Review from a twice Glacier Bay owner… I stopped down to see Billy at the boat show today and was lucky enough to get to do a sea trial on the 33’. I must say, I was thoroughly impressed. I know that there has been a lot of verbage on the board about this boat, but I actually had the chance to experience this boat in a small craft advisory.
Most of the other demo boats hooked right around the inlet buoy and blazed their way through the 2’ chop, straight up the beach and never ventured out any further. Instead, we pointed the boat straight at the gulfstream where you could see the white caps on the horizon. It was a solid tight 5-6’ chop out there and we took on a solid beam sea doing 40 mph. Very dry and VERY COMFORTABLE. When I say “comfortable”, I don’t mean “bearable”. I mean COMFORT as in sitting on your couch. We didn’t have any bean bags on board, but I am pretty sure that I could have caught a good nap on a long ride.
Pulled the boat out of gear and just drifted in a pure beam sea. On my 26’ Glacier Bay, this would have yielded a pretty nice roll which could throw you off balance if you weren’t careful. On the Freeman, it was pretty close to sitting on a dock. Now I understand why they go bottom fishing in 4-6’ stuff. Very fishable in those conditions. I walked from one side of the boat to the other, not holding on to anything or feel like I was walking on a tight rope.
I asked Billy to troll straight into it. Solid 6’ maybe 6 second intervals with an occasional 7 footer in there. Boat had no problems. Could have trolled all day.
Anyway, I give the boat an A+ rating all the way around. It could very well be my next boat in the near future. I can’t say enough about this boat.
One more thing that I had to say about this boat. I had some friends come into town this weekend and we had planned to cross over to the bahamas in my 26’ Glacier. We ended up cancelling in my boat because of the 20-25knt wind forecast and small craft advisory on Sunday. I can honestly say that if
I don’t do any offshore fishing, but I do read the offshore reports and discussion, so, out of curiosity, I was looking to see one at the Chas boat show. I was surprised there was not one there…or did I just miss it?
I have heard a lot about the Freeman, tried to get on a trip on one in LA but couldn’t work it out. Don’t know if comparing a 26’ boat and 33’ boat really hits the mark, especially with about 100k difference in price, but it sure sounds like it was impressive. Did you ride any new mono hulls of equal length, beam, and power?
Don’t get me wrong the Freemans are nice and run great. I love these extreme posts, but come on trolling in 7’ seas is going to suck and be wet in any boat even a 50’ Viking. When you buy your Freeman I would also like you to video tape your Bahamas crossing in a Small Craft Advisory doing 40MPH. Would be a great show. Can the boat handle it… probably yes. Can you or I… NO.
Fishman, believe it or not, this was not my first ride on a boat. I’ve fished in SMA (4-6’) in my 26’ boat a handful of times, and have owned\piloted catamarans for almost a decade now, so I know a lot more about catamarans than guys who have never owned one. This boat is 7 feet longer and 2 feet wider than mine. The seas were solid 5-6’. Again, I state in a beam sea we were running 40 mph and I would have easily been able to ride in a bean bag on the way out. We would not have had the same ride heading straight into them, but we tried it and managed a reasonable 22mph. There was some spray heading straight into them, but nothing a curtain wouldn’t fix. Trolling into them doing about 7-8 knots, was very doable. Again, it’s not a blue bird day, but if I tried that in my boat, I would have taken a few over the bow. Again, believe what you want, but I’ve fished with DOZENS of guys on this website in my boat and they know that I am straight shooter, and if I said that I would have crossed over in those conditions at 40mph, then they know that they can count on it. Unlike yourself though, I don’t have to guess. I was there!
Some of the best fishing I’ve ever seen has been on days where the boat could barely run on plane. I have been in the freeman in lpost hurricane slop, and skinnee is being honest IMO. What he is saying isn’t all that outrageous. Beam sea is the key word. And i’ll bet if they hadn’t run 40 they would have been getting soaked in that wind on the beam! The thing about the freeman is that it handles more like a monohull at high speed than a cat. Yes it has tendencies like a cat, but they aren’t unbearable like what I’ve felt on other cats. Billy really approached these boats with the right things in mind, and anyone owes it to themselves to at least go for a ride when it is truly nasty rough to see what his hulls can do. I am saying this as someone who really used to HATE catamarans, btw…
I have fished our 36’ Yellowfin alongside a 33’ Freeman and a 36’ Twin Vee over 120 miles offshore doing overnighters in the Gulf. By the end of the day we were all soaked, all beat up and bruised, and more importantly all limited out. No boat ran any better than the other in varying conditions offshore.
So my point is its personal preference. These are all top tier boats and will perform offshore. Sorry I just don’t agree with the notion that people think you can run 40mph offshore in stacked 5-6 footers in any CC no matter the brand.
