in length with another half metre of marlin board off the back making a total 6.1m length and a 2.5m beam. By the way yalla are you really 99 years old? regards stiffrod!

[bidkev]

Nice rig Stiffrod. I had a virgo fisher 16ft tri-hull 10 yrs back, in the uk. They were called cathedral hulls over there for some reason. She outperformed other bigger craft in the club who had to slow in heavy seas and she was beautifully stable when at anchor. Since then they have been improved even further and I was recently informed that of 186 boats in the club 111 of them were now tri-hulls. Knowing the UK weather and seas, that speaks volumes. My next rig is definately going to be a tri-hull.

Good fishing.

[cheno]

way to go stiffrod, that's the best hull version to get. You will NOT be dissappointed. 150 will be perfect.

[ali]

thank's guy's, good to hear from you. cheers stiffrod.

[Nivlag]

Stiffrod,

Just having a play on the internet and came across this site and the first post I had a look at just happened to be yours. The weird thing about it is I was just looking at that boat in the Trading Post today, and the reason I was looking at it is because I have the same boat.

Mine’s a 91 model with twin 75 Mariner’s (99’s) on the back and as you probably already know, although there call a Hydrofield 18 the length of your boat is 20’ or 6.1m and the hull is no longer made. They have gone to 5.6m and 6.6m (amongst others).

How do you like it so far? What year model is your’s? and have you found any faults/problems with the design yet? I must say it looks in great nik as well as the trailer.

If it’s a fishing boat you’re after then I don’t think you will ever look back from the Hydrofield name.

Cheers

Brett

[ali]

Hi brett, welcome to the site and as you'll probably soon realise you can ask any question in relation to fishing and boating on this site and there'll only be too many fisho's willing to help you with answers and Ideas it's great, now back to your questions mines a 89 model hull with a 94 mod. 150hp evinrude, the rig is immaculate due to being rarely used and always being garaged. It's one owner an older gentleman purchased it new with a 115hp and then upgraded in 94 with the 150, the motor since has only done just over 200hrs work and you won't find a scratch on the hull. It was advertised in last weeks Trading post and as of last saturday 9-10-04 I'm it's second owner. I haven't taken it out yet but I did test drive it before I bought it and it handled better than anything I've ever driven and that's why I did buy it. I'd had no previous experience with tri-hulls before but I was really Impressed. As soon as I take out off sydney I'll update you more on it's performance. As to your question on faults/ problems have you found any and how long have you owned one. Also got any pics of the boat you can post here on the site I'd like to see it. Good to here from you. cheers stiffrod!

[Nivlag]

Stiffrod, Thanks for the welcome mate.

I’ve had my rig for about 1 year and have probably only been out on it 12 times. The boat was kept at a mates place in Merimbula but is now on my front lawn waiting for me to either take it back to Merimbula or maybe try somewhere different – Wollongong perhaps. I must say that while I had it Merimbula I had it out in some pretty bad conditions and the boat performed very well, never had a problem crossing the bar either.

The reason I went for a Hydro is because my father was a huge fan and had two different models so I had experience with these hulls and didn’t even bother looking at other boats. I’ve been in a number of mono’s both glass and “tin” over the years and there is no comparison at all, so I simply waited for a 6.1m with twin’s to come on the market and bought the first one I looked at. The boat’s not in as good a shape as your’s and the trailer is a bit ordinary but the engines had only done just over 100 hours and I got it at the right price.

Pro’s and Con’s.
The pluses would be a go anywhere in just about any condition boat, huge fishing area and the soft ride. It really is a great fishing boat.

On the down side, being a tall guy I’d prefer the floor a bit lower (or higher sides) but in reality because the boat doesn’t move around too much it’s only a minor issue. The cabin is tiny but then again I can still sleep in it if I lay across the boat and the last one is the overall look of the boat is a little dated. All of these issue’s are minor and not really a concern.

My plan is to hold on to this one for a while and then buy the newer 6.6m which really would be the ultimate blue water fishing boat!!

[yockman]

Oh Hydrofields!
Have not been in one yet but remember planing out to the shelf off southern Tas one day in #21' mono. We were flying and I was thinking "yeah this is good"......till we were overtaken by an 18' hydrofield.....
Some fun ahead for you , stiffrod
Cheers,
Yockman

[ali]

Sound's great nivlag, about the 6.6 hydro the guy I bought my boat off actually has just bought one which is why he sold the smaller one which I bought. To me it just looked too big and I"d hate to be towing it around, it seriously dwarfs my boat, but I'm sure you could cross the ocean in it. Also thanks yockman for your reply and how is south tassie these days! regards stiffrod!