zapcat purchase

[craigdavis]

That sounds like a good day at the beech then. Bet your engine need a little bit of tlc now ater suckin in that water.

[prairie tuber]

Originally Posted by Ed the Duck

Craig,
My GRX is way slower than a Zapcat - it doesn't have that insane acceleration. No suprising as I went for heavier denier hypalon, have a bow, carry a lot of kit (anchor, spare fuel, tools, etc, etc) and have a 93kg 40hp engine, with a plastic prop.

Ed,

Assuming that a zapcat used the same heavier hypalon fabric as your GRX, and was carrying all of the same kit, how much of a performance difference would you expect between the 2 boats?

Also, how would you rate the overall construction quality of the GRX?

I've also noticed that Gemini also offers 4.7m & 5.3m 'Dive' series SIBS with tunnel hulls. Have you had any experience with these?

Sorry for all of the questions, but I am considering one of these boats myself (or perhaps a used military Zodiac F470 - hypalon with the futura hull).

Thanks,

Mark

[Ed the Duck]

Mark,
I haven’t had experience of the Zodiac F470 yet, but am expecting to use it in April. I’ll let you know how it performs – I’m expecting good things from what I’ve heard. I haven't come across the Dive series.

I’m not really sure how the Zapcat would perform if it was manufactured from Hypalon and had all my kit in it. Thinking about it, I’m not sure where the kit would go in a Zapcat! If anyone wants to lend me a Tohatsu 50, I can strip my kit out and let you know if the GRX matches the Zapcat performance. Don’t imagine that there’d be a massive difference in speed and handling.

Ed

[prairie tuber]

Thanks Ed,

something I have noticed from the pictures I have seen of the dive series is that the hull tunnel seems to be much less pronounced than in the GRX. I wonder how that might affect performance & handling & efficiency. Definitely a 4.7m size would better suit my needs for gear carrying ability than a 4.2m, so I am leaning towards the used F470 (a new one would be about double the price of a new GRX or Dive).

edit: forgot to attach a picture of the 'Dive 4.7'

[Ed the Duck]

Mark
How much are used 470's out in your part of the world? Sounds like you have a lot of kit to carry! -what's your intended use?

Ed

[prairie tuber]

I could pick up a used military F470 for approx. $ 6 500 - $ 7 500 CAN - depending on the condition. Based on todays exchange rate of 1 Canadian dollar being worth 0.43 Brittish Pounds, a used F470 would be about 2795-3225 pounds.

Brand new they list somewhere around $18 000 CAN (7 740 pounds)

My intended uses would be hunting trips for moose & bear, & river expeditions of up to 3 weeks for 2-3 people. Aside form the hunting & camping gear would also need space for 4, possibly 5 20L gas tanks/jerrys. Seating needs to be comfortable & forward facing (rather than piloting while sitting on pontoon).

[Ed the Duck]

Like the sound of that expedition! Go for the F470 - seems a good comprimise of speed, payload and price. I'll let you know how it performs next month (assuming you haven't got one by then!)

For all that fuel, I'd recommend getting flexible tanks. You'd easily fit 90litres into the 470 with 4 avon fuel flexible bags (http://www.boat-finder.com/17813/info.php) .