sea hunter and contender are cheap built with little quality. look at used ones and look at stress cracks all over the boat. also rub your hands under the gunnels and get fiberglass splinters in your hand. on the other hand do the same for a yellowfin where quality is much better. then go look at a venture and it blows them all away. the 34 venture is an awesome boat that punishes 4-6 foot waves and at 30 knots with twin f250 yamahas it burns 24-26 gph with full fuel, water and loaded with 5 people. there is a dealer in charleston and you can look at boattraderonline.com for good used ones.
Sea Hunters are well made boats. Contenders are far from cheap made. They are not custom, but saying they are cheap is kinda silly.
i love mine. we run it hard and i have very little complaints. i do agree the 350’s are the way to go. it’s not a sporty of course, but when the seas start to boil, as it usually does here, i usually am passing most other boats. we just got home from an over nighter and had a blast, i noticed on the way in, a lot of people decided to stay in. (oh and we were doing 30 knots with this mess hitting 10 degrees off our port bow)
Own a '05 32 Regulator, if your not buying a small sporty this is the best CC on the market. Great flare, great entry, and built heavy for comfort. The 32’s hull is set up like a true Carolina boat not a florida “Smoker Chaser” (contender, yellowfin, etc.) If you have enough “gold chains” those would be the boat for you. We do 30 kts in 4-6 seas all day long with a very pleasing ride. The 250’s are underpowered, I have the 300’s and they do very well. At cruise (32kts) they burn 28 gal/hr, to the 380 and back all day 145 gallons. Also raises fish, have caught many bills including 118" blue last season. Boat is actually for sale BI has listing, if don’t sell by Sept. going to have a tower built onto it. GREAT BLUEWATER BOAT!!!
Carl Owens
Best CC on the market is a pretty bold statement. I travelled around the SE riding on 32 to 35 CC boats while I was looking and found I was surprised which ones had the better ride and fishability. I did not have the Reg in the top 5 after looking and riding and visitng factories, but it is a nice boat.
here is your answer. i sold my glacier bay cat to buy my 2000 venture. i kept my cat for a little over a year. good riding boat overall, but has some pitfalls. rolls in quatering seas, terrible in following seas. can also flip on you if you bury the front end in water. sides are high, this is both good and bad. good in that it helps keep you dry. bad in working fish beside the boat, especially big fish you are trying to release. they are also good on fuel economy burning 13-15 gph with twin 150 yamahas as 30 mph. another factor is you will find is it does not run like a v hull, this was the biggest fault that i could not stand. when coming off a wave you don’t know whether it will pitch left or right depends on how it catches the wave. boat also has great fish boxes and storage. very small and cramped center console with head you have to be 3-4 ft tall to use. however i would choose it over a regualtor, contender , or seahunt everyday. you might consider looking in florida for a yellowfin or venture and pick up a great deal. i bought mine for 77,000, sold my old motors and electronics and completely refurbished the boat and all i have in mine is 130 and that includes a trailer.
Do you know there is a hull called Sea Hunter and it is nothing close to a Sea Hunt? I know a guy who burried a Venture into a back of a wave running fast at night. Does that mean Ventures are bad? Every boat is a trade off. I have a cat and run a bigger CC for another guy. GB’s are a much different ride than a World Cat. Like I said, each has its own deal. There are lots of quality CC’s out there and lots of crappy ones.
Your comment about feeling under gunnels for glass. Are you talking about 2 peice vs 3 peice construction? If so, what boats that are being discussed are 2 peice vs 3
does not matter if it is 2 or 3 piece i am stating that the quality of workmanship is not there. go to the factories where they are made and see for yourself. i visited five different ones and looked at the way they were made. you pay for what you get. i agree ventures are overpriced but the workmanship is far better than any of the aboved mentioned boats. i also had a contender as well as a fountain, so i have had my share of cc and cats. hey this is only my opinion.
I am the builder of the Freeman 33 cats. I think you should definitley look at all of the boats everyone here mentioned. Each one has its place and are very nice.
A little about my boats… I literally designed the Freeman 33 to come back from the Georgetown hole one those days when the wind is blowing around 12-15knots and the seas are around 2-3’, but are just giving you fits. Well what we ended up with is a machine that will do more than handle 2-3’ wind chop. Cruising comfortably at 30knots in a 2-3’ quartering head sea burning 24gph is very realistic with Suzuki 300’s at 4100rpm. My 2-3 is usually everyone else’s 3-4’.
My cats handle very predictably with no bowsteer that is common with the Glacier Bays and other cats.
We are worth taking a look at. We are located on James Island in the old Renken facility next to Dukes Marine.
