Tornado 5.8 vs. Zodiac PRO Man 15 ....

[jeilsoe]

Howdy Folks :-)

I'm a newbee here, so treat me well....

Our diving club in Denmark are planning on buying either a Tornado 5,8 or a Zodiac Pro Man 15 as they are in the same financial range.... but we really dont have any hands-on experience with theese boats. We have tried them both, but unfortunately weather was too perfect.... should have been testing in rough sea.


Zodiac: 6,3m Rib, New Sharc duotex material.... somekind of PU coating. 150hp Evinrude Etek


Tornado: PU Ribs,Heavy duty material + all the extras...tripplestreak..you name it.... 150hp Yamaha


Any of your guys got experience with either of theese boats ?

[Tims Osprey]

The tornado gets my vote without any doubts, especially if its going to be used for diving, the tornado has a better sea going hull than the zodiac as well. The zodiac is a nice boat but will not cope with a big sea as well as the tornado, even though its half a metre longer, the Etec 150 is a very nice engine but so is the 150 yammy, so tornado 100%.

[Biggles]

No personal experience but Tornado gets my vote from what I've seen of them and Zodiacs.

If it was a few years old I'd think twice because of the tubes but new no problem.

And Yam IMHO is better than E Tec.

[ashbypower]

Tornado every time for me, however if talking new then I would not like to comment as Tornado's are now being built in China!

[Biggles]

Originally Posted by ashbypower

Tornado every time for me, however if talking new then I would not like to comment as Tornado's are now being built in China!

Must admit didn't know they were Chinese now.

[Tims Osprey]

I have had a couple of tornado's a 4.8 and a 5.3 they are very well behaved ribs in a lumpy sea, i remember taking the 4.8 out into the Bristol channel with 10 ft swells and the boat performance belied its size, we all got wet be we were having fun and never felt in any danger whatsoever, Most of the time i could manage planing speed, only coming off the biggest swells would force me to back off the throttle, incredible.

[Biggles]

i like Benc's boat. That is one extra special looking boat.

[jeilsoe]

hi guys

thx for the ansvers.... got more though. :-)

Both boats are new, and for the production of Tornado in china...do you suspect that there is a problem with quality ?

Shouldnt Zodiacs built-in fuel tanks under the deck give more stability than the tornado, as the tornado will have 120litre above deck...?

=> Biggles: How about them tubes....an you elaborate on that... do one material deterrior more over time than the other ? Since both materials are some kund of PU covering they should be equally good ...or..?

What makes the hull better sea going ? Doesnt both hulls have deep V-shape... or is one deeper than the other ?

[Tims Osprey]

I can't understand why a 5.8 metre craft would not have an under deck fuel tank? and the fact there moving to china doesn't look good, i'm sure the Chinese will do a good job manufacturing them but it would make buying a new one less appealing to me. If new then surely you have other craft in the same price range to choose from.

[oilrig]

got a tornado 5.8 + 135 merc and drive it in any weather condition. Jump waves with it. All still in one piece.