I have fished our 36’ Yellowfin alongside a 33’ Freeman and a 36’ Twin Vee over 120 miles offshore doing overnighters in the Gulf. By the end of the day we were all soaked, all beat up and bruised, and more importantly all limited out. No boat ran any better than the other in varying conditions offshore.
So my point is its personal preference. These are all top tier boats and will perform offshore. Sorry I just don’t agree with the notion that people think you can run 40mph offshore in stacked 5-6 footers in any CC no matter the brand.
So you have never been on a Freeman before? Also, did you take a beam sea out to the fishing grounds? And did you travel at 40mph? Boats don't drive themselves. The operator has a lot to do with it, for sure. Slowing up or down just a few knots and adjusting your bearing 10-15 degrees can make all the difference in the world.
I have driven a 31 contender 30mph in a tight 5ft beam sea. Skinnee was on the boat…
I’m just sayin.
It isn’t that outrageous for a guy to say an f33 did 40 comfortably. A 36yf could definitely do the same. The impressive thing here is that type sea is often where a cat hull sux because of bow steer and rocker area so far fwd that you get soaked by every wave.
My opinion of the freeman is compared to skinnee’s 26gb, a prowler30, and a wc27 I’ve experienced. I have not been on a big wc or twin vee.
I won’t compare to mono hulls anymore because I haven’t been on high powered cc’s in enough conditions to know anything first hand. All I feel qualified to say is that the freeman is night and day better than all the other cats I’ve been on, and I fully believe skinnee’s report here based on my own experience on the freeman in nasty conditions.
Rates can’t stay at historic lows forever. Now may be the perfect time to refinance or purchase your dream home. If you or anyone you know may be thinking about home financing please have them contact me! </font id=“blue”>
I have run our 36YF in all sorts of conditions from NC, to Key West, to LA over 150 miles from shore on overnights with 7 people on board. I know what I am doing. I have also fished offshore on a 33 Freeman and Twin Vee in the Gulf, yes both were very nice stable wide platforms. I would defiantly look at a Freeman if I lived in the Gulf, but as you can see our boat gets towed all over the South East. Can’t do that with a wide cat.
Sorry don’t agree with you. To openly say you can comfortably run any CC in stacked 5-6 offshore in any direction is BS in my opinion. I would not even say that about our Yellowfin. My coffe may spill in conditions like that…
Open invitation to anyone that wants to see what the boat will do. That includes you Fishman…
I to have towed the 33 all over the southeast. She is 10" wider than a 36YF. To doubt what a man says is understandable. But i can tell you no one believes me when i can tell them what the boat can do. You just have to ride on it for yourself.
We fished the megadock 40’ and under last year on Friday, the 2nd day. We were the first boat out there and the first one through the rocks. You can ask the Full Pull, the Chasin, the Sporting Life or any of the other 5 boats, which boat passed them on the way home? It was an honest 7-9’ in the stream and 6’ on the way back in. We were running in a quartering following sea. Ask Robbie Freeman the owner of the megadock… Put it this way, I saw 3 boats dunk their bows while trolling in a headsea… it was rough.
Hey, I am willing to take whatever boat out in rough seas with mine to do a comparison. Obviously a 60’ boat isnt a fair comparison. Lets say up to 45’.
Fishman, believe it or not, this was not my first ride on a boat. I’ve fished in SMA (4-6’) in my 26’ boat a handful of times, and have owned\piloted catamarans for almost a decade now, so I know a lot more about catamarans than guys who have never owned one. This boat is 7 feet longer and 2 feet wider than mine. The seas were solid 5-6’. Again, I state in a beam sea we were running 40 mph and I would have easily been able to ride in a bean bag on the way out. We would not have had the same ride heading straight into them, but we tried it and managed a reasonable 22mph.</font id=“red”> There was some spray heading straight into them, but nothing a curtain wouldn’t fix. Trolling into them doing about 7-8 knots, was very doable. Again, it’s not a blue bird day, but if I tried that in my boat, I would have taken a few over the bow. Again, believe what you want, but I’ve fished with DOZENS of guys on this website in my boat and they know that I am straight shooter, and if I said that I would have crossed over in those conditions at 40mph, then they know that they can count on it. Unlike yourself though, I don’t have to guess. I was there!
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quote:Fishman 77 Posted - 02/23/2012 : 10:14:58 AM
I have run our 36YF in all sorts of conditions from NC, to Key West, to LA over 150 miles from shore on overnights with 7 people on board. I know what I am doing. I have also fished offshore on a 33 Freeman and Twin Vee in the Gulf, yes both were very nice stable wide platforms. I wo
Open invitation to anyone that wants to see what the boat will do. That includes you Fishman…
I to have towed the 33 all over the southeast. She is 10" wider than a 36YF. To doubt what a man says is understandable. But i can tell you no one believes me when i can tell them what the boat can do. You just have to ride on it for yourself.
