Excel 360 Explorer Pro

[Fenlander]

True and note they referred to floor stretch due to poor quality control.

[Steve509926]

I distinctly remember that No 1 Explorer had a big crease in the area indicated right up to 10 psi when it did disappear.
I've just deflated the floor in No 2 Explorer down to 5 psi and noted how smooth the upswept curve is, no crease.
I hadn't thought about it before but perhaps that's an indication of something not being quite right.

[Orwell boy]

This is a very informative thread with a careful study and progress reports on what is a manufacturers design path after the product launch.We (forum members )now seems very tolerant of what is really design failure ,it's strange the acceptance of a Chinese sib , lucky there's no ally welding involved !

[Steve509926]

Couldn't agree more, however there's not many alternatives out there.

[Steve509926]

New transom wheels fitted. Needed a 25mm packer to get past the airfloor protrusion at the rear of the transom.
Vevor 500lbs. Material quality appears to be good even supplied with dome nuts. Some deburring needed and some of the corners need to be rounded off but for a little over £50 I'm impressed so far.
Need to disassemble to encapsulate the packers in epoxy resin.

[Steve509926]

Aluminium channel and "rubber" transom capping bonded into place protect the transom.

[Tonus]

Originally Posted by Steve509926

Vevor 500lbs. Material quality appears to be good

They look very good Steve. If I hadn't have gone for the Seamax I would have tried these as they arc under the transom - I miss the way that it balances the boat when pushing/pulling!

Are they these?
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/203630230...3ABFBMmpbpzOpl

[Tonus]

Sorry to hear that you've had to go chopping into your boat! It must be really promising performance-wise for you to keep it. It does look the business and would tick a lot of boxes for me....
Did Excel offer you anything in terms of compensation?

[Steve509926]

Hi Tonus, yes they are the ones.

I was looking at buying either the Seamax or the Boatworld copies. I then saw these when I met up with Big Al C and for £50 I thought it was a no brainer.

No compensation, it is just one of those things. I suppose it's like buying a sib that has a a smaller transom and you need to put an inch packer under the yoke to get the best performance out of the set up, although that is much easier than lowering a transom! I wouldn't have gone ahead with lowering the transom without the guarantee in writing from Excel that they would honour the 5 year guarantee.
As I've said in the past sibs and outboards are a big compromise.

[Steve509926]

All finished, epoxy sealed and ready for more on the water testing tomorrow.

[Orwell boy]

Originally Posted by Steve509926

Couldn't agree more, however there's not many alternatives out there.

Did I see a photo of a sib on the ribcraft stand at seawork exhibition today ?

[Steve509926]

Originally Posted by Orwell boy

Did I see a photo of a sib on the ribcraft stand at seawork exhibition today ?

Can't find it, may be interesting if you upload the photo.

[Steve509926]

Double post.

[Orwell boy]

Not sure I can share photo ?

[Steve509926]

That's not a sib! it's a channel crossing people carrier.

[Orwell boy]

Originally Posted by Steve509926

That's not a sib! it's a channel crossing people carrier.

Sorry don't know much about sib,s ,thought it looked a little commercial !

[Fenlander]

Well it's looking a tidy job Steve, fingers crossed this second shakedown test run proves successful.

[Steve509926]

Good day on Ullswater. The Explorer with the 20hp EFI Merc handles much better with the transom reduced by 1".
On the plane slightly quicker (have to sit very far forward to get over the hump), positive turns and a fantastic turn of speed - 22.4 knots (sat on the floor) which to be honest scared the shit out of me and I don't think I'll try that again! It feels really good at 15 -16 knots at just under 3/4 throttle and sits nicely on the water. The helm position is very comfortable sitting with your knees below your hips
However ............... Isla doesn't like, in fact she hates it. She obviously feels every ripple on the water through the deck and it unnerves her.
So I now have to think. Do I want 2 sibs, a solo sib and a family sib? Cobble something together (partial ply deck) to make it more comfortable for Isla? Or take a hit, sell the Explorer and Redneck and look for something else but with an airdeck such as the 365 Carbon Pro?
Decisions, decisions.

[Fenlander]

>>> a solo sib

Should that situation arise with us I already, like you, have the power in the form of the Tohatsu 9.8 2T and would look for a light SIB around 3.2m.