Trail Craft

[flathead_fred]

hey guys,

i was wondering if anyone owns a trailcraft boat, and what thet think of them because i think they look fantastic and im thinking of getting one instead of the more expensive quinnie to replace the one i have now. im probably looking at the 4.7 metre profish as its the smallest they make it seems. i know malcom douglas, the esteemed adventurer(i just love his documentaries) has one that fully decked out with enormous dual fuel tanks, so i guess if they are good enough for him, there good enough for me. any replies would be great.

thanks

[davo]

Well, both myself and my father have been down this track and the end result for me was a Fisher 4.8m plate side console and for my father an AMM 4.5m plate "bowrider". Both have Yammy 60 HP 4 strokes and mine a Minnkota bowmount. They are the same price as a Quinny or Trailcraft and much better. Look around as their are heaps of good boats around.

[CamH]

I have a 5.6m Centre Console with 115hp Mercury 4 stroke. It's a great boat and I would highly recommend the Trailcraft brand to anybody looking for a new boat. They are so well built from the hull right through to the toggle swicthes on the control panel. I use to own a Quintrex Adventurer 455 Centre Console with 50 hp 4 stroke Merc and it now looks so weak compared to the Trailcraft. I cannot tell any difference from the millenium hull on the Quintrex to the hull on the Trailcraft. They really are a solid boat that make you feel safe and I've had some pretty ordinary sea conditions in the Trailcraft. Hope this helps.

[craigie]

Hi Guy's,

The Trailcraft has certainly caught my eye :o :o
I'm looking for a boat that can do everything from 'Bass to Coral Trout' and this boat has huge potential. I particularly like the 5.00 m Profish (Side Console). I'm just doing a bit of research on a Bowmount Electric with a super long shaft as well as raising the front Casting deck a little, add a new 90 hp E-Teck Evenrude, a couple of grands worth of Electronics and WOW what a fishing rig 8) 8).
Cam, What type of performance do you get with the 115hp on the 5.6 m ?

Just waiting on some brochures for the 4.8 Fisher to do some comparisons ????

Cheers
Craigie.

[Longole]

A few months ago I started looking for a freediving boat to use in WA. After considering quinnies, Stessl, savage and custom glass boats, I went with a 4.7m profish with a 60 4 stroke merc on it. Very happy with it, handles slop easily although we dont have much swell in northern WA so can't comment on that.

In reasonable conditions it does 55-60km per hr at 5500 rpm, with two people and all our freediving stuff. Huge range on it with the 120L fuel tank. Comes down tail first when airbourne which makes the landings pretty soft with an aft side console (not that I always drive like that!).

If I had to start again I would still get the profish but try to stretch the budget to a 5m unless I lived on the east coast and had heaps of nasty bar crossings than might have to look at a cubby cab. (or a boston whaler outrage!!!)

Lastly I did see a 4.5 profish in Perth so you must be able to get them.

[CamH]

Hi Craige,

The 115 goes really well. You can probably get away with the recommended minimum of 90hp but with the rig weighing 1300kg with 120L of fuel, accessories and 3 or 4 people on board I would feel better with the bigger motor. I get 1.5 nm to a litre of fuel which from all reports and people I've spoken to is bloody good and I've been in pretty ordinary seas most of the 5 months I've had it out. I haven't been in good enough conditions yet to open up to full throttle but at about 3/4 throttle I do about 30knots and about 4200rpm.

People probably wonder why I went with a centre console when I'm not in good sea conditions a lot but I wouldn't own anything else. I love being able to move right around the boat especially when casting at or fighting surface feeding fish and there is very little spray gets into this boat.

Here's a picture of the rig.

[craigie]

Thanks Longole and Cam,

Great choice of boats guy's, the sooner I can afford one the better.
The performance of the Trailcraft compares well to other top line Boat Builders (Aluminium). Your figures would suggest that the 5.00 m Profish should do 60 odd k's when fitted up with a 90 hp (Max).

Cam, I like the look of your boat, especially all fitted up with the Taga and rocket launchers. I see Longole lives in WA, where do you live mate ?? I hope to one day post a pic of my 'Dream Boat' :D :D

Cheers

Craigie

[CamH]

Hi Craige,

I live in Toowoomba, QLD but my boat lives at my parents place on the Sunshine Coast near Mooloolaba. It's only about 2 1/2 hours to the coast from here so I usually duck over on a Friday night and fish Saturday/Sunday off Mooloolaba.

[craigie]

Hi CamH,

Mate, I live in Brisbane. Spent a couple of hours poking around Cunningham Marine on Saturday to give the Trailcrafts a thorough going over. Did you purchase your rig from there or are there other dealers in Southern Qld/Northern NSW ??

I might have to go up to Mooloolaba one weekend and sit on the Rock wall and watch you cruise bye :D.

Thanks mate,

Craig.

[CamH]

Hi Craige,

Yes I did purchase it from Cunninghams Marine in Redcliffe. I think the only other dealer in QLD for Trailcraft is in Cairns.

I'll be going out this Saturday and Sunday morning if the weather suits. It couldn't get any worse than last weekend, 40knot gale force winds for most of it. I did get out early Saturday and went out to Murphy's reef. The swell was about 2.5m and there was about a 25knot SE blowing so the trip was pretty slow. If my mate wasn't so keen to go fishing I wouldn't have gone out at all, but for the whole half hour we did fish, on the first drop we got a 3kg snapper and on the second a beautiful 3kg Red Emperor. We also got a couple of parrot fish so in all it was proabably worth puting up with.

[mrswb]

I would suggest something plate alloy rather than aluminum for the strength. Amm, stessl, sportfish etc......

[craigie]

Huh ??? ??? Please explain ??? ???
Trailcraft are 4mm plate !!!! Larger models are even thicker.

[mrswb]

What is the deadrise??

[craigie]

mrswb,

Not sure about the Deadrise, couldn't see anything on the brochures or the Website ??
I have inspected the hull out at Cunningham's Marine and they do show a bit of 'V' on the Transom.
My guess is it is similar to Quinnies and other top line tinnies, say 15 degrees, give or take a bit ???

Trailcraft should handle a bit of chop from what I see, I'll give a full report when I go for a test-drive ;)

Cheers
Craig.

[team_mongo]

14 degrees deadrise