Originally Posted by
boehm95
A lot of things come into play when choosing the boat for you.
What kind of fishing are you planning on doing? Where do you plan on taking it? Are you planning on crabbing? By the time you add all the aforementioned plus crabbing gear it will become a bit tight.
I had a 3.5m tinny not all too long ago, my brother and I, couple rods and crabbing gear and it was a bit small, that's without dogs and esky.. It may be worth the sacrifice on speed for the room.
If you want to upgrade to a 30 in the future, get a boat that will handle that. I think a 355 will get a bit bogged down on the back with a 30 and not sure there's many 355s rated for that. Bear in mind you can exceed the rating and many people do even without exceeding he transom weight rating, this will void your insurance and the other thing is whether the complete hull is made to take the extra power when the odd lift from a wave comes and slaps down etc.
I'm the size I would look at prolines, pretty sure you can get them about 2k for a 399, in the size and outboard you probably won't want to be taking it offshore unless glassy so no need for the deeper v tinnies, a flatter bottom will give added stability at rest. I can't personally say the ride and stability etc in the prolines but have heard they are good.
Alternatively, a Sea Jay but they're a few more dollars, I have one and cannot fault it though.
I think in the size you are looking at, the 18HP will be fine, I used a 3HP on my 3.5 and upgraded to an 8 and was happy with performance.
Currently with my 4.2 I have a 40 and the conditions are often at the point where full throttle isn't quite necessary.
Bear in mind upgrading to a 30HP you will really only see the extra HP up top and top speed, perhaps a bit better out of the hole too, it may not be worth the upgrade depending on the hull you choose.
I would sacrifice speed for ride and comfort any day of the week, so I would choose a hull based on that.
Out of the boats listed, I would go the 375, it doesn't seem a lot bigger, but remember when adding size to a boat it's in the middle, not at the front so 20cm can make a fair difference.
That's my two bobs worth, take it or leave it.
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