I just got back from Venice, La where 2 of my boats are in charter service. One of the deckhands used to charter out of a Venture 34. I asked him what the difference was. “I don’t get wet, we burn way less fuel and I usually ride out on the bow on the coffin box. Offshore she feels like you are on a platform fishing, just so stable” We fished on Friday and he rode out the whole way in the front and we were running 33knots into a 2-3’ headsea.
i have fished a lot fo those boats mentioned and i also am a boat broker. We do not sell offshore boats but i do know what is really popular due to price and ride. The regulator has always been one of my favorite boats on the market and the price is not bad for a well built boat. I know you will not regret buying one and the way the market is now a lot of people are trying to sell there big boats real cheap to get rid of them. I also absolutely love the yellow fin and it is top of my list on center consoles. Now it is a little pricey but when you are spending that kind of money it is worth spending a little extra to get a boat under warranty, the one you absolutely love and not one you settled on, and finally one that does what you want it to do. I personnaly do not like cats, but a lot of people do. I think they ride great but in adverse conditions they are a little hairy and seem to want to tip over if one of the hulls comes out of the water. also look at size. A friend of mine has a 28 southport and he downsized from a 36ft hatteras. He absolutely loves that boat and they fish for everything on it including overnight trips for swords. Weigh your options but remember this is a big investment and if you start going with a company that is small and new think about how the economy is and how many small boat dealers are going out of business leaving there customers with no warranty.
From reds to marlin you got it.
2001 210 Sea Fox
2009 Yamaha F150
I have fished a dozen or so times on a regulator 26 a friend of mine owns and it is one of the best riding 26ft boats I have ever been on. Sharp deadrise no banging and always seems to land sturdy. Its heavy also which is good for the way the hull is. My 2 cents. I went with a 35 triton after ist sea trial, but if I was in the mkt for a boat that size the regultor would be on the list. dont know about the 32 reg.
Seems that a lot of people have “heard” stuff about cats. If you plant the tabs down on a mono it will bow stear as well. You can also plant a CC in the back of a wave and do the old Das Boot submarine trick… It happens. Cats do drive differently and have a learning curve, but anyone who infers they are unsafe or can flip or whatever is speaking out their ass. Sure they can do that, but so can any other boat.
Cracker i have some experience in boats and you must be a die hard cat guy but me personally, i don’t like them. i have been in a world cat many times which is very fine boat and they really ride great but they also scare the hell out of me when it gets hairy. im not saying they are a bad boat because they are not but in my opinion the single hull CC is better. Thats why you see more of them out there then a cat. Im not talking out of my a** i am talking from personal experience so no need to get offensive just voicing my opinion.
From reds to marlin you got it.
2001 210 Sea Fox
2009 Yamaha F150
I went to the YF factory on my factory tour of Florida. The 32 is a lot of boat. Seems a lot bigger than the older 31 and the 32 Reg. Very similar set up to the 34. Little less room in the front. It is a fishing boat on the inside. I bet it becomes one of their best sellers. To get it the way you want it puts you in the very high 100’s to low 200’s. YF’s are pretty boats and though they are known in the Kingfish circles it does not necessarily make them bad boats.
Now I give kingfisherman hell. Some of my buddies actually fish those deals and I can tell you this… They run fast for a long time in crappy conditions. They beat the living hell out of those boats and themselves. There is a reason YF, Sea Hunter, Contender, and a few other hulls are common in those circles. If they were made poorly, those crazy bastards would break them in two.
I have fished on a lot of different center consoles and owned a few too. They all have different pros and cons.
I have nearly killed myself in a fountain sticking a wave but still think they are were great boats when I had them in the mid 90’s. Fished on boats in the 47-66ft range through 2006, and now in a 36 Yellowfin. I dont wear a gold chain or really give two shcits about Kingfishing but I fish a lot of tournaments with my best friend on his Contender. Also a good boat. I know that when we get to the grounds I would rather be in the Yellowfin anyday of the week. Sea Hunts are cheap and not built strong enough for offshore fishing.
Regulators are beefy and heavy, one con though is the gunnels are really low. Dont like that when it comes to having inexpierenced people or kids on board. Thats just me though. Neighbors got a brand new one with 350’s and it is a sweet classy looking rig.
Good luck with your choice, your looking at a good time for buyers the market is flooded right now. Name your price and dont think any offer is too low.
Cracker i have some experience in boats and you must be a die hard cat guy but me personally, i don’t like them. i have been in a world cat many times which is very fine boat and they really ride great but they also scare the hell out of me when it gets hairy. im not saying they are a bad boat because they are not but in my opinion the single hull CC is better. Thats why you see more of them out there then a cat. Im not talking out of my a** i am talking from personal experience so no need to get offensive just voicing my opinion.
From reds to marlin you got it.
2001 210 Sea Fox
2009 Yamaha F150
2008 Skeeter 24V
2008 Yamaha F250
(Team Boat)
Well, I was not talking to you directly. It plenty ok to not like them. Saying the are unsafe is another thing. I am not a die hard cat guy per say. I do like them and think they are a good option. They handle differently, but that can be a good thing. They do not ride the same as mono’s so it takes some getting used to by the passengers as well. In return, you get a lot less pounding in the wind wave slop we get here. You get more room per foot of boat as well. They handle a little better in tight quarters b/c of the spread of the motors. They typically are not as fast as CC’s. Every boat has its niche. A Sea Fox is a good entry level boat. A cat is not an entry level boat or a boat for an inexperienced driver. A Yellowfin is also a boat for an experienced driver who wants to go fast and still not get beat. Every boat has its place. Fortunately, there are lots of places for boats to go.
look slike a beautiful boat but again for anyone interested in buying a new boat and investing a lot of money you might want to find a boat company that has been around longer then 6 years. A lot of “back yard” builders especially in florida are going under. That makes a $300,000 pointless to have when the company goes under and no one to support the warranty.
From reds to marlin you got it.
2001 210 Sea Fox
2009 Yamaha F150