We fished the megadock 40’ and under last year on Friday, the 2nd day. We were the first boat out there and the first one through the rocks. You can ask the Full Pull, the Chasin, the Sporting Life or any of the other 5 boats, which boat passed them on the way home? It was an honest 7-9’ in the stream and 6’ on the way back in. We were running in a quartering following sea. Ask Robbie Freeman the owner of the megadock… Put it this way, I saw 3 boats dunk their bows while trolling in a headsea… it was rough.
Hey, I am willing to take whatever boat out in rough seas with mine to do a comparison. Obviously a 60’ boat isnt a fair comparison. Lets say up to 45’.
You will never change their minds. All cats are created equal but mono hulls can vary HUGELY in performance. Common fact known by everyone who has never ridden in a Freeman.
ANYWAY, we are going to the other side this spring, we are taking YOUR boat. We are GOING to put YELLOW FIN tuna in it. I am going to sleep on a bean bag there and back.
Set the trap boys, we going to pass through them again!!
Open invitation to anyone that wants to see what the boat will do. That includes you Fishman…
I to have towed the 33 all over the southeast. She is 10" wider than a 36YF. To doubt what a man says is understandable. But i can tell you no one believes me when i can tell them what the boat can do. You just have to ride on it for yourself.
We fished the megadock 40’ and under last year on Friday, the 2nd day. We were the first boat out there and the first one through the rocks. You can ask the Full Pull, the Chasin, the Sporting Life or any of the other 5 boats, which boat passed them on the way home? It was an honest 7-9’ in the stream and 6’ on the way back in. We were running in a quartering following sea. Ask Robbie Freeman the owner of the megadock… Put it this way, I saw 3 boats dunk their bows while trolling in a headsea… it was rough.
Hey, I am willing to take whatever boat out in rough seas with mine to do a comparison. Obviously a 60’ boat isnt a fair comparison. Lets say up to 45’.
You will never change their minds. All cats are created equal but mono hulls can vary HUGELY in performance. Common fact known by everyone who has never ridden in a Freeman.
ANYWAY, we are going to the other side this spring, we are taking YOUR boat. We are GOING to put YELLOW FIN tuna in it. I am going to sleep on a bean bag there and back.
Set the trap boys, we going to pass through them again!!
Open invitation to anyone that wants to see what the boat will do. That includes you Fishman…
I to have towed the 33 all over the southeast. She is 10" wider than a 36YF. To doubt what a man says is understandable. But i can tell you no one believes me when i can tell them what the boat can do. You just have to ride on it for yourself.
We fished the megadock 40’ and under last year on Friday, the 2nd day. We were the first boat out there and the first one through the rocks. You can ask the Full Pull, the Chasin, the Sporting Life or any of the other 5 boats, which boat passed them on the way home? It was an honest 7-9’ in the stream and 6’ on the way back in. We were running in a quartering following sea. Ask Robbie Freeman the owner of the megadock… Put it this way, I saw 3 boats dunk their bows while trolling in a headsea… it was rough.
Hey, I am willing to take whatever boat out in rough seas with mine to do a comparison. Obviously a 60’ boat isnt a fair comparison. Lets say up to 45’.
You will never change their minds. All cats are created equal but mono hulls can vary HUGELY in performance. Common fact known by everyone who has never ridden in a Freeman.
ANYWAY, we are going to the other side this spring, we are taking YOUR boat. We are GOING to put YELLOW FIN tuna in it. I am going to sleep on a bean bag there and back.
Set the trap boys, we going to pass through them again!!
Rates can’t stay at historic lows forever. Now may be the perfect time to refinance or purchase your dream home. If you or anyone you know may be thinking about home financing please have them contact me! </font id=“blue”>
When we were running in the beam sea in Miami they were fairly predictable sets. Not much confusion, but very intimidating none the less. We had 4 guys on the boat that were over 60 years old. One of them was a Miami local that lived on Star Island that owned a 37’ Midnight. He was very familiar with the seastate and seemed as impressed as Skinnee did. The other 3 guys were from Louisiana… all of them owning big boats.
To make a straight up and fair comparison to the waters off of Charleston, it is rare that we cant run at least 32mph comfortably in a 4-6 confused beam. Sometimes more… I dont like jarring and slamming… Ride is very subjective and for the guys that says his 31 “X” boat rides great, doesnt mean that I think it rides great. But I can tell you this… after 4 Miami Boat shows and countless charters run off of my boats, fishing trips on my boats, TV shows filmed off of and on my boats… in rough water, people prefer what we have to offer. As everyone knows, Charleston’s summertime fishing is pretty good, but the weather really doesnt cooperate on Saturdays and Sundays. When SG4, Courtland and Phin went with us on those trips, we would have gone anyways whether they were part of the trip or not. They were surprised we wanted to go in 17-20knot winds, but hey this is my chance to go and we are going. Like I said, I dont like to get beat up.
